Trump picks Pam Bondi for U.S. attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws – National [Video]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name.

Bondi is a longtime Trump ally and was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Joe Biden.

She has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers.

Bondi is from Tampa and spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor. She was Florida’s first female attorney general.

Earlier Thursday, Gaetz withdrew as Trump’s attorney general nomineeamid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement …