Pam Bondi appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.J. Scott Applewhite/AP
At her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Pam Bondi probably made sure she will become attorney general. She did that, however, by pretending to be an idiot.
The former Florida attorney general and lobbyist refused to confirm that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, declined to oppose pardons for violent January 6 attackers, would not say if she would carry out an illegal order from Trump, and professed ignorance of a wide array of controversial statements by the incoming president.
Such answers reflect the reality that Bondi depends on Trump’s continued support; already has the backing of GOP senators; and simply doesn’t need any Democratic votes to secure the job.
Bondi acknowledged Wednesday that Biden is, in fact, president. But she wouldn’t challenge Trump’s continued false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That has emerged as a standard formulation for Republicans who want to avoid sounding crazy without annoying Trump.
But Bondi—who in late 2020 worked as one of the Trump campaign’s lawyers challenging his loss in Pennsylvania—went a bit further, asserting vaguely that she does believe significant election fraud occurred, despite courts’ uniform rejection of such claims. “I saw many things there,” Bondi said.
Bondi also repeatedly dodged Democrats’ questions by asserting she was “not familiar” with highly publicized events and statements made by Trump. Bondi, that is, testified that she is exceptionally poorly informed.
Does she concur with Trump’s frequent public descriptions of people convicted of attacking Congress on January 6 as “patriots” and “hostages,” asked Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “I am not familiar with that statement,” Bondi said.
Does she agree with Trump’s infamous statement, which echoes rhetoric used by Adolph Hitler, that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country?”
“I am not familiar with that statement,” Bondi said.
Asked if she will defend the constitutionally enshrined principle of birthright citizenship, which Trump has vowed to end, Bondi said she needed to study the issue.
Asked by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) if—given Trump’s reposting of calls to throw former special counsel Jack Smith in jail—she would investigate Smith, Bondi said, in part: “I haven’t seen the file.”
Bondi also declined to rule out investigating former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for her work running House January 6 committee, which Trump has also encouraged, in a non-answer that included suggesting Schiff focus on crime in California.
Asked by Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) about an enemies’ list that Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, detailed in a book published in 2023 under the title Government Gangsters, Bondi stated: “I don’t believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV.”
When Durbin asked about the recorded phone call in which Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him “find 11,780 votes” to reverse the results of that state’s 2020 election, Bondi said: “My understanding is that is not what [Trump] asked him to do.”
Such responses will likely ensure Bondi maintains Trump’s favor and wins confirmation. In that sense, they are not dumb. Unfortunately for Bondi, they sure sound that way.
