After only 14 months, Attorney General Pam Bondi has been fired, and her deputy, Todd Blanche has been named acting AG. Kaitlin Collins with CNN reported the day before that Trump was considering firing Bondi and replacing her with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.

For some who believe Trump values loyalty above all else, Bondi’s firing may come as a surprise. There is no doubt of Bondi’s unwavering commitment to Trump, which was on full display during her recent visit to Memphis. She gushed over the President’s leadership during a Memphis Safe Task Force roundtable.

Throughout her short but eventful tenure, Bondi impeded efforts to fully release the Epstein files, shifted DOJ resources away from civil rights and January 6 prosecutions, and aided Trump’s pardons of friends, business associates, and loyalists. Who could forget her shrill and combative sparring with Congress and her frantic searches through the “burn book” to deflect pointed questions and land ad hominem attacks?

Honestly, what more could Pam have done?

The fallacy in this analysis is that there is something Trump values more than loyalty. Trump is bloodthirsty for retribution. Though she tried with all her might and the blatant weaponization of the Justice Department, Bondi was unable to do little more than fire DOJ attorneys deemed disloyal.

At Trump’s public behest, Bondi attempted to prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump for financial crimes and won. Trump was ordered to pay $450 million, though an appeals court found the judgment excessive. Initial charges against James for bank fraud were dismissed by a federal judge who found that special prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed. Then, Bondi failed to convince a grand jury to indict James.

Again, through a social media post, Trump ordered Bondi to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey. His case was also dismissed because of the unlawful appointment of special prosecutor Halligan. The Justice Department appealed both cases. The cases are working their way through the appeals process, but Trump is not known for his patience.

Bondi’s Justice Department investigated others on Trump’s enemies list, including former Fed Chair Jerome Powell. As of last month, court records show that prosecutors have not found evidence of a crime. Similarly, in the case of Senator Adam Schiff, prosecutors have struggled to find evidence that he falsified bank documents. And desired investigations of John Brennan and James Clapper have fizzled.

While the old adage, “you can indict a ham sandwich,” may be true, apparently, you need some evidence to convict one.

The DOJ under Trump’s former personal attorney won’t be any more effective at revenge prosecutions than under Bondi. And if House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer grows a full spine, Bondi will have to testify about the Epstein Files before the committee despite no longer holding the position of U.S. Attorney General.

While no one in either party is sad to see Bondi go, it is hard to see how Trump will benefit. But as the MAGA faithful keep telling us, we’re all just playing checkers, and Trump’s playing 3-D chess.