Weekly Update: June 2

Your weekly rundown of the latest kleptocratic actions by the Trump administration.

Jun 05, 2025

Attorney General Pam Bondi's Greatest Klepto Hits (so far)

This week we're awarding the “klepto crown” to the Trump administration official with the greatest hits of public corruption. You might think of Springsteen or Swift when you hear “greatest hits,” but in the Trump administration, it takes on a very different meaning. Whatever your musical preferences, it's clear that President Trump doesn't think much of these two artists -- especially after Springsteen called him out recently for being “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous.”

So who deserves the crown this week?

There is no shortage of prominent figures in the Trump administration to choose from. Elon Musk would be an obvious choice, but as he exits his government role -- leaving a legacy of “disease, starvation and death” -- to try to resuscitate Tesla, it's not clear he still qualifies. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is a good candidate but you can read about him in our May 12 update. After some debate, this week's klepto crown goes to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi’s track record twists the phrase “greatest hits” into a highlight reel of conflicts of interest, political favors, and ethical lapses. Below, we share some of her greatest hits (so far).

Dismantling the DOJ's efforts to fight kleptocracy abroad. Attorney General Bondi signaled her tolerance for kleptocracy by disbanding the unit within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that bears the name in its title. Bondi's February 5, 2025 memo, "Total Elimination of Cartels and Transnational Organizations" also eliminated Task Force KleptoCapture, the Department’s Kleptocracy Team, and the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Analyzing the impact of this move, the former Deputy Chief of the Jan. 6 Capitol Siege Section at the DOJ, Alexis Loeb wrote, “Bondi dismantled an expert prosecutorial team that, for well over a decade… focused on ensuring that the U.S. financial system was not used to launder the proceeds of corruption… The Kleptocracy Team has targeted grand corruption of a breathtaking scope, with several cases involving hundreds of millions, even billions, of dollars.”
Weakening accountability at home. In another February 5, 2025 memo, Bondi established the Weaponization Working Group, tasked with reviewing DOJ activities over the past four years to identify instances where conduct “appears to have been designed to achieve political objectives.” Activities under review by the working group include former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump that led to criminal charges on election obstruction; federal cooperation with Manhattan prosecutors in their case against Trump for falsifying business records; and “unethical prosecutions” related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. As Just Security notes, what the establishment of the Working Group and subsequent actions actually reveal is an “alarming level of politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice under the second Trump administration.”
Trading loyalty for favors. At the February 20, 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, Bondi criticized the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams of New York on bribery and corruption charges as “incredibly weak”, declaring that the action amounted to a "weaponization of government." Under Bondi's leadership, the DOJ's efforts to dismiss the charges were met with the resignation of eight federal prosecutors in protest, including then Manhattan Attorney General Danielle Sassoon. Sassoon wrote to Bondi, “the reasons for dismissing the indictment are not ones I can in good faith defend as in the public interest and as consistent with the principles of impartiality and fairness…” In the same letter, Sassoon suggests that DOJ leadership was aware of a ‘quid pro quo’ proposed by Adams' attorneys to increase the mayor's vocal support of Trump's immigration policies if the indictment against him were to be dismissed.
Reaping the rewards of loyalty. According to ProPublica, on April 2, 2025, Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares in the company that owns Truth Social, the media platform founded by President Trump. In December 2024, Bondi disclosed owning more than $3.9 million in Truth Social stock. The April sale occurred the same day that Trump announced his sweeping tariff measures. By law, federal officials are barred from using inside information about government or private-sector actions to enrich themselves.
Attacking independent courts. Wielding her authority as the nation's top government lawyer, Bondi has furthered President Trump's attacks on judges, on the legal profession, and on the rule of law. In April 2025, she criticized the judge who granted a temporary restraining order preventing the administration from enforcing provisions of an executive order targeting the law firm Jenner & Block. She asserted his order had “yet again invaded the policy-making and free speech prerogatives of the executive branch.” Bondi also attacked Jenner & Block as purportedly “committed to the weaponization of justice, discrimination on the basis of race, radical gender ideology and other anti-American pursuits.” In March, over 4,000 individuals and organizations signed a letter to Bondi urging her to oppose “the use of the federal government to attack lawyers, law firms, and legal organizations for engaging in good faith representation of their clients.”
Targeting journalists' ability to protect their sources. The day before the April 26, 2025 White House Correspondents Dinner, Bondi marked the occasion by rescinding a Biden-era policy that limited the government's ability to seek phone or email records and compel testimony from journalists. In its stead, Bondi issued a memo reviving guidelines that allow investigators to go after members of the media who obtain “privileged and other sensitive information,” not just classified material. With the dismantling of many federal agencies, the memo's emphasis on exposing and punishing federal government employees who intentionally leak sensitive information to the media is notable given the multitude of claims of wrongful termination and other questionable practices.
Facilitating Qatar's gift of a luxury jetliner to Trump. In May 2025, ABC News reported that alongside White House lawyer David Warrington, Bondi played a key role in determining that it would be "legally permissible" for the Department of Defense to accept a super luxury 747 jetliner as a gift from the government of Qatar. Following extensive upgrades, the jet -- valued at approximately $200 million -- will be used as a new Air Force One. Prior to joining the administration, Bondi worked as a lobbyist receiving six-figure consulting fees representing major corporations and foreign governments, including Qatar. Richard Painter, George W. Bush's former White House ethics czar, has strongly criticized the Qatari jet deal, calling it “unconstitutional” and “dangerous.”

