Content Creator Pam Bondi Happily Does Trump’s Dirty Work

A lot has happened. Here are some of the things. This is the TPM Morning Memo.

LAST CHANCE!

A small number of tickets are still available for tomorrow evening’s event in Washington. I will talk about the militarization of the DOJ with a star panel:

• Stacey Younga DOJ veteran who is the founder and executive director of Justice Connection;
• Kyle R. Freenya former DOJ who was a member of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and is now a senior advisor at the Washington Litigation Group; And
• Anna Bowereditor-in-chief at Lawfare

Ticket information here (TPM members should pay attention to a special discount code in your inboxes to get 2 for 1 tickets. Contact allegra@talkingpointsmemo.com if you haven’t received it or can’t find it.) See you tonight!

Performative politicization

Yesterday, in two different categories of cases in two different states, Trump’s DOJ engaged in the type of performative politicization that it experimented with in Trump I but brought to full flower in Trump II under Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi is as much a content creator as she is the country’s law enforcement chief. His public actions yesterday echo recent reports that FBI Director Kash Patel is more concerned with what he may tweet than the underlying investigations themselves. (Patel got himself into trouble again with a tweet, this time causing internal political blowback in Mexico.)

In Minnesota, Bondi showed up in person to tout the arrests of protesters for allegedly assaulting federal agents while still refusing to investigate the shooting deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents. This is an unequivocal statement, not only about who the current regime favors under the law, but also about impunity.

While attorneys general routinely tout high-profile arrests, Bondi has gone further: posting photographs of many arrested protesters on social media, in violation of DOJ guidelines. That decision drew a rebuke from a federal judge, as I explain below.

In Georgia, the FBI executed search warrants at the Fulton County voting center on Wednesday, recovering ballots and other election paperwork from the 2020 election in a move fueled by a big lie that was as absurd as it was dangerous. More than five years after the election, Trump is still pursuing his white whale of voter fraud and a host of DOJ and FBI appointees are eager to oblige. This theatrical move checks the loyalty box, keeps the big lie alive, sows doubt about any future Trump losses, and creates the kind of MAGA spectacle that Trump loves.

Under another president’s administration, the DOJ would not have allowed itself to be drawn into such blatantly politicized shenanigans, much less lead the charge in fanning the flames of public disapproval of the accused and public suspicion of election administration. But Bondi must produce content at an increasingly frenetic pace to stay in the good graces of President Trump and his White House, creating an irreconcilable tension between his own fortunes and the independent administration of justice.

Bondi reprimanded in Minnesota

Strutting like a Wild West marshal, Bondi welcomed charges against 16 people accused of “assaulting, resisting or obstructing” federal immigration agents by posting their photos on X.

Bondi was quickly reprimanded by U.S. Judge Dulce J. Foster during an initial hearing. “This conduct is not something the court tolerates,” Foster said in court, describing herself as “deeply disturbed” by the decision. But Foster said that because the cases were not yet assigned to her, she could do nothing about Bondi’s conduct.

The charges against the protesters stem from chaotic scenes around provocative immigration actions, including one at Roosevelt High School, and the Justice Department in recent weeks has often failed to secure convictions in similar cases in other states.

The latest news on the set of Pretti

• The two CBP agents who shot Alex Pretti were immediately placed on administrative leave, DHS said, saying earlier reports that the agents remained on duty were inaccurate.
• The Justice Department continues to insist to reporters that it may conduct its own investigation into the Pretti shooting depending on the results of the investigation by Homeland Security Investigations. Again, this is not how DOJ civil rights investigations regarding use of force typically proceed.
• Videos emerged of an earlier incident between federal agents and Pretti in which he turned off the tail light of one of their vehicles and they began manhandling him before driving off.

More from Minnesota…

• Minnesota’s chief federal judge canceled a contempt hearing after ICE finally complied with his order to release a detainee, meaning ICE’s acting director will not have to personally appear in court. U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz, who said the detainee could still seek monetary sanctions for his delayed release, blasted ICE for defying 96 court orders in 74 Minnesota cases since Jan. 1: “This list should give pause to anyone, regardless of political beliefs, who cares about the rule of law. ICE has probably violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated throughout their entire existence.”
• A new round of prosecutor resignations from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota may be coming, the New York Times reports: “On Tuesday, prosecutors in the office’s criminal division confronted Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen and an aide to Mr. Blanche over concerns that they were being asked to carry out orders that ran counter to the department’s mission and best practices, according to four people briefed on the exchange. »
• U.S. District Judge John Tunheim temporarily blocked the Trump administration from arresting or detaining refugees in Minnesota who are seeking permanent status.

FBI seizes Georgia voting records

The FBI seized what the Justice Department had already requested: 2020 voting records from Fulton County, Georgia. Trump’s animosity toward the outcome in Georgia has always focused primarily on plurality Black Fulton County, which has the largest black population in the state.

Some nuggets:

• Interestingly, the search warrant was obtained by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Thomas Albus. (Although many reports still identify him as acting U.S. attorney, he was confirmed to the permanent position by the Senate in a partial vote in December.) It is not at all clear why a U.S. attorney from outside the jurisdiction is involved or why this particular U.S. attorney.
• Nothing about Catherine M. Salinas, the longtime magistrate who signed the search warrant, is particularly remarkable; on the contrary, his professional background might suggest a more liberal than conservative orientation. (Judges are limited in how much they can look outside the four corners of a search warrant application.)
• The search warrant identifies two potential criminal violations at the center of the investigation, summarized by WaPo as follows: “one relating to the retention and preservation of election records by officials and the other criminalizing efforts to defraud voters in elections conducted in an impartial manner.”

Photo of the day

It doesn’t speak for itself and makes no sense, but it’s a photo for all ages:

Important climate news

The Trump administration has delayed reversing the EPA’s 2009 finding that greenhouse gases harm public health, fearing the proposal is “too weak” to withstand a legal challenge, WaPo reports.

Life expectancy in the United States reverses its trend

Life expectancy in the United States has rebounded from the COVID pandemic and opioid crisis to reach a new all-time high in 2024, the CDC announced today.

“We will take a stand for this land”

According to his own account, Bruce Springsteen wrote this new song on Saturday after the fatal CBP shooting of Alex Pretti and recorded it on Tuesday before releasing it on Wednesday:

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