2026-04-06 13:01 EDT / 福克斯新闻
帕姆·邦迪的离职是一段可追溯至哈定政府茶壶山丑闻史的最新篇章
作者：查尔斯·克赖茨，福克斯新闻
发布于2026年4月6日美国东部时间下午1:01
劳拉：唐纳德·特朗普总统接下来会选谁？
福克斯新闻主持人劳拉·英格拉哈姆在《英格拉哈姆视角》栏目中讨论了帕姆·邦迪被解雇事件，以及围绕爱泼斯坦档案处理方式的争议。
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司法部长帕姆·邦迪上周的离职是美国最高执法官员一系列备受瞩目的解雇或辞职事件中的最新一起，这些事件从水门事件的关键人物到一位与总统分歧无法调和的备受尊敬的律师均有涉及。
前总统乔治·华盛顿于1789年任命开国元勋、前弗吉尼亚州州长埃德蒙·伦道夫为美国第一任司法部长，自那以来已有数十位继任者，有些人已被历史遗忘，另一些则更令人难忘。
埃利奥特·理查森与理查德·克莱因丁斯特——尼克松政府时期
水门大厦盗窃案发生时担任国防部长的埃利奥特·理查森被任命接替司法部长理查德·克莱因丁斯特。克莱因丁斯特在丑闻曝光后辞职，据报道他曾受到水门“水管工”团队成员的施压，要求其缓和局势。
“水管工”是被控闯入当时位于华盛顿雾谷水门酒店的民主党全国委员会总部的团体的绰号。该团体由中央情报局官员E·霍华德·亨特和联邦调查局特工、后来成为保守派脱口秀明星的G·戈登·利迪组织。这个名字据称源自“泄密”一词的双重含义——政治泄密与管道漏水。
美国司法部高官将就杰弗里·爱泼斯坦调查向众议院监督委员会做简报
埃利奥特·理查森（左）与理查德·尼克松总统（右）（原图/盖蒂图片社）
据英国《卫报》报道，1972年6月，克莱因丁斯特正在马里兰州贝塞斯达的燃烧树高尔夫球场打球时，利迪 reportedly 上前告诉他，尼克松的连任委员会涉嫌参与了此次盗窃案。
克莱因丁斯特 reportedly 让这名探员滚开，联邦调查随即照常展开。
随着丑闻愈演愈烈，尼克松于1973年4月30日宣布，他已接受克莱因丁斯特以及总统助手约翰·埃利希曼和H·R·霍尔德曼的辞职，并解雇了白宫法律顾问约翰·迪恩——迪恩经常称唐纳德·特朗普总统的任期比他的老上司还要糟糕。
“克莱因丁斯特先生请求解除其司法部长职务，因为他认为，既然司法部对水门事件及相关案件的调查可能牵连到与其有着密切私人和职业联系的人员，他就无法恰当地继续担任司法部部长一职，”尼克松在当日的公开信中说道。
理查森随后上任，但其任期以美国历史上最重大的行政部门离职事件之一告终：“周六夜大屠杀”。
1973年10月20日，在阿奇博尔德·考克斯 subpoena 了椭圆形办公室录音带后不久，尼克松下令理查森解雇这名水门事件特别检察官。理查森此前任命了考克斯，且据报道曾承诺无正当理由不会解雇他，因此他拒绝执行命令并辞职。
特朗普解雇法官提名的联邦检察官，司法部高官警告法院恪守职权范围
尼克松随后要求理查森的副手威廉·拉克尔肖斯解雇考克斯，他同样拒绝执行命令并辞职。
尼克松接着命令拉克尔肖斯的副手、司法部副部长罗伯特·博克执行解雇命令——博克后来因罗纳德·里根总统提名其进入最高法院未果而声名大噪。博克执行了命令，据报道他曾考虑辞职，但在其前任的敦促下留任以确保司法部的稳定。
同年11月，一位由林登·约翰逊任命的联邦法官裁定解雇考克斯的行为非法。
尼克松本人最终在近一年后的1974年8月9日辞职。
正如宪法中心等机构所述，理查森的遗产成为了一位在危机时刻为个人尊严牺牲职业地位的内阁官员的象征。
阿尔贝托·冈萨雷斯——乔治·W·布什政府时期
阿尔贝托·冈萨雷斯（左）；乔治·W·布什总统（右）（马克·威尔逊/盖蒂图片社）
阿尔贝托·冈萨雷斯是乔治·W·布什总统最亲密的顾问之一，其渊源可追溯至布什担任得克萨斯州州长时期。他也是美国首位西班牙裔司法部长，也是特朗普2025年任命马尔科·卢比奥为国务卿之前美国职位最高的西班牙裔内阁官员。
2007年，在两党对司法部解雇数名联邦检察官的批评日益加剧，以及有关他在国会调查中未坦诚说明政治是否在解雇事件中发挥作用的指控不断涌现之际，冈萨雷斯最终辞去了最高执法职务。
布什对其好友的辞职表示惋惜，称“令人悲哀的是，我们生活在这样一个时代，像阿尔贝托·冈萨雷斯这样才华横溢、正直高尚的人，只因他的美名被出于政治目的泼脏水，就无法开展重要工作。”
随着解雇事件以及为针对恐怖嫌疑人的强化审讯手段辩护的言论引发的争议不断升级，冈萨雷斯面临着越来越大的压力和批评。
在一场激烈的参议院听证会上，他数十次表示“我不记得”或类似表述，他与宾夕法尼亚州参议员阿伦·斯佩克特等共和党人以及加利福尼亚州参议员黛安·范斯坦等民主党人展开了交锋。
