Pam Bondi KNIFES JD Vance loyalist as frustrated Veep abandons ally over incessant name-dropping
Pam Bondi ousted a Justice Department loyalist of JD Vance as complaints surfaced that the official repeatedly invoked the Vice President’s name.
Abigail Slater was forced out of her top Trump administration job on Thursday as head of the Justice Department's antitrust division.
Her tenure came to an end after tensions rose with senior cabinet officials, including the Attorney General, according to The Guardian.
'It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as AAG [assistant attorney general] for Antitrust today,' Slater wrote in a social media post.
Bondi had reportedly informed White House officials weeks ago that the differences between herself and Slater were irreconcilable.
Bondi and other Trump world lobbyists became frustrated with Slater last year after she tried to block a $14 billion merger between a cloud-computing and software company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks. The Vice President initially backed Slater while instructing aides she should not be criticized for opposing the merger.
Vance’s support for Slater, however, evaporated once he realized her relationship with Bondi had deteriorated to the point of no return. The Vice President was also displeased to learn that Slater had repeatedly invoked his name to shield herself during her dispute with the attorney general.
Slater's career in Trump world took off when she became a senior adviser to Vance during the 2024 campaign.
Abigail Slater was ousted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday
Slater is a longtime loyalist to Vice President JD Vance. She previously served as his senior adviser during the 2024 campaign
Bondi informed the White House weeks ago that her differences with Slater had become irreconcilable
Should political loyalty or independent judgment matter more in high-stakes government roles?
Comment nowThe Daily Mail contacted the Vice President's office for comment.
After Trump won, she was confirmed to her DOJ post with the backing of 78 senators.
MAGA influencers and other Trump loyalists are defending Slater as an antitrust advocate skeptical of corporate lobbyists.
However, other critics allege her she was more focused on advancing her own agenda as head of the antitrust division.
'Gail Slater was a long-time corporate lobbyist. With her own agenda. She made erratic decisions,' wrote Republican lawyer Mike Davis on X.
'She went out of her way to knife too many Trump admin colleagues. She leaked, lied, disobeyed, and subverted. She got fired. She’s not the victim.'
Slater told Bondi last year that US intelligence agencies had not raised any concerns regarding her move to block the Hewlett Packard merger.
Slater also argued that she opposed the deal because it created a duopoly over cloud-computing systems.
However, CIA director John Ratcliffe later informed Bondi that blocking the merger would pose national security risk and expressed outrage for not being consulted over the matter.
This incident led Bondi to believe Slater had lied to her in order to kill the merger.
Tensions further grew between Slater and Bondi when the attorney general refused to approve Slater's request to attend a conference in Paris last year.
Regardless, Slater went to the conference and Bondi reacted by cancelling her government credit cards, according to the Guardian.
