Brad Bondi, a leading securities and white collar defense attorney, is at the center of a dispute between Washington lawmakers and his sister, Attorney General Pam Bondi, over whether she properly recused herself from cases involving clients of her brother, a partner at prominent law firm Paul Hastings.
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Dave Min, both Democrats, have been concerned about any potential conflicts since at least December, when they sent a letter to DOJ Deputy Inspector General William Blier, outlining their questions.
“We write to express serious concerns about a troubling pattern at the Department of Justice repeated interventions or dismissals in cases involving Mr. Bradley Attorney General Pam Bondi’s brother—that consistently favor his clients,” wrote Rep. Min and Sen. Schiff.
“These concerns are further heightened by the administration’s removal in March 2025 of DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility Director Jeffrey Ragsdale, who served as the Department’s senior official responsible for reviewing allegations of professional misconduct,” according to the letter.
The two Democratic lawmakers reiterated their concerns last Wednesday in another letter, according to a news reports, seeking the DOJ’s Inspector General to conduct a review to determine whether Attorney General Bondi has appropriately recused herself from – or improperly influenced – several cases involving defendants represented by her brother, Brad Bondi.
“This push follows the Justice Department’s failure to answer Senator Schiff and Rep. Min’s inquiry regarding a ‘troubling pattern’ of repeated intervention or dismissals of cases involving Pam Bondi’s brother,” according to a statement from Sen. Schiff’s office.
“In a recent LinkedIn post, Brad Bondi provided public, firsthand confirmation of ‘remarkable victories’ for his clients, referencing ‘many confidential settlements, declinations, and closing letters from the SEC and other regulatory agencies’ in 2025 that ‘didn’t make the press,’ according to the statement from the Democratic lawmaker.
“The decisions in these cases were made through the proper channels, and the Attorney General had no role in them,” a DOJ spokesperson wrote in an email.
A spokesperson for Paul Hastings did not comment by deadline.
The Democrat’s initial concerns were spurred, in part, by the leadership changes at DOJ, according to the December letter.
“Such a leadership change, particularly during a period in which the Department has taken several unusual actions that appear to benefit Mr. Bondi, underscores the importance of ensuring that DOJ’s internal accountability mechanisms remain fully independent and active,” according to the December letter.
“Viewed collectively, these actions raise significant broader ethical concerns,” the letter said. "The repetition and timing of these interventions suggest coordinated decision-making rather than routine prosecutorial discretion,” according to that letter.
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