WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attorney General Pam Bondi was in the hot seat in a Senate Judiciary hearing. She took tough questions from Democrats about the Justice Department’s work. Democrats grilled the AG over the Jeffrey Epstein files, questioned her on the weaponization of the DOJ and on the President sending in the national guard to cities.
Bondi clashed with Democrats on claims the DOJ is being weaponized against President Donald Trump’s perceived opponents, like Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook and the recent indictment against former FBI Director James Comey.
“I was gonna ask you if you’ve received advice, instruction or request from anyone at the White House to direct the Department and engage in any investigations or prosecutorial acts including decisions not to engage or prosecute anyone,” asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D- MN).
“I’m not going to discuss any conversations,” responded AG Bondi.
“But how about the Truth Social post on September 20, 2025, in which the President said ‘we can’t delay any longer’, Pam, he said your name; Not filing charges are killing our reputation,” responded Sen. Klobuchar.
At times, the AG fired back at weaponization claims and instead said that former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department was the one that was being weaponized.
For the most part, the hearing seemed split along party lines. Republicans highlighted a recent revelation that the FBI analyzed phone records of Senators, including Pennsylvania Representative Mike Kelly (R- PA), as part of an investigation into efforts by then former President Trump to overturn the 2020 election results.
“Tapping the phones of United States Senators- this isn’t hypothetical,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R- MO). “This isn’t: maybe what will you do in the future? This isn’t: oh gee, can you imagine the situation? This happened. This happened.”
Representative Kelly shared in a social media statement “Surveilling private communications of Members of Congress for political purposes is a clear abuse of power.” He points the finger at former President Biden for weaponizing the DOJ against political opponents.