Attorney General Pam Bondi fires lead prosecutor in Govoni fraud case

[Zorro]

Source: Tampa Bay Times

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi fired the lead prosecutor handling the federal fraud case against St. Petersburg businessperson Leo Govoni, ostensibly in retaliation for his role in prosecuting Jan. 6 rioters.

A Department of Justice memo dated June 27 and obtained by the Tampa Bay Times informed Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon that he’d been removed from federal service. The memo bore Bondi’s signature.

Her action removes Gordon from a high-profile Tampa case involving the embezzlement of $100 million from medical trust funds taking place in Bondi’s home community. It came a day after Gordon successfully argued in court that Govoni should be denied bail.

Bondi’s memo does not state a reason for the dismissal but multiple national news outlets, including NBC News, reported that she fired three prosecutors, all of whom worked on Jan. 6 prosecutions. The prosecutors were not named.

The memo cites the president’s constitutional authority and the “laws of the United States” in removing Gordon from federal service, but gives no indication his termination was related to his job performance. Under the law, most federal prosecutors are not considered to be at-will employees, which means they cannot be fired without cause.

Read more: https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2025/07/07/attorney-general-pam-bondi-fires-lead-prosecutor-govoni-fraud-case/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. When will defendant's attorneys start asking for mistrials

because they had a prosecutor adhering to the law before he was fired. These musical chair prosecutors are as bad as Billy Martin's relief pitcher antics.

[pecosbob]

2. When all is said and done, she needs to go to jail.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

3. Nuremberg II

No to jail, to the gallows.

[moniss]

4. Reading between the lines might be

someone whispering "The check cleared the Swiss Bank".

[kkmarie]

7. I was going to ask why bother

Why bother to arrest him? But moniss I believe you answered that, about the money being received.
Of course it was about getting bribed.

[moniss]

8. I think the scenario

was them saying early on and publicly that they were going to release the files/list and then waiting for "interested parties" to quietly make contact behind the scenes to see how much the checks had to be to make this go away. Then once they figured they milked it for all they could they announce there is no info to release.

[mdbl]

5. This is disgusting. I am tired of the criminals running the prison.

[Hugin]

6. We all know Bondi will do anything for $25k.

It’s been there all along through her confirmation and time as the FL AG. Nobody seems to think it matters.