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Pam Bondi Questioning as Trump's Pick for Attorney General. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 15, 2025 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): -- hold the laws of our state, ensuring crime is aggressively pursued by law enforcement and prosecutors.

[10:00:05]

President Trump has made clear that one of his top priorities is to reverse the rising rates of crime, and specifically violent crime that have plagued our communities over the past four years. Pam Bondi is uniquely equipped to advance his priority as U.S. attorney general because she has a proven track record of success in achieving dramatic reductions in crime and violent crime during her time as Florida's attorney general.

From 2010, the year before she took office, to 2018, the last year she was in office, together, Florida experienced a remarkable 26 percent drop in overall crime, including a 19.6 percent drop in violent crime and a 27.4 percent drop in property crime. These aren't just numbers. These are tens of thousands of lives saved and communities improved and made safer and families and businesses protected.

As Florida's attorney general, Pam Bondi also spearheaded other life saving initiatives, like tackling the opioid epidemic and fighting human trafficking. Her achievements are too many for me to list in this short introduction. As U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi will restore law and order to the nation. She'll put Americans' interests first and make the nation a better and safer place.

I urge every single member of this committee to support my friend, Pam Bondi. I look forward to voting for her confirmation soon on the Senate floor and help her get to work for the American people. Thank you, Chairman.

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT (R-MO): Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Durbin, and members of the committee. It is an honor for me and a privilege to introduce Pam Bondi, President Trump's nominee to be the 87th attorney general of the United States. I have known and worked closely with Pam for years, and I'm glad to call her a friend.

When Pam was nominated by President Trump, my reaction was, this is a home run. As many of us are, I was only to be outdone by Senator Graham who described the nomination as a grand slam, touchdown, hole in one, ace, hat trick, slam dunk, Olympic gold medal pick, and he's right.

As the letter joined by more than a hundred former Justice Department officials put it, quote, it's all too rare for senior Justice Department officials much less attorneys general to have such a wealth of experience in the day to day work of keeping our communities safe, end quote, Pam exemplifies and personifies the Department of Justice's mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our communities safe, and to protect our rights and liberties as Americans.

Pam has distinguished herself in a career in public service that has taken her from her small town upbringing in Temple Terrace, Florida, to a hearing before this esteemed committee. After attending the University of Florida and Stetson University College of Law, she started her career as a local prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida.

As a local prosecutor for nearly two decades, Pam kept her community safe, prosecuting violent criminals, drug dealers, those who had threatened the local community, and those who stood in opposition to the rule of law. Pam's fellow Floridians then elected her to serve as Florida's attorney general, where she was the first woman in state history elected to that office.

As a former state attorney general myself, I can vouch for the deep experience that Pam Bondi has developed from serving in that role. As the chief law enforcement official in her state, she worked with local prosecutors to fight crime, worked to protect our constitutional rights, or the constitutional rights of Floridians, and stood up for the little guy by taking on abuses of power.

As Florida's attorney general, she worked tirelessly to combat the opioid crisis, fighting pill mills and helping to combat the widespread misuse and trafficking of deadly drugs, including fentanyl, which have devastated families and communities all across our country. She stood up for Floridians in the wake of a 2008 financial crisis leading to the National Mortgage Settlement Act, resulting in $56 billion in compensation to victims. And after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Pam was there and stood up for Floridians by getting $2 billion from the companies responsible.

On a more personal note, Pam has always taken it upon herself to help others. She's incredibly generous and someone I could always count on. She's truthful, she's tough and she's a born leader. She has charted her own course with the rare combination of backbone and heart.

The next attorney general of the United States must restore trust by reversing the weaponization we've seen in the last four years and refocusing that department to its core mission, administering justice. The next attorney general must promote the rule of law, take on violent crime, keep our communities safe and safeguard the God given rights that each American has protected in our Constitution.

[10:05:07]

I can think of no one, no one more up to that task than Pam Bondi, a career prosecutor and widely respected attorney general with the prudence, fortitude, and temperance for this incredibly important job.

Mr. Chairman, it is truly an honor for me to introduce Pam Bondi to this committee and to our country here to today and speak on her behalf. And it's my hope that her nomination will be swiftly confirmed.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): Thank you, Senator Schmitt. Now, Ms. Bondi, would you please come forward and before you're seated, I'd like to administer oath. Would you please raise your right hand and answer this question? Do you swear that the testimony you're about to give to this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?

Please be seated and move ahead with your opening statement.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: Thank you Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I've had the opportunity to meet with almost all of you and I greatly appreciate that. I'm grateful to President Trump and to this committee for your consideration to be the 87th attorney general of the United States.

