Leaked Memo from Pam Bondi Declares Anti-Trump Activists Domestic Terrorists

Attorney General Pam Bondi is directing the FBI to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism.” Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein broke the story on his website, including a link to the memo leaked from her office. The memo, dated December 4th, went out to “all federal prosecutors, law enforcement agencies,” and “department of justice grant-making components.” Klippenstein published the revelatory document two days later. 

Pay close attention to how definitions of terrorism evolve, & who gets to define it. In her memo, Bondi interprets domestic terrorism as the “organized doxing of law enforcement, mass rioting and destruction in our cities, violent efforts to shut down immigration enforcement, targeting of public officials or other political actors, etc.” 

Compare Bondi’s domestic terrorism definition to one from six years prior. In 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation defined domestic terrorism as being “perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with primarily U.S.-based movements that espouse extremist ideologies of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”

The attorney general oversees the FBI and as such, retains authority over how the FBI classifies internal threats to the United States. In 2018, that role belonged to Jeff Sessions until his public ousting at Trump’s behest set in motion a revolving door of attorneys general. Here at the end of 2025, Trump’s attorney general is Pam Bondi, and her concept of domestic terrorism is different. Bondi’s idea probably mutated from her predecessor’s determination to identify those US-based movements espousing so-called extremist ideologies. 

Notice how Bondi’s definition shifts your focus from individuals and groups subscribed to ideas perceived as controversial, to actions for which anyone could be found guilty. The dizzying path she took to her version ends in a perspective that prioritizes the protection of ICE agents and the like. On her way, she encountered a hole in the plot: to call anything a crime, you need to identify the perpetrator. Bondi named the crimes—doxing, targeting, rioting—but failed to attach an actor. This slight detail may seem negligible, but to dismiss it as Bondi did would mean overlooking an obvious mistake. 

Pam Bondi’s distorted definition of domestic terrorism lets her apply it to occasions such as the doxing and harassment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the attack on an ICE facility in Alvarado, Texas that took place this past Independence Day, and the assassination of right wing activist Charlie Kirk on September 10th, 2025. 

While Bondi’s memo says First Amendment-protected activity will be exempt from investigation, it also reflects who her revisions were for. Again, how Bondi employs language in service of her party’s interests is what betrays her. Who comes to mind when you think of friends who stand in “opposition to law and immigration enforcement,” who hold supposedly “extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; hostility toward traditional views on family, religion, and morality[?]” 

Clearly Bondi’s language can be used to vilify. Trump considers his detractors, especially among the LGBT+ community, enemies of the state. The memo also bypasses constitutional rights like freedom of expression & religion protected by the 1st Amendment, despite Trump’s Presidential Action “restoring free speech and ending federal censorship,” issued the day of his inauguration. Time has proven Trump’s belief that only people who share his prejudices ought to have a say. 

Like Alex Jones, originator of the Sandy Hook crisis actor controversy, the president believes in the power of spectacle. At anti-Trump protests far-right agents provocateurs might appear and escalate the demonstration into a full-on riot. Trump’s regime will pursue every opportunity and excuse to criminalize our right to protest. It mires dissenters in our nightmarish US legal system, intimidates their fellows out of protesting, and guarantees every demonstration will fail. Reports of cops planting drugs or weapons on arrested protesters to boost charges are not uncommon. 

Sometimes Trump’s bloodlust rivals that of a reviled Roman emperor. Recall how he encouraged his supporters’ physical attacks on demonstrators at rallies throughout his first term. It’s getting increasingly difficult (especially as his senility advances) to put anything past him and agents at his command. Trump has already targeted visitors from overseas, particularly if they voiced any disapproval of him or his policies, even privately. 

Trump will even search a foreign traveler’s social media history for any anti-Trump sentiments in the past five years. On September 22nd, Trump designated antifa a terrorist organization. Antifa, if you remember, means “anti-fascist,” which merely describes one political ideology opposed to one far worse. Despite the fearmongering, Trump’s regime is no doubt well-aware of antifa’s lack of central organization. It’s an angle that, in their eyes, begs to be exploited. Whatever it takes to outlaw dissent and jail perceived enemies. 

Ironically, anti-fascist groups do not gather like their right-wing counterparts the Proud Boys and Turning Point USA. If antifa were cohesive as Trump suspects, they would’ve been present in DC on January 6th. Picture Proud Boys getting curbstomped on the Capitol steps. I can almost hear the crunch of jawbones that will never utter hate speech coherently again. A boy can dream, right?