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      Florida Surgeon General Urges End to Fluoride in Water, Backing RFK Jr.’s Push

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      Florida’s surgeon general issued guidance on Friday that called for a halt to adding fluoride to the water supply, backing a similar push by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, cited recent research that highlighted the potential risk of heightened exposure to the chemical — including lower I.Q.s in children. Health experts agree that excessive exposure to fluoride over a long period of time can cause health problems, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Dental Association say that fluoridated water does not pose any of these risks at the level currently recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency.“Due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure,” Dr. Ladapo’s guidance said, “particularly in pregnant women and children, and the wide availability of alternative sources of fluoride for dental health, the State Surgeon General recommends against community water fluoridation.”Dr. Ladapo has played a prominent role in Mr. DeSantis’s administration, often supporting the governor in political fights over pandemic-era health policy. More recently, Dr. Ladapo called for a halt to the use of Covid vaccines earlier this year, citing widely debunked concerns about contaminants in the vaccine.He also contradicted widespread medical guidance about the spread of measles, sending a letter to parents after an outbreak of the disease at an elementary school that said it was up to parents and guardians to determine when their children can attend school, even if those children have not been vaccinated for measles.The guidance on fluoridation in Florida follows heightened attention on the issue after recent statements by Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has no medical or public health degrees, and Mr. Trump. Mr. Kennedy declared on social media this month that, as president, Mr. Trump would advise communities to stop adding fluoride to drinking water. Mr. Kennedy described the chemical as “an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease.”In a recent interview with NBC News, Mr. Trump said the idea of doing away with fluoridation “sounds OK to me.”Sheryl Gay Stolberg More

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      Pam Bondi, a $25,000 Donation and Trump University: Questions Remain

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      While Ms. Bondi, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for attorney general, served as attorney general of Florida, her office declined to investigate allegations of fraud against his for-profit school.Reports of deceptive practices and fraud by Donald J. Trump and his Trump University business unit had been piling up for several years in states across the nation, including in Florida.The state attorney general in New York moved in, filing a lawsuit in 2013 that accused Mr. Trump and his for-profit trade school of “engaging in persistent fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct,” even though by that point Trump University was already out of business.The Florida attorney general’s office, which Pam Bondi had taken over in 2011, handled it differently.She publicly acknowledged that her office was examining complaints about Trump University, but it decided against a formal investigation.The decision came soon after Mr. Trump, through his family foundation, sent a check for $25,000 to a political action committee associated with Ms. Bondi, who was running for a second term.Florida’s was not the only state attorney general’s office to decide against taking up the Trump University matter. Mr. Trump also donated to Kamala Harris while she was attorney general of California, and after reviewing the matter, her office also did not pursue.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Matt Gaetz will not return to Congress after dropping attorney general bid

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      Matt Gaetz, the former Florida representative who this week withdrew from consideration to be US attorney general under Donald Trump, said on Friday he would not seek to return to Congress.“I’m still going to be in the fight but it’s going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz told the rightwing podcaster and radio host Charlie Kirk. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.”Gaetz is a dedicated far-right controversialist and staunch Trump loyalist who last year played a key role in the removal of Republican Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, the first such move ever orchestrated by a speaker’s own party.Picked for attorney general during a plane ride with Trump, Gaetz was seen as likely to carry out the president-elect’s agenda of revenge on his political enemies and pardons for allies, including those convicted over the deadly 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of Trump who sought in vain to overturn his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.Gaetz swiftly resigned his US House seat, which he had held for nearly three full terms on Capitol Hill.His resignation pre-empted the release of a House ethics committee report into allegations of misconduct including allegedly paying for sex with a girl under the age of consent.Amid renewed controversy, Gaetz denied wrongdoing and pointed to a justice department decision to drop an investigation of the matter.Nonetheless, amid feverish speculation over the report and whether the confirmation would fail, Gaetz announced his withdrawal on Thursday.Debate followed about whether Gaetz could or would seek to return to the House when the new Congress is sworn in next year.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut on Friday Gaetz told Kirk: “There are a number of fantastic Floridians who’ve stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service. And I’m actually excited to see north-west Florida go to new heights and have great representation.“I’m 42 now, and I’ve got other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue – my wife and my family – and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump. I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.” More

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      ¿Quién es Pam Bondi, la nueva elección de Donald Trump para fiscala general?