I would not be here without my family. And if you can bear with me for just a moment, a lot of them have made a very long trip and I wrote them all down so I don't forget anyone. My beautiful mother wouldn't be here -- a retired kindergarten teacher, would not be here without my mom. As of a week ago, it was 12 years since we lost my dad to leukemia. It feels like 12 days. My amazing husband, John, and his two incredible girls, Collins and Finley (ph). Collins is a senior at University of Florida. And I think all of you on this committee will be very happy to know Finley is in cybersecurity.

There's a third who is traveling abroad. I wish she could be here, my amazing father-in-law, David, my sister, Beth, my brother-in-law is home with my niece, my nephews. If you could just raise your hand, Evan, Jake, and soon to be niece, Savannah, my brother, Brad, a brilliant lawyer, my sister-in-law, Tandy (ph), and my nephews, Justin, who just got a 4.0 at UVA, Rex, great college tennis player, Brad, great tennis player. Is Rhea (ph) here? And my niece, my beautiful niece Rhea, and the little guy is in school because he's ten. My friends Leslie, Kathy, Dina, Tiffany, Kim, Paula, and so many of my former co-workers, and Ranking Member Durbin, if you want to get dirt on me, these women have known me since I was a child. Seriously, most of them.

So, thank you for indulging me in that. They've all made a very long trip to be here, and thank you for holding my hearing as well, and not postponing it. I appreciate that. Thank you all.

From the moment I interned at the State Attorney's Office in Tampa, Florida, all I wanted to do was be a prosecutor. The Supreme Court certified me and I had four jury trials while still in law school, lost most of them but had four jury trials and never wanted to do anything else.

I continued my career there trying everything, from DUIs, domestic violence cases, capital murder cases, the whole gamut. I became a lead trial attorney in courtroom every day, trying career criminals, was deputy chief of a division and then ultimately was felony bureau chief and eventually left to become Florida's 37th attorney general for the state of Florida.

Nothing has impacted my career more than my experience as a state prosecutor, because I got to know and still keep in touch with many victims and their families from when I was a prosecutor. Upon becoming attorney general in 2011, I proudly serve for two terms. I was term limited. I would probably still be there right now had I not been kicked out of office by term limits. I loved being attorney general. I did my best to keep Florida safe, to continue to stand up for victims of crime and to fight the opioid crisis and the drug crisis that was not only facing Florida, but this entire country.

[10:10:13]

Out of the top 100, this is one of the things I'm the most proud of, Oxycodone dispensers in the entire country, I believe it was 98 of them, 90 or 98 of them, lived in Florida. We fought for tough legislation. Kids were dropping dead every day. We fought for tough legislation. And after that legislation, none of those opioid dealers, doctors practiced in Florida.

We fought to eliminate human trafficking by raising awareness and prevention and talking to parents and talking to children. We also provided critical resources, including safe houses that my state was lacking.

On the civil side, we worked to protect consumers. We tackled everything, including off label prescription marketing, which affects, as you know, many, many people who can't afford prescriptions as well. We partnered with state's attorneys general from both parties and federal agencies across administrations. We went after price gougers during hurricanes.

If confirmed as the next attorney general of the United States, my overriding objective will be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals. And that includes getting back to basics, gangs, drugs, terrorists, cartels, our border, and our foreign adversaries. That is what the American people expect and that is what they deserve from the Department of Justice. If confirmed, I will do everything in my power and it will be my great responsibility to make America safe again.

Making America safe again also requires reducing recidivism. We have to fix the Bureau of Prisons and I am looking on both sides of the aisle. The Bureau has suffered from years of mismanagement, lack of funding and low morale. I was proud to support President Trump's First Step Act. I think more can be implemented and more can be done on that front.

President Trump's leadership on criminal justice reform has demonstrated what is possible when a president is unafraid to do things that have been deemed to be too difficult. We have to reach across the aisle and get solutions for all of these problems. Like the president, I believe we are on the cusp of a new golden age where the Department of Justice can and will do better if I am confirmed.

Lastly, and most importantly, if confirmed, I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components. The partisanship, the weaponization will be gone. America will have one tier of justice for all.

In all this work, I'll collaborate closely with this committee. I will work with all of you, as I've committed to do when I met with almost all of you. And I will partner not only with the federal agencies, but with the state and local officials throughout our great country.

I look forward to answering your questions today and working together for this country and our Constitution. Thank you, senators.

GRASSLEY: I will ask first questions and Senator Durbin, and then I'll call on the Democrat people the way that Senator Durbin would say so on their arrival or here by seniority in the same way that on the House side, and I'll make sure that I don't abuse the seven minutes.