纽约州民主党参议员查尔斯·舒默后来就他的答复与冈萨雷斯对质。
卡尔·罗夫：特朗普解雇了邦迪，但真正的政治斗争才刚刚开始
“你已经将近100个问题回答了‘我不知道’或‘我记不起来了’。你对自己部门的大部分运作都不熟悉。关于八名联邦检察官中的大多数人的解雇问题，我们仍然没有得到关于何人、何时以及为何的令人信服的解释，”舒默愤怒地说道，这番话引自左翼媒体“民主现在”发布的 transcript。
在证词中，冈萨雷斯表示，联邦检察官确实由总统酌情任免，司法部“基于证据做出决定，而非看目标是共和党人还是民主党人”。
“我知道我没有，也绝不会为了党派政治利益而要求任何人辞职，以干扰或影响某一特定的起诉，”冈萨雷斯说道。“我也没有理由相信参与这一过程的任何人会出于不当理由谋求罢免一名联邦检察官。”
尽管如此，布什仍然支持他的任命，驳斥了舒默、范斯坦和罗德岛州民主党参议员谢尔顿·怀特豪斯起草的“不信任”决议，这场争议持续发酵。
最终，冈萨雷斯于2007年8月27日宣布将于9月17日辞职。
“昨天我会见了布什总统，并告知他我决定结束作为司法部长的政府公职生涯……让我说，领导司法部是我最大的荣幸之一，”冈萨雷斯在辞职声明中说道。
“我非常钦佩和尊重在这里工作的男女同事。作为司法部长，我一直尽可能亲自会见他们中的许多人，今天我想再次感谢他们为国家服务。”
杰夫·塞申斯——特朗普政府时期
司法部长帕姆·邦迪（左）、杰斐逊·塞申斯三世（中）与唐纳德·特朗普总统（克里斯·克莱波尼斯/彭博社泳池照片）
前阿拉巴马州参议员杰夫·塞申斯是首位在2016年总统竞选期间支持当时还是开发商的唐纳德·特朗普的参议院议员。
然而，这位移民执法强硬派和特朗普的忠实支持者在任期初期就与新总统的关系恶化。
塞申斯因在为特朗普竞选期间曾与俄罗斯大使谢尔盖·基斯利亚克私下会面的报道中，主动回避了特朗普-俄罗斯调查。
这次回避激怒了特朗普，导致特朗普在媒体上频繁抨击塞申斯，并将罗伯特·米勒三世前联邦调查局局长被任命为俄罗斯问题特别检察官归咎于塞申斯。
特朗普还指责塞申斯未对希拉里·克林顿提起刑事诉讼。
塞申斯的任期在2018年中期选举共和党失去众议院控制权的次日结束，但这位阿拉巴马人在扭转奥巴马时代政策、打击庇护城市政策方面留下了成功的职业记录。
美国代理司法部长托德·布兰奇称围绕邦迪被解雇的猜测‘完全不实’
但特朗普解雇塞申斯进一步激怒了民主党批评者，新泽西州参议员科里·布克称这是“令人担忧的事态发展，使我们离宪法危机又近了一步”。
布克声称特朗普解雇塞申斯是因为他害怕米勒会在俄罗斯调查中牵连到自己。
威廉·巴尔——特朗普政府时期
司法部长威廉·巴尔发表讲话（迈克尔·雷诺兹/盖蒂图片社）
前司法部长威廉·巴尔于2020年12月辞去了其第二任美国最高执法职务，此前两人就上月选举是否存在大规模舞弊存在争议。
巴尔此前曾在乔治·H·W·布什政府任职，他告诉美联社他没有看到“规模足以改变选举结果的舞弊行为”，这似乎激怒了特朗普。
在宣布离职时，特朗普在推特上表示他与巴尔进行了“愉快的会面”，两人的关系“一直非常好；他工作表现出色”。
巴尔还称赞了特朗普的第一任期政绩，称其遭遇了“党派攻击”和“ relentless、不屈不挠的抵抗”。
在2022年接受NBC新闻采访时，就在他的著作《一件接着一件》出版前夕，巴尔表示他曾在白宫告诉特朗普，他理解总统对他感到沮丧，并表示他愿意提交辞呈。
“接受了，”特朗普据称说道，但总统本人据称称是他要求巴尔辞职，而非总检察长主动辞职。
帕姆·邦迪被解雇为司法部长——以下是可能接任她的潜在人选
“他为窃取选举主张所采取的荒谬行径导致了国会山骚乱，”巴尔说道，并补充称特朗普的行为仍未达到民主党所称的“煽动”的法律程度。
在辞职信中，巴尔称赞特朗普能够“挺过”俄罗斯调查以及民主党试图“削弱甚至推翻本届政府”的企图，并表示总统恢复了美国军事力量并遏制了非法移民。
哈里·多尔蒂——哈定与柯立芝政府时期
沃伦·加梅利尔·哈定总统与友人1921年在迈阿密钓鱼。总统左数第四位，司法部长哈里·多尔蒂左数第三位（盖蒂图片社）
美国现代史上首位被罢免的司法部长是哈里·多尔蒂，他是沃伦·哈定总统政府的成员。
多尔蒂是所谓的“俄亥俄帮”的一员，该团伙由哈定家乡州的长期密友组成。
多尔蒂的倒台始于茶壶山丑闻——这是水门事件之前最臭名昭著的事件——该丑闻导致内政部长阿尔伯特·福尔入狱。
福尔于1923年被牵连进怀俄明州茶壶山的低价或无底价石油租赁交易，并因接受能源公司的贿赂而入狱。
多尔蒂后来因未能起诉参与茶壶山丑闻的人员而接受调查，还被指控卷入其他数起丑闻，包括在禁酒令期间被指控共谋出售非法酒类许可证。
他还被指控利用影响力谋取私利，“俄亥俄帮”成员被指控出售政府职位。
