type: timeline_event
By August 2025, a pattern had emerged: defendants who hired Brad Bondi—AG Pam Bondi's brother and a DC defense attorney—were seeing their federal charges evaporate.
Trevor Milton (March 28, 2025): Trump pardoned the Nikola electric truck founder, who had been sentenced to four years in prison for securities fraud. Milton had raised massive sums from investors for an electric truck that didn't work—the company famously demonstrated the vehicle by rolling it down a hill. Brad Bondi was Milton's attorney.
Carolina Amesty (August 2025): The former Florida Republican state representative faced two counts of theft of government property for fraudulently obtaining $122,000 in COVID relief funds, carrying up to 20 years in prison. Brad Bondi was hired as her attorney on July 28, 2025. Prosecutors dropped all charges within days, in early August.
When Brad Bondi ran for president of the DC Bar in 2025, a record number of lawyers voted in the election. His opponent won with 90% of the vote.
Congressional Democrats launched investigations into the pattern. The arrangement created a de facto pay-to-play system: hire the AG's brother as your defense attorney, and the DOJ—run by his sister—drops your case.