I want you to you have your attention on this binder that I put up here. It gets to a key factor of each senator's role in oversight.

[10:15:00]

It contains 144 oversight letters that I sent to the Biden-Harris Justice Department and its component agencies with many of those letters in there to the FBI, adding letters to the inspector general. That would be about 165 letters. So, I've sent more letters since you've been in my office before Christmas. Should you be confirmed, 144 letters will be your responsibility.

The responses I have received so far fall in two categories. First, they weren't answered at all. Second, I received a response, but it didn't fully respond, said another way the Justice Department merely sent me words on a piece of paper.

So, should you be confirmed, you'll have an obligation to respond even to the minority and consider a letter from them, even if my signature's not on it, as they want information. Will you commit to responding to my oversight requests, as well as the requests of other members of the committee?

BONDI: Chairman, either I or my top staff will personally review the letters and do everything we can to respond to you.

GRASSLEY: Your tenure as Florida attorney general was impressive. You fought against pill mills, human trafficking, you eliminated a backlog of rape test kits in state labs, you fought against organized retail theft, and you were known to stand for law and order.

With such achievements, it's easy to see why the people of Florida re elected you in 2014 and why President-elect Trump nominated you to serve as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. So, this gives you a chance to tell us on this committee and the people of this country, what you're proud of is your record is attorney general of Florida.

BONDI: Thank you, Chairman Grassley. I am -- I was truly honored to serve the people of the state of Florida for eight years, but it was a team effort. I had great people around me, many of whom are in this room today. And we did a lot. We did a lot to fight crime. And I've been reminiscing a lot since I was asked to take this nomination.

Opioids, as I talked about, were a top priority right when I took office. When I was running for office, I went through the entire state of Florida. Parents were walking up to me, handing me pictures of their children who were deceased from opioid abuse. After I was elected, I took those pictures and I framed them in my office as a goal of stopping that fight, which I talked about in my opening statement. And if U.S. attorney general, I'll bring those pictures back out and they will be there to inspire me on the further drug abuse we're facing throughout this country.

We also learned that something else was happening. Pregnant women were having babies as a result of being opioid-dependent. We call it neonatal abstinence syndrome. We fought to educate mothers. We fought that issue as well. Fentanyl was wreaking havoc in our country, but it was just getting started. I actually fought my own party a bit on scheduling fentanyl because at that time people thought it was something you merely got in the hospital on a patch after surgery. Apples and oranges and, boy, do we all know that now, the difference.

Fentanyl is raging throughout our country and I will do everything I can to fight that with the agencies that fall under the Department of Justice.

Human trafficking became a top priority for me as attorney general. I had the opportunity on a bipartisan trip to go to Mexico, and the one thing I found out there, they were doing better than we were, they had safe houses. I saw things I never dreamed I would see. And all of these things in my past have formed the person I am right now sitting here before you. I came back to Florida. We started a human trafficking council and we partnered with others and we expanded and added safe houses in the state of Florida.

I don't know how many are in this country right now but I would like to partner with both sides if confirmed to continue those efforts.

GRASSLEY: I'd like to interrupt you.

[10:20:00]

BONDI: Yes, sir.

GRASSLEY: And go to another question. And I'll have another round so you can finish it on that point.

I'd like to ask you about something that's central to fighting government waste and fraud, the False Claims Act. I want you to know that Attorney General Garland calls me once a year. He called me yesterday to tell me the success of the False Claims Act Since 1986 when I got it passed and President Reagan signed it. It's brought in $78 billion dollars as of yesterday, his report, two and nine tenths billion dollars for the year of 2024. Most of that's because of patriotic whistleblowers who found the fraud and brought the cases forward at their own risk. The Supreme Court has long upheld the law's constitutionality, but I want you to know your view is the False Claims Act constitutional? Before you answer that, one time in the 1990s, one of the attorney generals said it wasn't constitutional and when that same person by the name of Barr was back five years ago to be attorney general, he said it was constitutional. So, if confirmed, will you commit? Well, answer that first question. Do you think it's constitutional? Would you defend the constitutionality of it?

BONDI: I would defend the constitutionality, of course, of the False Claims Act, Senator.

GRASSLEY: Last question if confirmed, would you commit to continuing DOJ's defense of the constitutionality of it and will you assure the entire staff and funding levels to properly support and prosecute false claim cases?

BONDI: Senator, the False Claims Act is so important and especially by what you said with whistleblowers as well and the protection and the money it brings back to our country. Yes, sir.

GRASSLEY: Thank you for your answers. Senator Durbin?

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Thank you. Senator Grassley.