据1930年《时代》周刊报道，多尔蒂的兄弟马尔是一家银行的总裁，该银行后来被俄亥俄州关闭，因为参议院在对多尔蒂司法部长的调查中无法“撬开”相关信息。
该兄弟的银行在此期间出现了“大额提款”，引起了哥伦布监管机构的注意。
哈里·多尔蒂最终在哈定1923年8月在任期间去世后被罢免。
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新任总统卡尔文·柯立芝以丧失公众信任和拒绝移交有关所谓腐败的部门记录为由将他赶出了司法部。
多尔蒂从未被定罪。
查尔斯·克赖茨是福克斯新闻数字频道的记者。
他于2013年以撰稿人和制作助理的身份加入福克斯新闻。
查尔斯为福克斯新闻数字频道报道媒体、政治和文化领域。
查尔斯是宾夕法尼亚州本地人，毕业于天普大学，获广播新闻学学士学位。新闻线索可发送至charles.creitz@fox.com。
Top cops out: The attorney general firings and forced exits that made history
2026-04-06 13:01 EDT / Fox News
Pam Bondi’s exit is the latest chapter in a history stretching back to the Harding administration’s Teapot Dome scandal
By Charles Creitz, Fox News
Published April 6, 2026 1:01pm EDT
Laura: Who will President Donald Trump choose next?
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Attorney General Pam Bondi’s departure last week was the latest in a series of high-profile firings or resignations of America’s top law enforcement officer, from a key Watergate figure to a well-respected attorney whose differences with the president became irreconcilable.
Former President George Washington appointed Founding Father and former Virginia Gov. Edmund Randolph the nation’s first attorney general in 1789, and in the years since, there have been dozens of successors, some lost to history and others more memorable.
Eliot Richardson and Richard Kleindienst — Nixon
Eliot Richardson, the secretary of defense at the time of the Watergate burglary, was named to succeed Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, who resigned amid the scandal after reportedly being pressured by a member of the Watergate “plumbers” to assuage the situation.
“Plumbers” was the moniker for the group accused in the burglary at the DNC headquarters, then located at the Watergate Hotel in Foggy Bottom, D.C. They were organized by CIA officer E. Howard Hunt and FBI agent-turned-future conservative talk radio star G. Gordon Liddy. The name purportedly came from the dual meaning of “leaks” — political versus pipes.