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      Fue la primera fiscala general del estado de Florida, se convirtió en integrante del equipo de defensa del juicio político a Donald Trump y respaldó sus falsas acusaciones de fraude electoral en 2020.El presidente electo de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, se apresuró a dejar de lado los malos titulares del jueves sobre Matt Gaetz reemplazándolo con rapidez por Pam Bondi, una colega republicana de Florida con un perfil muy diferente —pero una reputación similar de lealtad— para ser su fiscala general.Bondi, de 59 años, es una lobista leal a Trump que ocupó el cargo de fiscala general de Florida entre 2011 y 2019. Ha trazado un camino más convencional y menos estrepitoso que Gaetz, con poco del desagradable bagaje personal o político que llevó a algunos republicanos a oponerse a su nominación.Fue fiscala localBondi, hija del alcalde de un pequeño municipio del área de Tampa, empezó a trabajar como ayudante del fiscal del estado en el condado de Hillsborough en la década de 1990. Durante 18 años como fiscala, llevó casos “que iban desde la violencia doméstica hasta el homicidio punible con pena capital”, según la página de su biografía en su empresa de cabildeo.Supervisó un puñado de casos de gran repercusión, entre los que destaca el del exlanzador de los New York Mets Dwight Gooden, quien cumplió una condena de un año de prisión por violar la libertad condicional en un caso de drogas en 2006.En 2010 fue elegida la primera mujer fiscala general de FloridaBondi, demócrata hasta 2000, se impuso en unas reñidas primarias republicanas y ganó las elecciones a fiscala general tras conseguir el apoyo de Sarah Palin, exgobernadora de Alaska y fallida candidata republicana a la vicepresidencia en 2008, y promocionar su firme postura contra la delincuencia durante sus apariciones en Fox News.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Pam Bondi Is Trump’s New Choice as Attorney General. Here’s What to Know About Her.

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      President-elect Donald J. Trump quickly swept aside Thursday’s bad headlines about Matt Gaetz by speedily substituting Pam Bondi, a fellow Florida Republican with a starkly different profile — but a similar reputation for fealty — to be his attorney general.Ms. Bondi, 59, is a lobbyist and Trump loyalist who served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019. She has charted a more conventional and less clamorous course than Mr. Gaetz, with little of the ugly personal or political baggage that led some Republicans to oppose Mr. Gaetz’s nomination.She was a local prosecutor.Ms. Bondi, the daughter of the mayor of a small Tampa-area municipality, began working as an assistant state attorney in Hillsborough County in the 1990s. During 18 years as a prosecutor, she tried cases “ranging from domestic violence to capital murder,” according to the bio page at her lobbying firm.She supervised a handful of high-profile cases, most notably one involving the former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden, who served a one-year prison sentence for violating probation in a drug case in 2006.She was elected Florida’s first female attorney general in 2010.Ms. Bondi — a Democrat until 2000 — emerged from a crowded Republican primary to win the attorney general’s race after garnering the support of Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and failed 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee, and by touting her tough stance on crime during appearances on Fox News.During her eight-year tenure, she tried unsuccessfully to overturn and weaken the Affordable Care Act, opposed expanding legal protections for the L.G.B.T.Q. community and cultivated a national reputation by supporting anti-human-trafficking efforts.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Who is Pam Bondi, Trump’s new pick to lead the US justice department?

