Photogenic, earnest and affable, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi should be riding high after nine months on the job as one of the state's most powerful elected officials.
She successfully brokered a deal among lawmakers, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Medical Association to crack down on prescription drug abuse, one of her top priorities.
She won a partial victory over President Obama's administration in a landmark case, now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court, in which lower courts agreed with her that forcing Americans to purchase health care insurance is unconstitutional.
And she has recouped nearly $50 million for Florida consumers in lawsuits filed with other state attorneys general in cases such as deceptive marketing of prescription drugs and unfair collection fees for video rentals.
But these achievements have been weighted down by a series of actions during the past seven months that critics say shows she cares more about banks and big businesses than she does about consumers in perhaps the state's most critical economic issue - home foreclosures.
'Moral hazard' issue
In March, in response to the investigation and settlement plan by all 50 states' attorneys general to right foreclosure wrongdoing by lenders, Bondi was one of four Republican attorneys general who objected to forcing banks to reduce loan amounts for struggling homeowners. They said reducing loan principals for select homeowners would create a "moral hazard" and encourage homeowners to stop paying their mortgages.
"That was the big signal. That was the 'I'm working for the banks,' " said Royal Palm Beach lawyer Tom Ice, who defends homeowners in foreclosure cases. "The moral hazard is not her job. She's not the economic minister of Florida. Her job is not to worry about whether Florida is going to suffer economically by not enforcing laws."
Bondi reiterated her stand last week after California's attorney general quit the core team negotiating the settlement plan, saying it wasn't going far enough to help homeowners or punish lenders. Bondi, also a member of that team, said she stood by what the team was doing.
Foreclosure lawyers fired
In May, two attorneys instrumental in the investigation of phony foreclosure documents in Florida were forced from their jobs by Bondi's administration, drawing unwanted national attention and accusations that the firings by the Republican attorney general were politically motivated.
Under former Attorney General Bill McCollum, Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were at the forefront of the state's investigations into "robo-signing" - fraudulent or illegally executed documents - that later became the template for a national investigation into foreclosure fraud. They were initially given no reason for why they had to resign or be fired from their jobs in the attorney general's Tampa office, but were later told an attorney representing one of the companies under investigation, Lender Processing Services, complained that they made "irresponsible" statements and "tainted the investigation" during a presentation they made to court clerks .
Edwards and Clarkson, who have since opened their own law firm representing homeowners in foreclosure cases, point to Bondi's acceptance of at least $2,000 in campaign contributions from foreclosure processing firms that were under investigation, including $500 from LPS, and say they were fired because they were too good at their jobs.
"They're not interested in pursuing these cases. That's pretty obvious. There hasn't been one subpoena or one deposition taken in any of these cases since we were let go," Edwards said.
But Bondi said in a recent interview, "We're trying to do everything we can to protect multiple cases and consumers who are defrauded. That's a horrible problem in our state and we've strengthened that department."
Last month, Bondi asked a fellow Cabinet member, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, to conduct an investigation of the women's firings, which is continuing. Meanwhile, two Democratic state lawmakers are seeking a federal probe of the matter.
Critics say Bondi should have sought an outside independent investigation and that her GOP colleague Atwater is too close to her.
"I don't know what more I could do," Bondi said. "I could have left it with my inspector general. Nobody's going to be happy. If there had been a Democrat in the Cabinet I would have given it to their IG. That's what's so frustrating when people say things that aren't true."
Bondi, who until last year had spent her entire career as a prosecutor for the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office, likens her new job to "drinking out of a fire hose" because there are so many issues she wants to pursue.
She said her biggest fear in making the switch from prosecutor to her first political position was that she would not be able to have a direct effect on those she is trying to help.
She quickly learned otherwise, she said.
"You don't know if you can truly touch lives," she said. "But I saw it with the pill mills. I'm used to dealing with victims and talking to victims. But as attorney general, you can make a difference and help more people."
Thumbs up from chamber
A frequent contributor on FoxNews as a legal analyst when she was a prosecutor, the telegenic Bondi was a huge hit with Republicans on the campaign trail as she pledged to pursue the federal health care lawsuit initiated by McCollum and later joined by 25 other states.
Bondi received the backing of the Florida Chamber of Commerce - the first time the business group endorsed a Cabinet candidate. And she promised to do what she could as the state's top lawyer to make the state more business-friendly.
Bondi's doing what she promised during the campaign, Florida Chamber lobbyist David Hart said.
"I'm not sure how you could be perceived as too pro-business or too pro-free-enterprise at this point in our country's history," Hart said.
Repeating the GOP mantra that it's up to private business, not government, to create jobs for the 900,000 Floridians now out of work, he said, "So my hat's off for Pam Bondi and the rest of the Cabinet who are showing what it takes to create certainty for the private sector."
Former foe sings praises
Other Bondi supporters say they see a commitment to consumers in her victory in the pill mill standoff between the House and Senate during the legislative session.
"That landmark bill we passed this year would not have happened without her," said Dave Aronberg, the head of her Office of Drug Control. "She made it a priority. She twisted arms like she needed to. For a first-time elected official, she showed a lot of political savvy in pushing that crucial legislation through."
Bondi appointed Aronberg, a former state senator from Greenacres, as her drug czar after he lost a Democratic primary bid for the job she eventually won. He said she has "not let politics get in the way" in letting him do his job.
Bondi, though, continues to take political heat for leading the charge to make it tougher for ex-felons to have their civil rights restored.
"I never in my wildest dreams would have thought she would lead the effort to deny former felons the right to have their rights timely restored in accordance with the procedure that was put in place by the former governor and Cabinet," said Democratic state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa lawyer who has known Bondi for years.
Pill mill fight 'obsession'
Critics say Scott and the newly elected Cabinet, all Republicans, made the changes to bar thousands of convicted felons, many of whom typically vote for Democrats, from casting ballots.
"It appeared to me that somehow all of this is politically motivated because at the end of the day, everybody on the Cabinet appears to want to become governor. So this is an effort to appeal to the conservatives," Joyner said.
When the change was being contemplated, Bondi defended the move as one of principle, saying, "I don't believe any felon should have an automatic restoration of rights. I believe you should have to ask and there should be an appropriate waiting period."
Bondi's latest crusades are cracking down on fraudulent vacation time share sales, especially to senior citizens, and a continuation of her fight against the ravages of prescription drug abuse.
She said she was shocked to discover the number of infants born addicted to prescription drugs and is asking lawmakers to create a task force including the state's top health officials to look into the issue.
"This has become my obsession," she said of the prescription drug issue.
Bondi said she recently met with Gil Kerlikowske, the Obama administration's Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who shares her concern.
She said her office is "trying to bring awareness to the problem in our state. We talk about it daily with multiple agencies about strategies of what to do. We want to make Florida the prototype for the country on this issue."
