Overview

• Attorney General Pam Bondi said this week the administration would “go after” people using hate speech and threatened action over an Office Depot employee’s refusal to print Charlie Kirk vigil posters.
• Prominent conservatives and the Wall Street Journal editorial board criticized her remarks, noting that hate speech is generally protected by the First Amendment.
• Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon clarified that the department will not pursue “nasty speech” and will focus on prosecutable categories such as incitement, true threats, and hate‑motivated attacks.
• President Trump publicly defended Bondi and there were no indications he planned to remove her despite calls from some on the right to do so.
• Interest in free‑speech issues surged, with CNN reporting a 186 percent jump in Google searches, as Bondi’s past Epstein‑files controversy also resurfaced in coverage of her tenure.