U.S. Attorney General nominee 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 pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed her on his past comments.
He referenced Patel’s suggestion of closing down FBI headquarters and threatening an ‘enemies list,’ among other remarks.
‘Is that a person who, appropriately, should be the FBI director? Aren’t those comments inappropriate? Shouldn’t you disavow them and and ask him to recant them?’ Blumenthal hammered.
Bondi replied, ‘Senator, I am not familiar with all those comments. I have not discussed those comments with Mr. Patel.’
‘What I do know, is Mr. Patel …’ she began before Blumenthal attempted to cut her off.
Bondi pressed forward, ‘Excuse me. What I do know is Mr. Patel was a career prosecutor. He was a career public defender, defending people. And he also has great experience within the intelligence community.’
‘What I can sit here and tell you is, Mr. Patel, if he works with running the FBI, if he is confirmed, and if I am confirmed, he will follow the law. If I am the attorney general of the United States of America, and I don’t believe he would do anything otherwise,’ Bondi said.
Blumenthal replied, ‘Well, let me just submit that the response that I would have hoped to hear from you is that those comments are inappropriate, and that you will ask him to disavow or recant them when he comes before this committee, because they are indeed chilling to fair enforcement and the rule of law.’
It comes after Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., similarly pressed Bondi on what Democrats have called Patel’s ‘enemies list.’
They are referring to a list of 60 people in Patel’s book ‘Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,’ who he branded as part of the ‘deep state.’
Bondi defended Patel during Whitehouse’s questioning as well, while vowing there would never be an ‘enemies list’ at the DOJ.