Pam Bondi’s Contradictions Highlighted in Attorney General Confirmation Hearing
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is greeted by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as she introduces him to speak at a campaign event in Tampa, Monday, March 14, 2016. (Gerald Herbert / AP)
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace and legal experts scrutinized Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, for presenting conflicting narratives during her confirmation process. On Wednesday’s show, Wallace aired clips contrasting Bondi’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee with her public remarks on Fox News.
Wallace highlighted Bondi’s statements to Fox News during the 2020 election, where she claimed she and Trump would not leave Pennsylvania until the state’s vote was flipped in his favor. Bondi alleged she had evidence of “fake ballots” and “ballot dumps” and labeled Joe Biden an illegitimate president.
However, under questioning by Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bondi refused to confirm whether Biden won the 2020 election. She avoided direct answers on voter fraud and sidestepped questions about her willingness to investigate or indict figures like former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Bondi also denied that Trump would pressure her to drop cases against his allies, despite past examples, including Trump urging former FBI Director James Comey to “let Flynn go.” Former DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann commented on Bondi’s performance, noting that her confirmation hearing came on the heels of Pete Hegseth’s disastrous Defense Secretary hearing.
“So, you know, compared to that, she’s doing great,” Weissmann quipped. Weissmann flagged two significant red flags in Bondi’s testimony. First, her vague answers about the 2020 election. “She threw in there not just that Donald Trump had a massive current win, which overplays what happened, but also said there was a peaceful transfer of power,” Weissmann observed.
Lawmakers have noted this as an attempt to rewrite the events of January 6, despite the Justice Department’s ongoing prosecutions of over 1,000 participants in the Capitol riot. Second, Weissmann criticized Bondi’s deflection when responding to Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), where she pivoted to crime rates in his state.
“That is such a political answer,” Weissmann said. “The attorney general of the United States must be dispassionate and apolitical, and her responses signal a return to politicized leadership.” Wallace and her panel emphasized that Bondi’s performance did little to reassure critics.
“Whatever she’s trying to portray, she still has all of the realness of the Fox News clips that you were playing,” Weissmann concluded, signaling doubts about her suitability to lead the Justice Department. Bondi’s confirmation faces scrutiny as lawmakers weigh whether her overtly partisan behavior aligns with the responsibilities of the nation’s top law enforcement officer.
