Tough Questions For Trump Nominees
The Pam Bondi And Scott Bessent Edition
We’re back for another edition of this newsletter proposing tough questions that need to be asked of Trump’s nominees. This iteration will cover Pam Bondi, the nominee for Attorney General, and Scott Bessent, the nominee to lead the Department of Treasury.
Bondi, formerly the Attorney General of Florida, is a staunch Trump loyalist, serving as counsel in his first impeachment trial and echoing his claims that Democrats used “fake ballots” to steal the 2020 election. After her two terms as Florida’s Attorney General, Bondi became a lobbyist at Ballard Partners representing large corporations including Amazon, Uber, and the private prison contractor GEO Group.
Bessent is a former hedge fund investor who founded the Key Square Group, a firm with an explicit focus on oil and gas investments along with extensive holdings in cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence.
We hope the Democrats involved in their confirmation hearings foreground the material harm caused by the corporations that Bondi and Bessent have made money representing and investing in. Reporters are encouraged to reach out for further questions and accompanying research.
Pam Bondi, Nominee for Attorney General, Hearing 1/15 - 1/16
Representation of Qatar/Human Trafficking
“Ms. Bondi, from July to November 2019, you earned $115,000 a month lobbying Capitol Hill on human trafficking issues on behalf of the Qatari government, a country known for human rights abuses. You marketed yourself as an expert on human trafficking while working for a country with a poor human trafficking record. You resumed lobbying for the Qataris from March to December 2020, as the country was gearing up to host the 2022 soccer World Cup. Although Qatar finally abolished its repressive ‘kafala’ system, which was criticized by human rights organizations for creating opportunities to exploit workers through wage theft and forced labor, the fact remains that an uncountable number of migrant workers died constructing venues for the World Cup. Given your history working for a regime that disregarded human suffering, how can we trust that, as Attorney General, you will safeguard the American public especially in regards to human trafficking and labor standards?"
Representation of Private Prisons
“The Attorney General has significant control of the US prison system. A 2016 report by the Department of Justice found that private prisons have 28% higher instances of inmate on inmate assaults and twice the number of inmate on staff assaults as other prisons. This was why the DOJ began to move away from private prisons under Obama. Under President Trump, this decision was reversed, as the US Marshalls Service and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, both housed under the DOJ, continued to make up a core part of revenue for private prison behemoths Corecivic and GEO Group through extensive government contracts. Additionally, the decision by then-Attorney General William Barr to end a bond system for asylum seekers in federal detention helped boost these companies’ profits by keeping federal immigration detention numbers high. As a former registered lobbyist for private prison giant GEO Group, how can the American people trust that you, as the foremost law enforcement figure in the land, would be an impartial arbiter of justice on issues pertaining to private prisons, when you have previously enriched yourself off the profits these firms derive from the incarcerated individuals?”
Corruption as Florida Attorney General
“Ms. Bondi – While you served as Florida’s Attorney General, concerns came to light regarding private organizations’ donations affecting your decisionmaking. In 2011, June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards, two attorneys who were investigating Lender Processing Services, were fired from the Economic Crimes division of your office, with their supervisor stating that the orders to fire them ‘came from the top.’ Lender Processing Services was a mortgage services company that later paid a $35M fine as part of a guilty plea responsive to charges that they forged documents enabling them to unfairly and illegally repossess borrowers’ homes during the mortgage crisis. Lender Processing Services and its affiliates also donated thousands of dollars to your campaign for Attorney General. In 2013, you solicited a reelection campaign donation from the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Shortly after you received a $25,000 donation, your office declined to continue investigating complaints against Trump University.
Both Lender Processing Services and Trump University preyed on the American people, yet you chose not to protect them. How will you, as Attorney General, insulate yourself from the influence of private interests who hope to influence the outcomes of DOJ investigations and cases? How can Americans be sure that their top law enforcement official cannot be bought off when you were unable or unwilling to do so as Florida’s top law enforcement official?”
Scott Bessent, Nominee for Treasury Secretary, Hearing 1/16
Connections to John Paulson and Potential Privatization of Fannie and Freddie
As Secretary of Treasury, one of the most important authorities you will have is overseeing many of the financial relations between the government and the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. During his first term, Trump made large strides towards taking these mortgage-backers, who together control nearly half of the $12 trillion housing finance market, out of government control. Shareholders of Fannie and Freddie, such as Bill Ackman and John Paulson, have been vocal for years in their desire to take Fannie and Freddie out of conservatorship, since it would boost the value of their stocks. John Paulson was considered for your job, but stepped aside while citing his financial obligations as constituting a conflict of interest. Yet, you co-hosted a $50 million fundraiser with Paulson. Ackman has already publicly announced his belief that Trump will privatize the entities. Privatization has been predicted to raise mortgage rates as high as 147%, and could even eliminate the existence of the 30 year fixed-rate home loan - which is one of the main ways that Americans are able to purchase a home. Fannie and Freddie would effectively be priced out of the market for half of the nation's borrowers. Do you intend on pursuing privatization of the enterprises? What do you have to say to Americans who will see their mortgage rates skyrocket, as well as those who will never be able to purchase a home due to this change?”
Position On Cryptocurrency/Key Square Group’s Cryptocurrency Investments
“As Treasury Secretary, you would have a significant role in developing the federal government’s policy toward cryptocurrency. Your support for crypto—both rhetorically and financially—suggests that you would embrace the industry as a regulator. In support of Donald Trump’s proposal to establish a federal bitcoin reserve, you stated that ‘everything is on the table with Bitcoin.’ Are you aware that cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by criminal enterprises to launder money? Are you aware that Americans lost $5.6 billion to cryptocurrencies scams in 2023? Does ‘everything is on the table’ include stricter regulations to protect American pocketbooks from the rampant scams and money laundering that characterize the crypto industry?”
“What is your reaction to the finding of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs that, “[...] cryptocurrency, typically Bitcoin, has become a near universal form of ransom payment in ransomware attacks, in part, because cryptocurrency enables criminals to extort huge sums of money from victims across diverse sectors with incredible speed.”
“In November, Forbes reported that you had ‘invested in blockchain startups and decentralized finance (DeFi) initiatives.’ What is the nature of these investments and are any of them ongoing? Given these potential conflicts of interest, how can Americans be confident that you will conduct adequate oversight of the crypto industry?”
Key Square Group’s Oil and Gas Investments
“Oil, gas, and other extractive industries have been substantially represented in your hedge fund investment portfolios ever since you led your first hedge fund, Bessent Capital, between 2000 and 2005. As the founder and CEO of Key Square Group, you have directed your hedge fund to invest in the companies destroying our environment: Haliburton, Noble Corporation, Transocean, EQT Corp, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and Teck Resources, just to name a few. Transocean, in particular, is infamous for causing the largest oil spill in U.S. history after its Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana in 2010. Teck Resources has been found to be responsible for releasing 400,000 tons of heavy metals into Canadian waterways over a 65 year period. These are just two examples of the enduring environmental degradation caused by the companies you have been investing in for years. Are you aware of the environmental damage that your hedge fund has funded? The Department of Treasury has a responsibility to address climate change in its policies. How can the American people trust you to implement these policies when you have a long history of profiting from industries that exacerbate climate change, harming our communities and environment?”
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These questions would presumably be posed by Democratic senators. Once the dust settles, it would be interesting to hear your evaluation of how tough the questions actually posed by the Democrats turned out to be.