On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began its confirmation hearings for Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump’s pick for attorney general. Democrats attacked Bondi for purported closeness to Trump, while Bondi accused the DOJ of politicizing and weaponizing its position.
“I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice,” Bondi stated in her opening remarks, adding, “That partisanship, the weaponization will be gone.”
“My overriding objective is to return the DOJ to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals,” she continued.
Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) pressed Bondi as to whether she would drop a case if the White House desired for her to do so. Bondi replied that she would not have accepted the nomination if she felt that such a situation would occur.
The afternoon witnessed a tense exchange between Bondi and Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) on the subject of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania. Padilla spoke over Bondi after he asked her whether she possesses evidence of election fraud during the 2020 election. “You cut me off when I was speaking,” Bondi responded, adding “I’m not going to be bullied by you. I guess you don’t want to hear my answer.”
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) asked Pam Bondi if she will investigate a leaked FBI-memo advocating the recruitment of informants in Catholic parishes, based on information from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bondi responded that the memo constituted “the ultimate weaponization” of the Federal government, and that she would look into the memo with Kash Patel, should he be confirmed as the director of the FBI.
Bondi also pledged to look into putting an end to use of the SPLC as a source for the Department of Justice in questioning by Hawley.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) asked Bondi about various alleged instances of weaponization of the DOJ, such as the investigation of parents attending school board meetings and placing of informants in Catholic Churches. “Going after parents at a school board meeting has got to stop,” Bondi stated. “Sending informants into Catholic Churches must stop.”
At this time, a confirmation vote date has not yet been announced for Bondi.
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