With Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats picking up Vice President Kamala Harris' "enemies list" campaign hit against President-elect Donald Trump, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi rejected that narrative repeatedly Wednesday.
"There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice," Bondi said at her confirmation hearing.
An opening statement by Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pointed to FBI Director nominee Kash Patel's building an "enemy list," but, as Patel's prospective boss at the top of the Trump Justice Department, Bondi rejected that political narrative.
"I don't believe he has an enemies list," Bondi said of Patel, who faces a far more contentious confirmation hearing than Bondi.
There were some contention between Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, and Bondi on the topic, though.
"President-elect Trump considers the DOJ to be his law firm; I'll ask you this: If President-elect Trump asks, suggests, or hints that you, as attorney general, should investigate one of his perceived political enemies, would you do so?" Hirono said.
Bondi fired back.
"Senator Hirono, I wish you had met with me," she said. "Had you met with me, we could have discussed many things and gotten to...
"I am listening to you now," Hirono interrupted. "Could you respond to the question?"
"Yeah, you were the only one who refused to meet with me, Senator, but what we would have discussed is that it is the job of the attorney general to uphold the law," Bondi said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, followed Hirono's questioning and pointed out the hypocrisy of a Democrat talking about an attorney general investigating his political rival after President Joe Biden under Hirono-approved Attorney General Merrick Garland's DOJ did precisely that with Trump.
Trump was the first former president to have been raided by the FBI and the first indicted as a sitting president.
Trump, after last week's sentencing that is under potential appeal in New York state, is also the first convicted felon to be a past or future president.
Bondi, vowed to end "the partisan weaponization" of the U.S. justice system if confirmed, echoing the president-elect's assertion the prosecutions he faced were politically motivated.
"I will work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice – and each of its components," Bondi told the Senate Judiciary Committee in her opening statement. "Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end."
Information from The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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