Stephen Colbert has some choice parting words for US Attorney General Pam Bondi after she was fired by Donald Trump.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday (2 April), Trump announced that he had fired Bondi from her post as head of the Department of Justice.
Her 14-month tenure at the DOJ was marked by controversy over her management of investigations tied to the dead convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including her handling of the Epstein Files.
In what became a significant political setback for the administration, Bondi went back on her earlier promises to reveal those named in the Epstein files. When the Justice Department was forced by Congress to release the files to the public, they did so in chunks and with heavy redactions.
Colbert addressed the news of her firing during Thursday night’s episode (2 April) of his Late Show.
“Speaking of human waste, just a few hours ago we learnt that President Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi,” he told viewers.
“Now listen, in tribute to Pam Bondi, I offer this heartfelt farewell…” continued Colbert, before he pulled out a letter addressed to the former Attorney General in which almost all the words were blacked out in a nod to how much of the Epstein files were redacted.
“Dear Pam,” the letter began, followed by paragraphs of blacked-out text and the sign off: “Sincerely, Stephen Colbert.”
The talk show host went on to say that while he welcomed Bondi’s sacking, her mishandling of the Epstein files was likely the result of pressure from Trump.
“Saying that the villain of the Epstein files is Pam Bondi is like saying the lead in Die Hard is the dad from Family Matters," Colbert joked, in reference to the actor Reginald VelJohnson who played Sgt Al Powell in the 1988 action film and Carl Winslow in the sitcom.
Joking about her new role in “the private sector”, Colbert broke out his Trump impression to say: “It’s a much-needed job at a very important farm upstate. There’ll be lots of room for her to run around. Unfortunately, we can’t go visit her. Now let’s go to the strip mall and get you a new attorney general, buddy.”
In a statement posted on X following the news, Bondi boasted that she oversaw “easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history” and added she is “eternally grateful for the trust that President Trump placed in me”.
Bondi, the second Cabinet official to be ousted during Trump’s second term following Kristi Noem, will be replaced as acting attorney general by Todd Blanche, who mounted the defence of Trump through his criminal prosecutions and the weeks-long hush money trial that led to the first ever conviction of a president.
Follow along with The Independent’s live blog here.
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