AG nominee Bondi is seen as the force to steer the DOJ into Trump’s second term

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump nominee for attorney general, has vowed to run the Justice Department free of political influence and mismanagement if confirmed — using her confirmation hearing Wednesday to play down concerns that she could use the role to attack Trump’s so-called “enemies” or others way to arm the Ministry of Justice.

Bondi has been doing the same behind closed doors for weeks—meeting with nearly every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a bipartisan charm offensive designed to prevent any unexpected encounters and ensure an easy path to confirmation.

On Wednesday, the careful strategy appeared to pay off, with even Democrats on the panel praising the former Florida AG in light of their past in the light of their earlier ones one-on-one meetings in privacy.

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“I had a good meeting with her,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told Politico on Wednesday after the hearing.

Speaking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the start of her confirmation Wednesday, Bondi highlighted her early dreams of becoming a prosecutor — a dream she said came true almost immediately after starting law school.

“From the moment I interned at the DA’s office in Tampa, Florida, all I wanted to do was be a prosecutor,” Bondi said, noting that she had four jury trials while in law school. “I lost most of them,” she laughed, but still “I never wanted to do anything else.”

“If confirmed,” Bondi continued, her tone turning serious, “I will fight every day to restore trust and integrity to the Department of Justice and every component of it.”

She also pledged to work closely with the Judiciary Committee, building on earlier relationships developed with Senate offices ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.

Trump’s Democratic detractors wasted little time at the hearing detailing their concerns about Bondi’s confirmation and her ability to steer the Justice Department against a willful and sometimes seemingly impulsive president-elect; many of them directly confronted her with the names of her would-be predecessors who had tried and failed to do the same.

They questioned her willingness to take on political “enemies” and asked her to believe certain remarks made by Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for the FBI.

But Bondi appeared composed and largely unfazed during Wednesday’s hearing, which lasted more than five hours, except for a 30-minute lunch break.

She highlighted her track record in fighting violent crime, drug and human trafficking as Florida’s attorney general, and laid out her broader vision for leading the Department of Justice, where she emphasized her desire to run the department without political influence.

If confirmed, Bondi’s former colleagues are he told Fox News Digital expect to bring to Washington the same playbook she used in Florida – this time to crack down on drug trafficking, the illicit use of fentanyl and the cartels responsible for smuggling drugs across the border.

However, whether the approach will prove successful remains to be seen.

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Sunshine State grants

Those who worked with Bondi in her decades-long prosecutorial career described her in a series of interviews and letters exclusively reviewed by Fox News Digital as an experienced and motivated prosecutor whose record has been more consensus-building than bridge-building.

Democrat Dave Aronberg, who challenged Bondi in her bid for Florida attorney general, said in an interview with Fox News Digital that he was stunned when Bondi called him after winning the race and asked to be her drug czar – a role in which they would continue to work in tandem to combat the state’s opioid crisis – some of the office’s most important and enduring work.

In an interview, he credited her as “most responsible for ridding the state of Florida of destructive pill mills,” citing her push for statewide legislation and her work on the “Statewide Prescription Drug Diversion and Abuse Roadmap” for coordinating federal, state and local efforts to combat the opioid crisis, among other actions.

At the time, the Sunshine State was at the epicenter the opioid crisis in the USwith an abundance of “pill mills,” cash-only clinics, and a lack of state prescription laws that allowed the purchase of addictive drugs largely without restriction.

When Bondi took office, opioids were killing about seven people every day, Aronberg said in an interview. There were also “more pain clinics than McDonald’s locations” in Florida at the time, he said, illustrating the magnitude of the problem. If confirmed as U.S. attorney general, Bondi has made it clear she plans to remain focused on cracking down on illegal drugs — albeit on a national level.

the rest parts of her record in Florida were also highlighted Wednesday, including consumer protection victories and economic relief secured by then-Florida Attorney General Bondi on behalf of Sunshine State residents.

After the 2008 financial crisis, her work leading the National Mortgage Settlement resulted in $56 billion in compensation to victims, and after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Bond’s lawsuit against BP and other responsible companies resulted in a $2 billion economic relief settlement.

Those questions are likely to take center stage at Thursday’s hearing – the second day of Bonda’s two-day confirmation – which will focus on testimony from others who have worked with her over the years.

National praise

In the weeks before Bondi’s hearing, dozens of former state attorneys general and more than 100 former top Justice Department officials urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm Bondi, praising her experience in the role and her commitment to the rule of law.

The letter from former Justice Department officials was signed by top officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, as well as former U.S. attorneys general John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese, who noted: “This is all too rare for more Justice Department officials – and even less state attorneys – they have such rich experience in daily work to preserve the safety of our communities.”

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The letter also praised what officials described as Bondi’s “national reputation” for her work to stop human trafficking and prosecute violent crimes in the state.

Recently Bondi also received a grant of 60 for more state attorneys. The delegation included both Democrats and Republican attorneys general, who praised what they described as Bonda’s extensive prosecutorial experience — including her role as Florida’s top prosecutor — making her uniquely qualified for the role.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to reconvene at 10:15 a.m. Thursday to hear from a panel of outside witnesses regarding Bondi’s qualifications for attorney general.