Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general Pam Bondi has pledged to divest millions of dollars worth of shares she owns in Trump Media & Technology Group that she earned through consulting for a disaster relief company that merged with the media company, a pair of new disclosures reveal.
In her ethics agreement posted by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics this morning, Bondi wrote that her consulting for the company, Renatus LLC, ended in March 2024, and that she “will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter involving specific parties in which I know Trump Media & Technology Group is a party or represents a party, unless I am first authorized to participate.”
Renatus LLC, also known as Renatus Advisors, was founded and is run by Eric Swider, who is a director with Trump Media & Technology Group. It provides disaster relief advisory services as a government contractor and infrastructure consulting for public utilities and energy projects, according to its website.
Swider is alleged in a lawsuit to have hacked into the computer networks of a business owned by the former CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) in order to execute a “coup d'état” and have him ousted. The lawsuit from former DWAC CEO Patrick Orlando claims that the hacking was part of an “audacious scheme to seize control of and enlarge their holdings in a publicly-traded company poised to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.”
Trump’s media company began public trading on March 26, 2024, after merging with special-purpose acquisition company DWAC. The acquisition company’s investors at one point included billionaire Republican megadonor Jeff Yass of Pennsylvania.
According to Bondi’s financial disclosure, she was paid for her Renatus consulting work with shares of DWAC worth more than $2.9 million. The disclosure also says that Bondi was paid more than $1 million by Ballard Partners, the lobbying firm owned by Trump associate Brian Ballard where she is currently employed.
Swider, who was installed as DWAC CEO in June 2023, sold all of his shares in Trump Media & Technology Group shortly after Trump was elected in November, according to a report from 1100 Pennsylvania.
Bondi pledged in her ethics agreement to sell her shares of the Trump media company if confirmed. “I will divest my interests in Trump Media & Technology Group, as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after my confirmation,” Bondi wrote. “I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of this entity until I have divested it, unless I first obtain a written waiver.”
The Senate is expected to vote on Bondi’s confirmation as attorney general next week.
