Bondi seeks to reverse Biden death row commutations, accuses former president of ‘undermining’ justice system

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is seeking to reverse the last-hour commutations for death row murderers last month by former President Joe Biden, directing state officials to pursue the death penalty against the inmates.

Bondi, who was confirmed Wednesday, sent out a letter about the commutations to Department of Justice (DOJ) employees Wednesday, accusing Biden of “undermin[ing] our justice system and subvert[ing] the rule of law” by granting the commutations.

“The commutations also robbed the victims’ families of the justice promised — and fought hard to achieve — by the Department of Justice,” Bondi wrote. “The Department of Justice is directed to immediately commence the following actions to achieve justice for the victims’ families of the 37 commuted murderers.”

Bondi said the DOJ will move to first “explore opportunities to provide a public forum for the victims’ families to express how the commutations affected them personally,” calling it an “important step” in building trust and achieving accountability.

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New U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called out former President Joe Biden in an email Wednesday. (Getty Images)

Then Bondi said she would direct U.S. attorney’s offices to pursue death sentences against the commuted inmates using state law rather than federal law. She said this step would take place “after consultation with the victims’ families and other interested parties” and only “where appropriate and legally permissible.”

“The Capital Case Section shall assist the United States Attorney’s Offices in implementing this directive,” Bondi’s letter stated. 

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“Third, the Federal Bureau of Prisons is directed to ensure that the conditions of confinement for each of the 37 commuted murderers are consistent with the security risks those inmates present because of their egregious crimes, criminal histories, and all other relevant considerations,” she added.

In a late-December decision, Biden removed 37 inmates from federal death row and reclassified their sentences to life without the possibility of parole. 

At the time, the White House said the move would prevent President-elect Donald Trump’s administration from “carrying out the execution sentences that would not be handed down under current policy and practice.”

Pam Bondi speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 23, 2024.  (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

“The President’s criminal justice record has transformed individual lives and positively impacted communities, especially historically marginalized communities,” the White House statement said at the time. “In the coming weeks, the President will take additional steps to provide meaningful second chances and continue to review additional pardons and commutations.”

Biden only left three mass murderers on death row: Charleston, South Carolina, church shooter Dylann Roof; Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; and Robert Bowers, the gunman responsible for the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018.

Bondi, a former prosecutor and Florida state attorney general, has previously said her main goal as AG is to root out political influence and weaponization from the DOJ.

“America will have one tier of justice for all,” she said at the time.

Pam Bondi is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing Jan. 15 in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Pritchett and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.