pam bondiPresident-elect Trump's nominee for head of the Department of Justice, clashed Wednesday with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), questioning Bondi about whether the California senator would prosecute Trump's political opponents. did.
Schiff, a vocal critic of the president-elect, asked Bondy whether he would investigate former special counsel Jack Smith and former Rep. Liz Cheney.
“I'm asking everyone sitting here today if you know the factual predicate to investigate Liz Cheney,” he said.
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Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump's nominee for Justice Department attorney general, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing at the Capitol on January 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
“Senator, no one asked me to investigate Liz Cheney. That's a hypothesis,” she said.
She then turned the tables on Schiff by pointing out California's crime rate.
“Do you know what we should be concerned about? California's crime rate is extraordinarily high. Robbery rates are 87 percent higher than the national average,” she said. “That's what I want to focus on, Senator.”
Mr. Schiff said Mr. Bondi's response suggested that Mr. Bondi lacked the independence to say “no” to the president. He then asked her if she would tell Trump he lost the 2020 election. Mr. Bondi accused Mr. Schiff of “playing politics” and leaking Rep. Devin Nunes' memo.
“One thing I can say is that I am never politically active and you are trying to get me into trouble.”,” she said.
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Then-Rep. Adam Schiff speaks to reporters as he departs the final meeting of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2022. Democratic Party (California). (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Asked if he would advise against a full pardon by President-elect Trump, Schiff retorted that he wouldn't be able to go through all the files on the first day.
“We'll be able to review hundreds of cases from day one. … Of course not,” Schiff said.
Bondi was furious at Schiff's comments.
“I do not intend to mislead this agency or you. You have been condemned by Congress, by your senators, for very reckless comments like this,” she said.
Schiff was censured in 2023 for promoting claims that Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia, and his vote made him the third House member to be censured this century. It became.
The incident was one of many heated exchanges the former Florida Legislature had with Democratic lawmakers. She was asked by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the weaponization of the Justice Department.
“Wouldn't it be appropriate for prosecutors to start with names and look for crimes?” Whitehouse said during questioning. “It's the prosecutor's job to start with the crime and look for names. Is that so?”
Mr. Bondi responded by emphasizing the federal investigation into Mr. Trump.
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“Senator, I think this is all about the weaponization that we've seen over the last four years and what's happening with Donald Trump,” Bondi said.