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      Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the US justice department, was the first female attorney general of Florida but is perhaps best known in recent years as a loyalist to the former president.Trump announced Bondi as his nominee for US attorney general on Thursday hours after Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick, bowed out of consideration amid growing Republican opposition following sexual misconduct allegations against him.“I am proud to announce former Attorney General of the Great State of Florida, Pam Bondi, as our next Attorney General of the United States. Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.Bondi has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, a thinktank set up by former Trump administration staffers, and served on Trump’s first transition team.The 59-year-old has been a longtime Trump ally – she was considered during his first term as a potential candidate for the nation’s highest law enforcement role.Trump was told by advisers that she was a good alternative to Gaetz because she has allies across the Republican party as well as inside Trump’s world, according to people familiar with the matter, the Guardian reported Thursday.Before she became involved in national politics, Bondi spent more than 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough county state attorney’s office. She was a political unknown when she was elected as Florida’s first female attorney general in 2010 and had received an endorsement from the former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.View image in fullscreenShe served as Florida’s top prosecutor from 2011 to 2019, and later as a lobbyist for US and international clients.Bondi’s tenure as attorney general also coincided with two of the most high-profile and deadly shootings the nation has seen. In 2016, after 47 people were shot and killed and more than 50 were injured in an extremist attack on an LGBTQIA+ nightclub in Orlando, Bondi was called out on-air by CNN’s Anderson Cooper over her support for a ban on same-sex marriage in the state.Two years later, 17 students and staff were shot and killed by a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. Bondi called for the death penalty for the shooter and supported then governor Rick Scott in the passage of the state’s first gun-restriction legislation, which raised the minimum age for someone to buy a gun from 18 to 21. It also appropriates millions of dollars for expanded mental health resources in schools, to build a replacement for Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school and for heightened campus security.Bondi’s ties to Trump go back years. While serving as Florida’s attorney general, she backed Trump in 2016 over a candidate from her home state, Marco Rubio.In 2016, the Associated Press revealed that Bondi had personally asked Trump for a donation to her campaign three years earlier. The funds came through a Trump family foundation, which is in violation of policies around charities engaging in politics. The $25,000 donation also came as Bondi’s office was considering joining New York in an investigation of Trump’s universities, over allegations of fraud and false promises about what training and job prospects for students would look like. Once the check arrived, Bondi declined to participate in the investigation, according to the Associated Press.Bondi did try to send the check back, the Florida Times-Union reported, but it was rejected and returned by Trump.Bondi was then one of Trump’s attorneys during his 2019 impeachment proceedings, when he was accused – but not convicted – of trying to make military assistance to Ukraine dependent on that country’s willingness to investigate Joe Biden. And during Trump’s hush-money trial, Bondi was one of a handful of Republicans to show up to court to support him.Bondi has harshly criticized the criminal cases against Trump as well as Jack Smith, the special counsel who charged Trump in two federal cases. She described Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump as “horrible” people “weaponizing our legal system”.If she is confirmed, Bondi will join several other members of Trump’s legal team in the justice department.The Associated Press contributed to this report More

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      Trump names Pam Bondi as attorney general pick after Gaetz steps aside

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      Donald Trump announced that he would nominate for attorney general Pam Bondi, the former Florida state attorney general, hours after the former representative Matt Gaetz withdrew in the face of opposition from Senate Republicans who had balked over a series of sexual misconduct allegations.The move to name Bondi reflected Trump’s determination to install a loyalist as the nation’s top law enforcement official and marked another instance of Trump putting his personal lawyers in the justice department.Trump almost immediately settled on Bondi as a replacement pick for Gaetz, according to people familiar with the matter. Bondi had not auditioned for the role and her loyalist credentials coupled with her willingness to defend Trump on television made her an attractive pick.View image in fullscreenThe fact that Bondi could count on broad support inside Trump’s world and the Senate Republican conference, in contrast with Gaetz who always faced an uphill struggle, also earned her the endorsement from most of Trump’s senior advisers on Thursday, the people said.“I am proud to announce former Attorney General of the Great State of Florida, Pam Bondi, as our next Attorney General of the United States. Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.“Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!”Should Bondi be confirmed by the Senate in the coming months, it would be a reward for years of her loyalty to Trump which started during the 2016 campaign, when she became an outspoken but fierce defender of his candidacy.She also helped with Trump’s legal defense during his first impeachment trial, parroted claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and continued working as a surrogate through the 2024 campaign when she attended Trump’s criminal trial in New York.Bondi’s elevation to lead the justice department would also come as a result of extraordinary serendipity, after Trump picked Gaetz almost on a whim after he decided against more conventional lawyersThe selection process for major positions has involved Trump pulling up each candidate on a bank of screens at his Mar-a-Lago club and looking for various qualities, including on their perceived loyalty and how they might play on television.Trump did not like the initial list of names that included Mark Paoletta, the former counsel at the White House office of management and budget; Missouri’s attorney general, Andrew Bailey; and Robert Guiffra, co-chair of the New York law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, and decided he preferred a pugilist like Gaetz.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBut the Gaetz nomination sank after a series of meetings on Wednesday with Republican senators. Later that evening, they broadly expressed to the Trump team their continued opposition to the Gaetz nomination, the people said.On Thursday morning, Trump called Gaetz and told him that it was clear he did not have the votes in a rare moment of realpolitik for Trump. Gaetz agreed and took himself out of the running, one of the people said.Gaetz told associates after he announced he was withdrawing his nomination that he faced the reality that at least three senators – Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski – and senator-elect John Curtis, would vote against him and block his confirmation, the people said.From his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump said in a statement: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be attorney general. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.” More

