Washington (AP) – Attorney General Pam Bondi defended itself against democratic criticisms that she armed the Ministry of Justice at a convention hearing on Tuesday where she was to face difficult issues on the political pressure on the law enforcement agency to pursue the perceived enemies of President Donald Trump.
During his opening remarks, Bondi echoes conservative affirmations that the Ministry of Justice of President Joe Biden, who provoked two criminal cases against Trump, was the one who armed the law enforcement agency, even if some of his most publicized probes concerned the Democratic president and his son. Bondi highlighted the revelations one day earlier than The FBI had analyzed telephone recordings Of several Republican legislators as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to cancel the results of his electoral loss against Biden in 2020.
“They were doing politics with the powers of law enforcement and will become a historical betrayal of public confidence,” said Bondi. “It is the kind of conduct that breaks the faith of the American people in our system of application of the law. We will work to win it every day. ”
The testimony before the senate judicial committee came just before the first appearance of the director of the FBI James Comey after an indictment This has deepened the concerns that the department is used to request revenge against the political opponents of the Republican president. It also occurs while federal laws of law enforcement are transformed into several cities in the United States to combat crime and apply immigration laws.
The hearing is likely to deeply separate from partisan lines, the Republicans should rent the concentration of the Ministry of Justice on confront violent crimes and reverse the priorities of the Biden era. Democrats, on the other hand, are about to grill Bondi about a turbulent mandate of eight months which, in addition to politically charged surveys, was also defined by mass layoffs and resignations of experienced prosecutors, some of which Inquiry on Trump,, Resist Trump’s administration pressure or simply served in higher roles in previous administration.
While the hearing opened, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican President of the Committee, congratulated Bondi to “have obtained criminals” and his efforts to examine what the Conservatives alleged was the targeting of the Conservatives by the Biden Ministry of Justice.
Senator Dick Durbin in Illinois, the best democrat of the committee, deplored the wave of hundreds of career officials with thousands of years of experience in application of the law. Durbin told Bondi that his actions at the Ministry of Justice, including the diversion of agents to focus on the application of immigration, make America less safe.
“What has happened since January 20, 2025 would even do President Nixon hindsight,” said Durbin about the president who resigned to avoid being charged as part of the Watergate scandal. “It is your heritage, the Attorney General Bondi. In eight months, you have fundamentally transformed the Ministry of Justice and left a huge task in American history. It will take decades to recover. ”
The appearance of Bondi is the first before the panel from its confirmation hearing last January, when it promised not to do politics With the Ministry of Justice – a promise that Democrats are likely to jump while they press the Attorney General to find out if it can resist the pressure of a president publicly calling for his perceived enemies.
Bondi and other Republican allies said that the Biden administration, which had carried two criminal cases against Trump, was the one who armed the department even if some of his most prominent probes concerned the Democratic President and his son.
Comey’s indictment is likely to take the spotlight at the hearing. The American prosecutor’s office in Virginia, which brought the case, expressed reservations about the force of evidence, and the Trump administration had to run to install a new prosecutor to guarantee the accusations after the experienced chief of this office resigned early pressure.
Other requests are likely to arise.
The Ministry of Justice under Bondi has opened criminal investigations into other vocal criticisms of the president, in particular The American Democratic Senator Adam Schiffwho sits on the judicial committee, as well as the New York Letitia James and Andrew Cuomo prosecutor, the former New York governor and current town hall candidate. They all denied reprehensible acts, as Comey did, and criticized the investigations as politically motivated.
Bondi is likely to boast of the efforts of the Ministry of Justice to fight against violent crimes by The rise in the application of the federal law in Washington And now Memphis, Tennessee. The republican legislators who make up the majority of the committee will also highlight the emphasis on the ministry on illegal immigration and the dismantling of Mexican cartels responsible for drug trafficking in the American communities.
The Attorney General can also face issues on the treatment by the Ministry of Justice of the investigation files linked to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual traffic survey. The New York Financial Financial Affair has rekindled the ministry since its decision in July not to publicly publish more files in its possession after having raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
But even in the face of intense conservative indignation, Bondi maintained the strong public support of the president.
