Attorney General Pam Bondi got into several heated exchanges with Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.) during which Bondi accused the senator of not caring about his home state and having “stormed” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a press conference earlier this year.
Bondi ripped Padilla for delivering a long statement criticizing her leadership of the Department of Justice before asking his first question.
“First, Sen. Padilla, you’ve gone on for over five minutes, and I wish that you loved your state of California as much as you hate President Trump. We’d be in really good shape then, because violent crime in California is currently 35 percent higher than the national average,” Bondi retorted.
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Padilla tried to cut her off and ask his next question, but Bondi refused to yield the mic.
“No, you can’t go on for five minutes and criticize my agents who are out working without pay right now,” she said, waving her index finger at him.
That proceeded to loud cross talk and confusion in the room until Padilla called on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee’s chair, to restore order.
Padilla then asked Bondi what he called a “simple question,” specifically who made the decision to end the investigation of Trump border czar Tom Homan for accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents.
Bondi appeared frustrated by the question and chastised the senator for missing earlier parts of the hearing.
“I have answered that question multiple times, yet you didn’t have the courtesy to be sitting in here for the hearing. I’m not going to be answering it. I find it interesting that you want order … in this proceeding now. You sure didn’t have order when you stormed Secretary Noem at a press conference in California, did you?” Bondi said.
Padilla tried to interrupt Bondi’s verbal barrage by asking Grassley to restore order.
The California Democrat reminded Bondi that she was testifying under oath and disputed her claim that he “stormed” Noem.
Padilla was forcibly removed and then handcuffed after he interrupted a press conference Noem held in Los Angeles in June.