The Big Picture

Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift's greatest hits add up to make them two of the best-selling musical artists in the world. With Bondi's greatest hits (so far) - crippling efforts to tackle corruption; using the power of the DOJ to go after perceived political opponents and weaken the rule of law; undermining principles of impartiality and fairness; running roughshod over standard ethics practices; and self-enrichment -- she is more than deserving of this week's klepto queen title. As a key player on President Trump's team, the New York Times distills many of Bondi's contributions to date: “Mr. Trump’s team appears to be redefining criminality -- erasing convictions of rioters and allies, shifting civil rights investigations from fighting race-based discrimination to pursuing a culture-war agenda, de-emphasizing prosecutions of white-collar crime and public corruption, pushing for mass deportations -- often defying and publicly trashing judges along the way.”

Weekly wins

Keeping Americans' data private: As concerns continue about DOGE's apparent efforts to access Americans' private data, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) now appears to be joining the effort through its management of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). In March, the USDA sent a letter to payment processing firms that they would need to turn over SNAP recipients' personal data, citing Trump's March 20 memo on data consolidation. On 22 May, 2025, a coalition of SNAP recipients and hunger, privacy and student groups sued the USDA. The deputy undersecretary leading the program announced it officially paused on June 3, 2025. The Agency had “instructed EBT Processors to refrain from sending any data until USDA completed procedural steps to ensure that data received would be appropriately safeguarded and to satisfy all necessary legal requirements.” Perhaps this victory in personal data protection for many of the most vulnerable Americans can be spread elsewhere.

Countering the abuse of emergency powers: Trump has used ostensible “emergencies” to bypass normal processes on energy, deportation, and trade. Last week, an important court rebuked the abuse of that power. The U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled that there was no “emergency” that justified the slapdash tariffs the administration has pushed forward. While there is currently a stay on their ruling, it is essential that the courts put a halt the abuse of emergency powers when no emergency exists. Who brought the suit? Twelve attorneys general across various states brought the suits, representing small business owners in their states. State and local elections matter in protecting democracy at the national level.

Weekly Update: June 2

Your weekly rundown of the latest kleptocratic actions by the Trump administration.

Attorney General Pam Bondi's Greatest Klepto Hits (so far)

The Big Picture

Weekly wins

More positive acts of resisting kleptocracy

More links, more kleptocracy

Protection racket

Self-enrichment

Cronyism

Threats, intimidation, and surveillance

Executive power grabs

Weakening independent Agencies

Attacks on civil society, media, and higher education

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