(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Attorney General Pam Bondi leaving after the end of President Donald Trump’s remarks to reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Feb. 20, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that Pam Bondi is out as his attorney general, ending the contentious tenure of a loyalist who upended the Justice Department’s culture of independence from the White House, oversaw large-scale firings of career employees and moved aggressively to investigate the Republican president’s perceived enemies.

The announcement follows months of scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation that made Bondi the target of angry conservatives even with her close relationship with Trump. She also struggled to satisfy Trump’s demands to prosecute his political rivals, with multiple investigations rejected by judges or grand juries or yet to produce charges.

Trump named Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as the acting attorney general, though three people familiar with the matter have said he has privately discussed Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, as a permanent pick.

Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, came into office last year pledging that she would not play politics with the Justice Department, but she quickly started investigations of Trump foes, sparking an outcry that the law enforcement agency was being wielded as a tool of revenge to advance the president’s political and personal agenda.

She ushered in a period of intense turmoil at the department that included the firings of career prosecutors deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump and the resignations of hundreds of other employees. Her departure continues a trend of Justice Department upheaval that has defined Trump’s presidency as multiple attorneys general across his two terms have either been pushed out or resigned after proving unwilling or unable to meet his demands for the position.

Bondi rejected accusations that she politicized the Justice Department and said her mission was to restore the institution’s credibility after overreach by President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration with two federal criminal cases against Trump. Bondi’s defenders have said she worked to refocus the department to better tackle illegal immigration and violent crime and brought much-needed change to an agency they believe unfairly targeted conservatives.

Embracing, supporting and protecting the president

Bondi’s public embrace of the president, however, marked a sharp departure from her predecessors, who generally took pains to maintain an arm’s-length distance from the White House to protect the impartiality of investigations and prosecutions. Bondi postured herself as Trump’s chief supporter and protector, praising and defending him in congressional hearings and placing a banner with his face on the exterior of Justice Department headquarters.

She called for an end to the “weaponization” of law enforcement she said occurred under the Biden administration, even though Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, and Jack Smith, the special counsel who produced two cases against Trump, have said they followed the facts, the evidence and the law in their decision-making. Bondi’s critics, meanwhile, said she was the one who had politicized the agency to do the president’s bidding.

“You’ve turned the People’s Department of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge,” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary committee, said at a February hearing.

Bondi delivered a combative performance but few substantive answers at that hearing as she angrily insulted her Democratic questioners with name-calling, praised Trump over the performance of the stock market — “The Dow is up over 50,000 right now” —- and openly aligned herself as in sync with a president whom she painted as a victim of past impeachments and investigations.

Even Republicans began to challenge her, with the Republican-led House Oversight Committee last month issuing a subpoena to her to appear for a closed-door interview about the Epstein files.

Under Bondi’s leadership, the department opened investigations into a string of Trump foes, including Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director John Brennan. The high-profile prosecutions of Comey and James were short-lived as they were quickly thrown out by a judge who ruled that the prosecutor who brought the cases was illegally appointed.

Trump repeatedly publicly praised and defended Bondi but also showed flashes of impatience with his attorney general’s efforts to meet his demands to prosecute his rivals. In one extraordinary social media post last year, Trump called on Bondi to move quickly to prosecute his foes, including James and Comey, telling her: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility.”

Bondi oversaw the exodus of thousands of career employees — both through firings and voluntary departures — including lawyers who prosecuted violent attacks on police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; environmental, civil rights and ethics enforcers; counterterrorism prosecutors; and others.

Fumbling the Epstein files

She struggled to overcome early stumbles over the Epstein files that angered conservatives eager for government bombshells about the case, which has long fascinated conspiracy theorists. She herself had fed the conspiracy theory machine with a suggestion in a 2025 Fox News Channel interview that Epstein’s “client list” was sitting on her desk for review. The department later acknowledged that no such document exists.

Bondi was ridiculed over a move to hand out binders of Epstein files to conservative influencers at the White House only for it to be later revealed that the documents included no new revelations. And despite promises that more files were going to become public, the Justice Department in July said no more would be released, prompting Congress to pass a bill to force the agency to do so.

The Epstein files fumbles led to a stunning public criticism from White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, a close friend of Bondi’s, who told Vanity Fair that the attorney general “completely whiffed.” The Justice Department’s release of millions of pages of Epstein files did little to tamp down criticism, prompting a House committee with the support of five Republicans to subpoena Bondi to answer questions under oath.

Bondi, who defended Trump during his first impeachment trial, was his second choice to lead the Justice Department, picked for the role after former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida withdrew his name from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.

(File Photo of the Fort Pitt Tunnel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Fort Pitt Tunnel has now fully reopened after nearly an hour of being closed due to an over-height truck hitting the top of the tunnel this morning. PennDOT told KDKA-TV that an over-height truck was traveling through the tunnel, but it ended up hitting something on the top of the tunnel right before exiting. That hit only caused minor damage. The tunnel was quickly inspected before it reopened. It is not known at this time if there were any injuries as a result of this incident. Both sides of the tunnel were closed for a brief period of time. The outbound lanes opened as of about 7:30 a.m. and the inbound lanes have also reopened.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Subramanyam Vedam walks outside the Centre County Courthouse, Feb. 6, 2025, in Bellefonte, Pa. (Geoff Rushton/StateCollege.com via AP, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A judge cleared the way Thursday for the potential release of an Indian citizen who was taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody last year after his Pennsylvania murder conviction was overturned following four decades in prison.

