In her first confirmation hearing Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, parroted conservative talking points, railing against the alleged politicization of the Justice Department under Preside Joe Biden while claiming ignorance of many key moments in Trump’s political career — and refusing to say who won the 2020 election.
If there was one theme returned to most frequently during Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, it was the alleged “weaponization” of the department she has been picked to lead. Democrats, on the other hand, sought assurances that she wouldn’t engage in her own political prosecutions of Trump’s critics.
“If confirmed, I will work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice — and each of its components,” Bondi said. “Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end. America must have one tier of justice for all.”
When asked about specific critics of Trump, including former special counsel Jack Smith and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Bondi refused to answer, saying only that she had not discussed the issue with Trump and that “every case will be done on a case-by-case basis.”
“No one will be prosecuted, investigated because they are a political opponent. That’s what we’ve seen for the last four years in this administration. It will be prosecuted based on the facts and the law and fairly,” Bondi said.
At the same time, Bondi’s answers appeared to be influenced by Trump’s own brand of politics, especially when she was repeatedly asked about the 2020 election and whether Trump or President Joe Biden was the legitimate winner.
“To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never acknowledged the legal results of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today, under oath, without reservation, that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked.
Bondi, as she would respond to the same question when posed by other senators, refused to give a straight answer, saying that she saw “many things” during the 2020 election.
“All I can tell you, as a prosecutor, is from my first-hand experience, and I accept the results,” she said. “I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States. But what I can tell you is what I saw first-hand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the campaign.”
In other exchanges, Bondi pleaded ignorance of some of Trump’s most infamous political moments. For example, she said that she was “not familiar” with Trump’s 2023 comments where he claimed that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the United States. She also claimed to be unfamiliar with Trump referring to convicted January 6 rioters as “hostages” and “patriots.”
When asked whether she would consider pardons for January 6 convicts, including those convicted of assaulting police, Bondi said she would evaluate them too on a case-by-case basis. She also claimed ignorance when asked about Trump’s infamous call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to change the results of the election there.
When asked about Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, Bondi likewise said that she was not familiar with some of his prescriptions for the bureau. For instance, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., asked Bondi whether she agreed with Patel that the FBI’s intelligence division should be “broken up.”
“I have not seen those comments from Mr Patel. I would review them, but we have to do everything we can to protect our country. Again, Mr. Patel would fall under me and the Department of Justice, and I will ensure that all laws are followed, and so will he,” Bondi responded.
In another exchange with Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Bondi refused to defend the 14th Amendment right to “birthright citizenship,” which Trump is seeking to eliminate, saying she would have to “study” the issue.
Bondi’s careful hewing to Trump’s preferred political line — while tiptoeing around some of the aspects that might be less expedient for confirmation — highlighted her close connection to Trump and his political operation.
Bondi’s connection to Trump dates back to the 2016 election, when a committee supporting Bondi received a $25,000 donation from Trump’s foundation. This was around the same time that she, as Florida attorney general, declined to investigate Trump University over allegations of fraud.
After Trump’s 2020 election loss, Bondi appeared as a campaign surrogate for Trump multiple times, telling Fox News on Nov. 5 of that year that “we do have evidence of cheating.”
“We are not going anywhere until they declare that we won Pennsylvania,” Bondi asserted.
As with other Trump loyalists who have toed Trump’s line on the 2020 election, Bondi never presented credible evidence for her claims, including the “many things” that purportedly went wrong in Pennsylvania.