Florida’s Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking an independent probe of the firing of two foreclosure fraud investigators from her office, who claim they were let go because they were going after lenders too aggressively.
Bondi, elected in 2010, said she is concerned that her office doesn’t have documentation on the forced resignations of Assistant Attorneys General Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson in May, the Tampa Tribune reported.
Bondi has denied the allegation that the two were let go for political reasons. “The only directive I’ve ever given any employee of my office is to go after the bad guys with everything you’ve got,” she said, according to the paper. “This decision was made — as it should be — by three of my top staff members. And I trust their judgment.”
She plans to ask an inspector general from another cabinet office to conduct the probe.
“I want to do anything we can to make it better,” Bondi said. “Even if it’s — and I’m just throwing this out — but even if it’s possibly bringing in an executive director to handle personnel decisions.”