The decision came after a four-hour hearing in which Subramanyam Vedam insisted he did not fatally shoot Thomas Kinser in 1980 and was questioned by a Department of Homeland Security lawyer. Vedam participated in the hearing Wednesday remotely from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.

“I was young and stupid and did a lot of dumb things back then,” Vedam said. The federal government wants to deport the 64-year-old to India, which he left as a baby in 1962.

U.S. Immigration Judge Adam Panopoulos said Vedam proved he was genuinely rehabilitated and did not pose a danger to the public. He cited Vedam’s efforts to improve literacy among inmates and his close ties to his family, including nieces who have never known him as a free man.

Vedam “has grown as a person” and “began to dedicate himself to enriching other people’s lives and ultimately his own through academic study and enrichment,” the judge said Thursday.

A DHS lawyer said he can still be deported on unrelated drug distribution convictions.

Vedam, known as Subu, was born in Mumbai, India, and was brought to the United States when he was 9 months old. He grew up in State College, Pennsylvania, where his father was a physics professor. He is a legal permanent resident of the United States and was days away from becoming a naturalized citizen when he was arrested.

DHS has a month to appeal

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a month to appeal. Vedam’s lawyer indicated he plans to seek his client’s release on bond.

His attorney, Ava Benach, said Vedam hopes to live with a relative in Sacramento, California, and has been offered a spot in Oregon State University’s doctoral program in applied anthropology.

Late last year, the State College prosecutor declined to retry Vedam after a Centre County judge determined that relevant ballistics evidence had not been disclosed by prosecutors during Vedam’s two trials. Vedam had been on the verge of being freed in October when ICE agents took him into custody and sought to deport him.

Vedam told Panopoulos he turned down plea bargain offers during his first trial and that prosecutors made similar overtures during his retrial. Both ended in first-degree murder convictions.

“I never stopped saying I was innocent of this charge,” Vedam told the judge. He has been behind bars since March 31, 1982.

Vedam and Kinser had been high school friends and both were 19 years old when Kinser disappeared. He was last seen alive after taking Vedam to buy drugs in December 1980. Kinser’s van was found outside his apartment in State College and it was more than nine months later that hikers came across his remains in a sinkhole miles away. He had been shot in the head. The gun was never found.

Vedam was arrested on drug charges and eventually accused and convicted of Kinser’s murder.

Prosecutor declines a third trial

Jurors were told Vedam purchased a stolen .25-caliber gun and ammunition around the time Kinser disappeared but were not informed that an FBI report suggested Kinser’s head wound was too small for bullets that size.

In an Oct. 2 release announcing his decision not to retry Vedam, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna called it “a compelling circumstantial case” but that a third trial would be difficult because of the passage of time. Cantorna cited “the reality that 44 years is a sufficient sentence for a murder committed by someone who was nineteen years old.”

The prosecutor noted that Vedam had initially denied purchasing or owning a .25-caliber pistol, then testified at the second trial he purchased the gun after Kinser disappeared. Cantorna also wrote that the FBI matched “distinguishing marks” on a bullet casing found with Kinser’s remains to a casing recovered from where the gun seller said Vedam had test fired it.

Despite being cleared of Kinser’s murder, Vedam’s no-contest pleas to LSD distribution charges put him in danger of deportation. During the Wednesday hearing, DHS lawyer Tammy Dusharm pressed Vedam about his other arrests, including for driving under the influence and theft.

Dusharm told the judge that Vedam did not deserve to stay in the United States, given that he “was using and dealing drugs, driving under the influence, committing theft-related offenses.” She also brought up Vedam’s statements that he sold LSD only a few times.

“I find it fairly incredible that it would appear that every single time he sold drugs, he did so to an undercover officer,” Dusharm said.

SCOTT TADY

Nationally known pop-rock singer Chris Ruggiero phoned into the Beaver County Radio Morning show on Wednesday to discuss his April 21 concert in Beaver Falls.

Here is a replay of that interview:

Ruggiero will perform his “Teenage Dreams & Magic Moments” at Beaver Falls Middle School at 7:30 p.m. on April 21.

The PBS-TV star will perform songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s and he is backed by a four-piece band. His concert might feature songs that are iconic such as “California Dreamin’,” “Stand By Me,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” 

Ruggiero, who is often described as an “old soul” despite his young age, performs pop-rock music which defines three decades with energy, style and soul.

 The doors will open at 6:45 p.m. and tickets are available at the door, costing $25 for adults and $5 for students. The event is sponsored by the Beaver Valley Community Concert Association.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published April 2, 2026 10:21 A.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) A barge found itself lodged on the dam near the Beaver Falls Sewage Treatment Plant Thursday morning.

The dam is located in the Beaver River just below the Eastvale Bridge. Two pieces of the barge got stuck at the dam while the aggressive river rolled on.

The barge appeared to be used for construction, possibly coming from the Turnpike project upriver.

The City of Beaver Falls Police Department issued a statement around 12pm that both the Eastvale/Beaver Falls and New Brighton/Beaver Falls bridges had been temporarily closed. We have since learned that the bridges have been reopened but crews are closely monitoring the situation and the bridges could be shut down at any time.

As of 12:05pm Thursday, both pieces of the barge were still stuck at the dam and had not moved.