Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) says she will aim to “defend the Constitution” if President-elect Trump's nominee for attorney general, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, is confirmed by the Senate. He said he was looking forward to it.
“Pam Bondi will be able to hold a hearing and make her case clear. When I look at what I'm seeing, is this person a competent person? And they will uphold the law. Are you going to do that? That's very important,” Klobuchar said Sunday on ABC News' “This Week.”
“Are you concerned that revenge is part of her mission? Of course it is,” she continued. “I hope not. I hope she wants to protect the Constitution, because that's a really important job.”
Trump has begun compiling a list of candidates, but controversy is brewing.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was nominated to be attorney general, but his chances were narrowed by sexual misconduct allegations and a House Ethics Committee report. He withdrew his name as a candidate last week, and Bondi was later nominated.
Bondi served as a senior adviser on President Trump's first impeachment defense team and is currently an attorney at Ballard Partners, a group founded by Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist and former chairman of Trump's 2016 victory. is in charge of
She served as Florida Attorney General from 2011 to 2019.
As Klobuchar noted, there are concerns that Trump's choice for attorney general could transform the Justice Department into a legal powerhouse that fulfills Trump's wishes and hunts down his opponents.
Klobuchar, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she plans to meet one-on-one with Bondi ahead of her confirmation hearing.
“Our job is to look at FBI background checks and ask some questions to make sure they are fulfilling the department's mission,” she said. “In this case, I'm interested in all of these candidates and I'm not going to single her out unless we agree on an FBI background check.”
