‘Excuse me’: Bondi interrupts questioning of Dem senator by attacking another Trump nominee
Candidate for US Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed with a senior Democratic senator during her confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday.
Bondi was forced to defend President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the FBI, Kash Patelwhen Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed her on his past comments.
He referred to Patel’s proposal to close FBI headquarters and the threat of an “enemies list,” among other remarks.
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President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and Sen. Richard Blumenthal clashed during her confirmation hearing. (Getty Images)
“Is this the person who should, fittingly, be the director of the FBI? Aren’t those comments inappropriate? Shouldn’t you retract them and ask him to retract them?” Blumenthal gave a hammer blow.
Bondi responded: “Senator, I am not aware of all those comments. I have not discussed those comments with Mr. Patel.”
“What I do know is Mr. Patel—” she began before Blumenthal tried to cut her off.
Bondi continued forward, “Excuse me. What I do know is that Mr. Patel was a professional prosecutor. He was a professional public defender, he defended people. And he also has extensive experience in the intelligence community.”
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President-elect Donald Trump is pushing the Senate to confirm his nominees. (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
“What I can sit here and tell you is, Mr. Patel, if he’s working to run the FBI, if he’s confirmed, and if I’m confirmed, he’s going to follow the law. If I’m the attorney general of the United States of America, and I don’t believe to do anything different,” Bondi said.
Blumenthal responded, “Well, let me just say that the response I was hoping to hear from you is that those comments are inappropriate and that you’re going to ask him to retract or rebut them when he comes before this committee, because they are truly appalling to the fair implementation and rule of law.”
He follows Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, DR.I., in a similar vein pressed Bondi on what Democrats called Patel’s “enemies list.”
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They refer to a list of 60 people in Patel’s book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” which he labeled as part of the “deep state.”
Bondi also defended Patel during Whitehouse’s questioning, vowing that there would never be an “enemies list” at the DOJ.
