Five takeaways from Pam Bondi’s tense, partisan Senate testimony

Pam Bondi’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee was expected to be a contentious and partisan affair. He lived up to that billing.

The attorney general was making her first appearance at a congressional oversight hearing — and it was timely.

Two weeks ago, his Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey, sparking an outcry from Democratic politicians.

His testimony Tuesday also came a day after a group of former Justice Department employees released a letter accusing Bondi of helping take a “hammer” to “longstanding work the department has done to protect communities and the rule of law.”

The nerves were raw and Bondi was clearly ready for a fight. Here are five takeaways from the hearing.

Recent Trump administration officials, including Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy JR and FBI Director Kash Patel, have relied on a clear playbook for testimony before hostile congressional committees.

Go on the attack early and often.

This strategy was on display throughout Bondi’s testimony. When pushing National Guard deployments, she said she wished Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and California Sen. Alex Padilla loved their states “as much as they hate Donald Trump.”

Asked about Jeffrey Epstein, she noted that several Democratic senators took money from deep donors who had ties to the late convicted sex trafficker.

Bondi launched a series of pointed attacks on senators when they questioned her.

And when it was time for Vermont’s junior senator Peter Welch to ask questions, he began by observing Bondi’s penchant for launching personal attacks.

“I’ll wait my turn,” said the soft-spoken New Englander. “But you don’t have to do it now.”

When Bondi wasn’t doing the attacking, she often refused to comment on questions from Democrats and Republicans.

She said she would not discuss “personnel matters” when asked about the wave of high-level firings at the Justice Department, including top FBI officials and a U.S. attorney who recommended against Comey’s indictment.

She would not comment on “ongoing investigations” and legal proceedings – including the Comey case. She also would not shed light on conversations she had with the president or other White House aides.

When presented with a large photo of herself sitting at a table with the president the day after a social truth story was published calling on him to indict Comey, her only remark was that she liked the image.

“This is supposed to be an oversight hearing where members of Congress can get serious answers to serious questions,” California Sen. Adam Schiff said, after listing all the questions Bondi had refused to answer.

“I think you owe the president an apology for your entire career,” Bondi responded.

Bondi appeared determined to focus on what she said was the Trump administration’s goal of reducing crime in the United States.

She was quick to cite statistics that she said showed the successes they were having so far – the number of arrests in Washington, D.C., the drug crackdowns and illegal gun confiscations in Chicago, the drug busts at the border.

“We are returning to our core mission of fighting real crime,” Bondi said.

Democrats may have had other ideas, but Bondi – and the White House – probably feel they are on the safest political ground when talking about fighting crime.

It’s an issue that polls show many Americans care about — and one that has the potential to appeal not only to hard-line conservative partisans, but also to independent and Democratic voters.

A particular source of heat for Bondi in recent months has been the Justice Department’s handling of its investigation into Epstein, who before his death had well-documented ties to many wealthy and powerful Americans.

For most of the hearing, Democrats were the ones peppering Bondi with Epstein-related questions.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wanted to know whether the FBI had uncovered photos of Trump and “semi-naked young women,” and whether the Justice Department had reviewed “suspicious activity reports” about Epstein’s finances.

Bondi wouldn’t answer.

Dick Durbin called for claims that the Justice Department reported anything in its Trump-related Epstein documents to the president.

“I’m not going to discuss any of that with you, senator,” Bondi replied.

The attorney general was asked why her department now says there is no list of Epstein’s clients after she previously claimed to have that information on her desk.

Bondi responded by citing the department’s earlier finding that there was no evidence of conspiracy or cover-up surrounding the investigation.

The questions still swirling around the Epstein investigation have been a rare source of bipartisan interest, with some Republicans joining Democrats in calling for more transparency. It took a while, but this Senate hearing finally gave some indication.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana recounted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s recent comments that Epstein was “the greatest Blackmailer singer of all time.”

The Louisiana senator suggested that Lutnick, who owned a home near Epstein in Palm Beach Florida, should testify before Congress and talk to the FBI.

Bondi continued his Epstein dance, saying it was up to Lutnick and FBI Director Kash Patel to decide whether a meeting was necessary.

If Democrats were focused on what they see as the unprecedented weaponization of the Justice Department under Trump, most Republican senators were more interested in fighting the battles of Biden’s presidency — or sooner.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley spent much of the hearings weighing in on how Democrats had, in his view, investigated the Biden family’s business dealings.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham condemned the FBI’s Russia investigation after the 2016 presidential election. Ted Cruz of Texas focused on protests outside the homes of conservative Supreme Court justices following their 2021 decision to overturn abortion rights.

Eric Schmidt of Missouri filled out a veritable bingo card of right-wing complaints to the Justice Department.

Bondi, for his part, wholeheartedly agreed with the Republican refrain.

When the five-hour hearing finally concluded, the event had the feeling of a partisan house of mirrors, with each side accusing the other of political weaponizing and partisan prosecution.

“The Department of Justice is supposed to be the guardian of the country’s fairness and the rule of law,” Sen. Alex Padilla said during questioning. “When public trust breaks down, then justice itself is in danger.”

That’s the kind of comment that Republicans and Democrats on the committee might agree with — before casting the other side as the source of the nation’s ills.