President-elect Trump’s selection to be attorney general, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, made her case for the role at a confirmation hearing Wednesday, balancing between refined legal knowledge and support for Trump’s agenda.
Bondi sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee and faced multiple rounds of question from the panel, led by chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), ranging from legal minutiae to how she will reform the Justice Department after it engaged in prosecutions against Trump and other conservatives during President Biden’s term.
“As the recent terrorist attacks in New Orleans and around the world have shown, our national security is a high priority. The American people deserve a secure homeland and borders, safe streets, orderly markets, civil rights, and a protected environment. Delivering on these promises requires the swift confirmation of an Attorney General,” Grassley began.
“When confirmed, Ms. Bondi will take the helm at a turbulent time. The Justice Department’s infected with political decision-making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality,” Grassley added.
Leading Trump’s Justice Department is one of the most important roles in the entire federal government, especially because of Trump’s animosity towards the institution thanks to several controversies the department faced under Attorney General Merrick Garland and during Trump’s first term.
Setting the tone for GOP Senators, Grassley referenced a few of those controversies as evidence of a broader “rot” of the Justice Department that is damaging its standing as an institution.
In making the case for Justice Department corruption, Grassley cited the FBI’s crossfire hurricane investigation into Trump based on false claims in the Steele Dossier, the Justice Department’s surveillance of his former staffers, and the FBI’s central role in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election.
Grassley further referenced special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal cases against Trump and the Justice Department’s prosecution of peaceful pro-life activists for praying outside of abortion clinics. He has conducted extensive oversight of the Justice Department, particularly during Garland’s tenure as attorney general.
Ranking member Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) began the hearing by arguing Trump’s sole requirement for his attorney general is loyalty to his agenda. Durbin warned of Trump’s threats to seek retribution against his political enemies and made note of Trump’s conduct following the 2020 presidential election.
Durbin said the Justice Department needs to be insulated from outside political pressure and said he wants to know if Bondi will say “no” to Trump if he orders her to do something illegal. He raised the same issues during his round of questioning, asking Bondi if she accepted the results of the 2020 election. Bondi said Biden is president and accepted the 2020 results, although she suggested that suspicious activity occurred in Pennsylvania.
Bondi served as Florida’s attorney general for eight years and before that she was a local prosecutor for almost two decades. She brought cases across a number of areas including human trafficking, pill mills, and violent crime. Additionally, Bondi was one of Trump’s defense attorneys during his first impeachment and lobbied for governments and corporations after leaving office.
Bondi touted her extensive prosecutorial record and experience as a state prosecutor fighting violent crime and combating the opioid crisis. She celebrated legislation she fought for in Florida to crack down on opioid dealers and the resources she provided to mitigate human trafficking.
Bondi asserted that she will end the Justice Department’s targeting of parents who speak out against local officials at school board meetings as well as the persecution of Catholics who pray outside of abortion clinics. Similarly, she said the FACE Act, which the Biden administration has used to prosecute pro-life activists protesting outside of abortion clinics, will be applied equally to protect women entering pro-life crisis pregnancy centers.
In terms of pardoning January 6 Capitol rioters, Bondi asserted that she would go on a case-by-case basis to advise Trump’s decision-making. Bondi condemned violence against law enforcement officers and said she would look into all the case files.
Asked if she would shut down the FBI’s counter-terrorism work, Bondi said the FBI plays a “vital” role in fighting terrorism and said she has no intentions of shutting any agencies down. She also said section 702 of FISA is extremely important for intelligence gathering and that she would look into it when it is up for renewal next year. Section 702 is an intelligence tool the FBI uses to monitor foreign threats that has become scrutinized because of its use against American citizens.