Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony before senators on Tuesday offered new insights into the Justice Department’s handling of hot-button issues such as Biden-era FBI surveillance of Republican lawmakers, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and National Guard troop deployment.
Bondi’s grilling before the Senate Judiciary Committee marked her first testimony since being confirmed by the chamber in February as the nation’s chief law enforcement official.
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Here are five takeaways from the more than four hours of questioning:
GOP senators demand hearing, special prosecutor for ‘Arctic Frost’ FBI surveillance
Republicans called on Bondi to reveal more information and appoint a special prosecutor on the Biden-era phone surveillance of eight GOP senators and one House Republican by former special counsel Jack Smith.
An FBI document released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) the day before showed Smith’s team in 2023 tracked the origin, destination, and timing of calls involving the lawmakers around the time of the 2021 Capitol attack as part of the investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The contents of the communications did not appear to be tracked.
Citing an ongoing investigation, Bondi repeatedly declined to provide additional details about Smith’s so-called “Arctic Frost” operation but assailed the episode as “an unconstitutional, undemocratic abuse of power.” She said nearly 100 GOP-linked individuals and organizations, including the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, were placed on a surveillance list.
The Republican lawmakers whose phone records were tapped were Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Josh Hawley (MO), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), Bill Hagerty (TN), Dan Sullivan (AK), Cynthia Lummis (WY), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) and Hawley demanded Grassley hold separate hearings, and Hawley and Blackburn called on Bondi to appoint a special prosecutor. Grassley said he would wait for the FBI to conduct a more thorough inquiry before determining whether to hold Arctic Frost hearings.
“When taken in context with widespread government weaponization against Trump and conservatives in the last decade, the context, arguably, is worse than Watergate,” Grassley said.
Bondi said she would disclose in writing to Grassley how many FBI personnel were involved and reprimanded. She declined to answer questions about knowledge and approval by Biden-era DOJ officials.
Bondi spars with Democrats over Epstein files: ‘There was no client list’
Bondi skirted questions and denied accusations from Democrats that the Trump administration was stopping the release of a supposed client list by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The attorney general said Democrats’ newfound interest in Epstein was for the purpose of trying to uncover damning information on President Donald Trump.
In one instance, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned if the FBI had uncovered any photos from Epstein’s possessions showing “Trump with half-naked, young women.”
“You sit here and make salacious remarks once again, trying to slander President Trump, left and right, when you’re the one who was taking money from one of Epstein’s closest confidantes — I believe, I could be wrong, correct me — Reid Hoffman, who was with Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions,” Bondi responded.
Hoffman, a cofounder of LinkedIn, is known to be a large Democratic donor. Hoffman’s ties to Epstein have been previously reported, with the cofounder telling Axios in 2019 he was “deeply regretful” for his role in helping Epstein’s rehabilitation post-conviction.
Prior to her remarks, Whitehouse said Bondi was deflecting tough questions with “completely irrelevant, far-right internet talking points.”
Bondi repeated the DOJ’s position to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the committee’s top Democrat, that “there was no client list” from Epstein, an assertion that has infuriated the Make America Great Again base and led to a bipartisan effort by lawmakers to compel the release of Epstein documents.
Bondi admonishes Democrats for opposing National Guard deployments: ‘If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will’
Bondi declined to say whether the White House consulted her before Trump deployed the National Guard to Democratic-led cities in the name of deterring crime.
During a back-and-forth with Durbin, Bondi used a question about the administration’s legal rationale for sending troops to areas like Chicago to accuse Democrats of failing to protect their constituents.
“I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump,” Bondi told Durbin. “If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will.”
Durbin responded that the administration’s slashing of federal DOJ grants to local agencies and organizations runs counter to Bondi’s rhetoric on combating crime.
“I’m prepared to work with this administration, but cutting these grants to law enforcement does not make us any stronger as a nation or give us the tools we need to reduce crime in Chicago,” he said.
One Republican, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), expressed reservations about what he described as the administration using troops as an “arm of local law enforcement” that could lead to worse crime once they’re withdrawn.
“I don’t consider that a best practice, and it doesn’t sound like you do either,” Tillis said.
Bondi responded, “I don’t believe our National Guard wants to be doing that, but they’re going to be where they have to be to keep Americans safe.”
Bondi: FBI ‘working hard’ to investigate Biden bribery evidence
Bondi told lawmakers that the FBI is “working hard” to investigate whether records exist to support long-standing bribery allegations involving former President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
The comments came in response to questioning from Grassley, who noted that a previously released FBI informant report — known as an FD-1023 — cited one text message, two audio recordings, and three financial records allegedly tied to a bribery scheme with Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Grassley said FBI Director Kash Patel had confirmed in a Sept. 16 hearing that prior bureau leaders made no effort to locate those records. But in an update to that line of questioning, Bondi said she now knows “Director Patel is working hard on this with the members of the FBI.”
Bondi’s remarks were the first indication that Patel’s FBI is now pursuing the matter.
Grassley previously released the FD-1023 in July 2023, and more recently disclosed additional files to the New York Post describing alleged efforts by Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky to pay off Ukrainian officials and allegedly leverage Biden-linked business connections.
One former informant, Alexander Smirnov, has since pleaded guilty to fabricating a separate bribery allegation, but Republicans say the remaining records still warrant investigation.
Bondi dodges questions on removal of Virginia U.S. attorney
Bondi did not address reports that she played a behind-the-scenes role in the ouster of Eastern District of Virginia U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, brushing off a series of questions from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Siebert, a longtime federal prosecutor, resisted bringing charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, citing insufficient evidence, according to multiple reports last month. Siebert has since been removed by Trump and replaced by his former personal attorney, Lindsey Halligan.
When pressed by Klobuchar to confirm whether career prosecutors in the Eastern District concluded that the case against Comey lacked merit, Bondi refused to engage.
“I’m not going to discuss a pending case,” she said. The attorney general similarly declined to say whether she opposed Siebert’s removal or received any direction from the White House regarding his replacement, stating only, “I’m not going to discuss personnel decisions.”
JACK SMITH TRACKED CALLS OF GOP SENATORS DURING JAN. 6 INVESTIGATION, FBI REVEALS
Klobuchar had also referenced a recent Truth Social post in which Trump appeared to pressure Bondi by name, saying “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!!” and demanding charges against his political opponents.
The senator’s grilling of Bondi comes amid broader Democratic-led scrutiny of DOJ investigations into Trump’s political enemies.