Not news: Pam Bondi gets appointed to Trump panel

It was an odd time to announce that President Donald Trump was appointing Attorney General Pam Bondi to a key commission.

As Hurricane Irma neared Florida on Thursday, Trump’s White House announced that Bondi was named to the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis.

Such timing didn’t seem to do any favors for Bondi, who has spent much of her time as attorney general talking about taking on the pill mills. Why announce her appointment to a committee on that subject when nearly every reporter is chasing another story?

Some reporters jumped on it. And Thursday was a good media day overall for Bondi, who also held a news conference in Tampa on price gouging. 

But the news was very Jimmy Two Times, who liked to say everything twice. How so? Because Bondi announced the exact same appointment 162 days ago in an email blast to reporters.

Attorney General Bondi Joins President Trump and Governor Christie for Announcement about National Opioid Epidemic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Attorney General Pam Bondi is joining President Donald J. Trump and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at the White House for an announcement regarding the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic.“I am honored to be appointed to the President’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission. Thousands of Americans each year die from drug overdoses. I want to thank the President of the United States, GovernorChristie and many others for caring about this deadly epidemic,” said Attorney General Bondi.

Dated March 29, what’s curious about this abrupt statement is that there’s no comment from the White House. Or Christie.

Another oddity is that the statement came nearly 30 minutes after The Buzz noted that Christie, and not Bondi, had been appointed by Trump to be the chair of the commission that would have seemed a better fit for Florida’ attorney general. 

“Pam Bondi still doesn‘t have a job in the Donald Trump administration,” the blog post noted.

Such speculation was wiped away with the announcement that came minutes later from Bondi’s office.

So what happened? Was Bondi’s March statement premature?

When The Buzz’s Alex Learly asked Bondi’s office to explain the two statements on the one appointment, director of media relations Whitney Ray said the delay was caused by Christie.

“The President always intended for the Attorney General to be on the Commission–however, Governor Christie chose to begin the Commission with only himself and four others. The announcement is protocol before the Executive Order is signed next week. The Attorney General will continue to work with President Trump, General Kelly, Kellyanne Conway and other leaders to combat the national opioid epidemic.“