Ex-Attorney General Pam Bondi has come out swinging, laying into ‘panicked bad actors’ supposedly sweating over mounting legal jeopardy, just as a fresh controversy explodes in Florida’s judicial arena.
The drama kicked off after lawyers for ex-CIA chief John Brennan fired off a blistering, 16-page memo to Chief Judge Cecilia Altonaga, pleading with her to keep Judge Aileen Cannon far away from any grand jury investigation tied to Russia—and to Donald Trump. Sources say the missive, uncovered by the New York Times last week, puts Cannon’s controversial reputation firmly in the crosshairs, accusing her of bending over backward for Trump, including tossing out Trump’s bombshell classified docs case last July and using a rare Justice Clarence Thomas legal twist as cover to do it.
Cannon, the Trump-nominated judge now infamous for appointing a special master in the wake of the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago classified sweep, had her move shot down by a unanimous 11th Circuit for derailing a federal probe. Brennan’s legal team claim these antics are no fluke—they’re part of a pattern in which Cannon favors Trump, from slowing cases to outright blocks. They point to the headline-grabbing moment in early 2025 when Cannon slapped an injunction on the explosive second volume of Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago report, even after DOJ dropped charges against alleged co-conspirators Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira.
Meanwhile, Chief Judge Altonaga—who once oversaw Trump’s costly defamation battle with ABC and George Stephanopoulos, a case that ended with ABC forking over $15 million—has reportedly urged Cannon behind closed doors not to meddle in the Espionage Act case that’s kept the political world on edge. But Brennan’s lawyers say Cannon’s controversial decisions just won’t quit.
As frustration over judicial maneuvering boils over, Bondi has seized the media spotlight with fiery broadsides on right-leaning networks, blasting unnamed players she claims are desperate to dodge accountability. With legal fireworks flying, and Brennan’s team digging in to keep Cannon off the case, the stakes in South Florida’s courtroom soap opera could hardly be higher.