TOP DOJ OFFICIALS TO BRIEF HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE FOR JEFFREY EPSTEIN PROBE
Eliot Richardson, left, and President Richard Nixon, right.(Original/Getty Images)
Kleindienst was playing golf at Burning Tree in Bethesda, Md., in June 1972 when Liddy reportedly approached him to say that the Committee to Re-elect the President (Nixon’s committee) was involved in the burglary, according to an account from the UK Guardian.
Kleindienst reportedly told the G-man to get lost, and the federal investigation ensued as normal.
As the scandal raged on April 30, 1973, Nixon announced he had accepted the resignations of Kleindienst, and presidential assistants John Ehrlichman and H.R. Haldeman — and fired White House Counsel John Dean — who has often called President Donald Trump’s tenure worse than that of his old boss.
“Mr. Kleindienst asked to be relieved as Attorney General because he felt that he could not appropriately continue as head of the Justice Department now that it appears its investigation of the Watergate and related cases may implicate individuals with whom he has had a close personal and professional association,” Nixon said in a public letter that day.
Richardson’s tenure began thereafter and ended with one of the most significant executive branch departures in history: the “Saturday Night Massacre.”
On October 20, 1973, Nixon ordered Richardson to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox shortly after Cox subpoenaed the Oval Office recordings. Richardson, who appointed Cox and reportedly pledged not to fire him without cause, refused and resigned.
TRUMP FIRES JUDGE-PICKED US ATTORNEY AS TOP DOJ OFFICIAL WARNS COURTS TO STAY IN THEIR LANE
Nixon then asked Richardson’s deputy, William Ruckelshaus, to fire Cox, and he also resigned instead of carrying out the order.
Nixon then ordered Ruckelshaus’ deputy, Solicitor General Robert Bork, who is better known for his unsuccessful nomination to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan, to fire Cox. Bork did so and reportedly considered resigning but stayed on at the urging of his predecessors to ensure stability at the DOJ.
That November, an LBJ-appointed federal judge found that Cox’s firing had been unlawful.
Nixon himself ultimately resigned almost one year later on August 9, 1974.
Richardson’s legacy became that of a cabinet official who, in times of crisis, sacrificed professional status for personal integrity, as described by the Constitution Center and others.
Alberto Gonzales — G.W. Bush
Alberto Gonzales, left; President George W. Bush, right.(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Alberto Gonzales was one of President George W. Bush’s closest advisers, going back to his time as Texas governor. He was also the first Hispanic attorney general and the highest-ranking Hispanic cabinet official until Trump named Marco Rubio to secretary of state in 2025.
Gonzales ultimately resigned the top cop post in 2007 amid mounting bipartisan criticism of the DOJ’s firing of several U.S. attorneys and allegations that he was not forthright during congressional inquiries about whether politics played a role in the firings.
Bush lamented his friend’s resignation, saying “it is sad that we live in a time when a talented and honorable person like Alberto Gonzales is impeded from doing important work because his good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.”
Gonzales faced mounting pressure and criticism amid the firings and regarding comments defending enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists.
He stated “I do not recall” or similar framings of the statement dozens of times during a contentious Senate hearing where he battled Republicans like Pennsylvania’s Arlen Specter and Democrats including California’s Dianne Feinstein.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., later confronted Gonzales over his responses.
KARL ROVE: TRUMP DROPPED BONDI, BUT THE REAL POLITICAL FIGHT IS JUST BEGINNING
“You’ve answered ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I can’t recall’ to close to a hundred questions. You’re not familiar with much of the workings of your own department. And we still don’t have convincing explanations of the who, when and why, in regard to the firing of the majority of the eight U.S. attorneys,” Schumer fumed, according to a transcript posted to the left-wing outlet DemocracyNow.
In his testimony, Gonzales said U.S. Attorneys indeed serve at the pleasure of the president, and that the Justice Department makes “decisions based on the evidence, not whether the target is a Republican or a Democrat.”
“I know that I did not, and would not, ask for a resignation of any individual in order to interfere with or influence a particular prosecution for partisan political gain,” Gonzales said. “I also have no basis to believe that anyone involved in this process sought the removal of a U.S. Attorney for an improper reason.”
Bush nonetheless remained behind his pick, rebuking a “no confidence” resolution drafted by Schumer, Feinstein and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. as the controversy continued.
Ultimately, Gonzales announced on August 27, 2007, that he would be stepping down on September 17.