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      Republican senator calls for release of Matt Gaetz ethics report to chamber

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      Discussion on Donald Trump’s selection of Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman who had been accused of sexual misconduct, for US attorney general continued on Sunday, with Republican senator Markwayne Mullin calling for an unreleased ethics report to be released to the Senate.Mullin told NBC’s Meet the Press that the Senate, which will oversee Gaetz’s confirmation hearings to become attorney general, “should have access to that” but declined to say if it should be released publicly.Gaetz resigned from his seat in Congress on Wednesday soon after the president-elect made his controversial pick, frustrating plans by a congressional ethics panel to release a review of claims against Gaetz, including sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. Gaetz denies any wrongdoing.Republican House speaker Mike Johnson repeated his position on Sunday that the survey should remain out of the public realm. Gaetz had faced a three-year justice department investigation into the same allegations that concluded without criminal charges being brought.Johnson said the principle was that the ethics committee’s jurisdiction did not extend to non-members of the House. “There have been, I understand, I think, two exceptions to the rule over the whole history of Congress and the history of the ethics committee,” Johnson told CNN, adding that while he did not have the authority to stop it “we don’t want to go down that road.”Trump’s selection of Gaetz, while successfully provoking Democrats’ outrage, is also seen as a test for Republicans to bend Trump’s force of will. Mullin has previously noted situations in which Gaetz had allegedly shown colleagues nude photographs of his sexual conquests and described him as “unprincipled”.But the senator said he had not made a decision on whether to support Gaetz in a confirmation vote. “I’m going to give him a fair shot just like any individual,” Mullin said.The pending report seems likely to emerge in some form after other senior Republicans, including senators Susan Collins, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis have all said they believe it should be shown to them.Separately, Pennsylvania Democratic senator John Fetterman repeated his advice to members of his own party to not “freak out” over everything Trump does, pointing out that for at least the next two years, Republicans can “run the table”.Fetterman, who won decisive re-election in the state this month, said he looked forward to reviewing some of Trump’s nominations but others “are just absolute trolls”, including Gaetz.For Democrats, who are still trying to figure out reasons for their devastating loss at the ballot box this month, their outrage at Trump’s nominations “gets the kind of thing that he wanted, like the freak out”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“It’s still not even Thanksgiving yet and if we’re having meltdowns at every tweet or every appointment.”Democrats, Fetterman added, should be “more concerned” about Republicans being able “to run the table for the next two years. Those are the things you really want to be concerned about, not small tweets or, you know, random kinds of appointments.”But Democratic senator-elect Adam Schiff told CNN that Gaetz was “not only unqualified, he is really disqualified” to become the country’s top lawyer.“Are we really going to have an attorney general [with] … credible allegations he was involved in child sex-trafficking, potential illicit drug use, obstruction of an investigation? Who has no experience serving in the justice department, only being investigated by it,” Schiff said. More