“Yesterday I met with President Bush and informed him of my decision to conclude my government service as attorney general… let me say that it’s been one of my greatest privileges to lead the Department of Justice,” Gonzales said in his resignation announcement.
“I have great admiration and respect for the men and women who work here. I have made a point as attorney general to personally meet as many of them as possible, and today I want to again thank them for their service to our nation.”
Jeff Sessions — Trump
Attorneys general Pam Bondi, left, Jefferson Sessions III, center, and President Donald Trump.(Chris Kleponis/Pool-Bloomberg)
Former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions was the first in the upper chamber to endorse then-developer Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential bid.
The immigration enforcement hardliner and Trump loyalist, however, saw his relationship with the new president fray early in their term.
Sessions recused himself from the Trump-Russia investigation, citing his own campaigning for Trump amid reports he also met personally with Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak.
The recusal incensed Trump and led him to regularly bash Sessions in the press, and also to blame Sessions for the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller III as special counsel in the Russia case.
Trump also faulted Sessions for declining to criminally pursue Hillary Clinton.
Sessions’ tenure ended the day after Republicans lost the House in the 2018 midterm elections, but left the Alabamian with a successful professional record in reversing Obama-era policies and cracking down on sanctuary city policies.
US INTERIM ATTORNEY GENERAL TODD BLANCHE CALLS SPECULATION SURROUNDING BONDI’S FIRING ‘SIMPLY NOT TRUE’
But Trump’s firing of Sessions only further invigorated his Democratic critics, as New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called it an “alarming development that brings us one step closer to a constitutional crisis.”
Booker claimed Trump fired Sessions because he was scared Mueller would implicate him in the Russia investigation.
William Barr — Trump
Attorney General William Barr speaks.(Michael Reynolds/Getty Images)
Former Attorney General William Barr resigned from his second tenure as the nation’s top cop in December 2020, amid disputes over whether the prior month’s election had been subject to widespread fraud.
Barr, who previously served under President George H.W. Bush, appeared to irritate Trump when he told The Associated Press he had not seen “fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
In announcing the departure, Trump tweeted that he had a “nice meeting” with Barr and that his relationship “has been a very good one; he has done an outstanding job.”
Barr also touted Trump’s first-term record amid what he called a “partisan onslaught” and “relentless, implacable resistance.”
In comments to NBC News in 2022 ahead of the release of his book “One Damn Thing After Another,” Barr said he told Trump at the White House that he understood the president was frustrated with him, and that he was willing to submit his resignation.
“Accepted,” Trump supposedly said, but the president himself reportedly claimed he asked for Barr’s resignation, not that the AG quit.
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“The absurd lengths to which he took his stolen election claim led to the rioting on Capitol Hill,” Barr said, while adding that Trump’s actions still wouldn’t reach the legal level of “incitement” as claimed by Democrats.
In his resignation letter, Barr applauded Trump’s ability to “weather” the Russia investigation and Democrats’ attempts to “cripple if not oust [the] administration,” and said the president restored the U.S. military and curbed illegal immigration.
Harry Daugherty — Harding and Coolidge
President Warren Gamaliel Harding and friends go fishing in Miami in 1921. The president is fourth from left, and AG Harry Daugherty is third from left.(Getty Images)
The first attorney general of the modern era to be ousted was Harry Daugherty, a member of President Warren Harding’s administration.
Daugherty was part of the so-called “Ohio Gang” of longtime Harding confidants from his home state.
Daugherty’s fall began amid the Teapot Dome Scandal — the most infamous incident prior to Watergate — which led to the imprisonment of Interior Secretary Albert Fall.
Fall was implicated in low- or no-bid oil leases at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, in 1923, and jailed for accepting bribes from energy companies.
Daugherty was later investigated for allegedly failing to prosecute people involved in Teapot Dome, and was allegedly implicated in a handful of other scandals, including being charged with conspiracy amid the sale of illegal liquor permits during prohibition.
He was also accused of influence peddling and members of the “Ohio Gang” were accused of selling government appointments.
Daugherty’s brother Mal was president of a bank, which was later closed by the state of Ohio after the Senate was unable to “pry” during its investigation into Attorney General Daugherty, according to a 1930 TIME report.
The sibling’s bank recorded “heavy withdrawals” during that time, which caught the attention of regulators in Columbus.
Harry Daugherty ultimately met his ouster after Harding died in office in August 1923.
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New President Calvin Coolidge booted him from the DOJ over loss of public trust and refusal to turn over departmental records regarding alleged corruption.
Daugherty was never convicted.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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