Ms. Bondi, if you're successful in your nomination, this Democrat would like to give you three words of advice, answer Grassley's letters. You'll never hear the end of it if you don't.

At issue, I believe, in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience. At issue is your ability to say no. More than any other cabinet official, the attorney general has to be prepared to put the Constitution first and even tell the president of the United States you're wrong. The political danger and personal costs of such a decision are well-documented. You have only to ask former Attorney General Jeff Session and Bill Barr, whom Donald Trump sacked for lack of loyalty.

And so I have three basic questions I'd like to ask you. Most Americans believe that central to the peaceful transition of power in a democracy is the acceptance of the results of an election. To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never acknowledged the legal results of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today under oath without reservation that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?

BONDI: Ranking Member Durbin, President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn in and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024.

DURBIN: Do you have any doubts that Joe Biden had the majority of votes, electoral votes necessary to be elected president in 2020?

BONDI: You know, Senator, all I can tell you as a prosecutor is from my firsthand experience. And I accept the results. I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States. But what I can tell you is what I saw firsthand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the campaign. I was an advocate for the campaign. And I was on the ground in Pennsylvania and I saw many things there. But do I accept the results? Of course I do. Do I agree with what happened?

And I saw so much, you know, not -- no one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country. We should all want our elections to be free and fair and the rules and the laws to be followed.

DURBIN: I think that question deserved a yes or no. And I think the length of your answer is an indication that you weren't prepared to answer yes. Have you heard the recording of President Trump on January 2nd, 2021, when he urged the secretary of state of Georgia to quote, find 11,780 votes and declare him the winner of that state?

[10:25:08]

BONDI: No, I've heard about it through clips, but no, Senator. I've not heard it.

DURBIN: What was your reaction to the President Trump making that call?

BONDI: I have -- I would have to listen to the tape, Senator.

DURBIN: Well, the quote that I give you is exact. He said to the Georgia secretary of state, find 11,780 votes.

BONDI: Do you have the entire context of that call? I feel like it was much longer than that and may have been taken out of context.

DURBIN: It is. It was an hour long.

BONDI: Right.

DURBIN: You can certainly listen to it. I hope you will. Every American should.

As a former prosecutor, are you not concerned that the president of the United States called a state election official and asked him to find enough votes to change the results of the election?

BONDI: Senator, I have not listened to the hour-long conversation, but it's my understanding that is not what he asked him to do.

DURBIN: You need to listen to it. Let me ask you a third question. Do you believe that the January 6 rioters who've been convicted of violent assaults on police officers should be pardoned?

BONDI: Senator, if confirmed as attorney general of the United States, the pardons, of course, fall under the president. But if asked to look at those cases, I will look at each case and advice on a case- by-case basis, just as I did my entire career as a prosecutor.

DURBIN: You also advise the president on pardons. That's part of your responsibility as attorney general. And so I'm asking you, do you believe that those who've been convicted of the January 6th riot violent assaults on our police officers should be pardoned? That's a simple question.

BONDI: So, Senator, I have not seen any of those files, of course. If confirmed and if asked to advise the president I will look at each and every file. But let me be very clear in speaking to you, I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country.

DURBIN: Let me ask you about your work as a lobbyist for Ballard Partners. You did not list your current position as a partner at the lobbying firm. Now, the work you've done for your Ballard Partner clients, such as lobbying for the country of Qatar for $115,000 a month, and for corporate giants, Amazon and Uber, when you're asked about conflicts of interest. Why do you believe your work as a lobbyist does not constitute potential conflicts of interest?

BONDI: Well, Senator, first, that was the amount my firm received. I believe multiple people represented the country of Qatar within my firm. My role -- and I am very proud of the work that I did. It was a short time, and I wish it had been longer for Qatar. It was anti-human trafficking efforts leading into the World Cup, which is something I'd like to talk about later too.

I was registered as FARA along with many members of my firm. That was the sole portion of my representation for Qatar.

Now, if there are any conflicts with anyone I represented in private practice, I would consult with the career ethics officials within the department and make the appropriate decision. I would also like to point out to you I don't believe that I would be the first attorney general who has represented and advocated for businesses in their past.

DURBIN: Of course then. Question is whether you will recuse yourself from any cases involving your Ballard clients. One of those clients was the GEO group. Was it not?

BONDI: GEO, yes.

DURBIN: A private prison company you lobbied for manages correctional institutions and detention facilities. The GEO group has faced criticism for safety violations, inadequate health care, and poor management. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is GEO's largest source of revenue. Under the Trump administration, GEO stands to earn hundreds of millions of dollars by detaining immigrants if there is this mass deportation.

Would you sense any conflict of interest if you're asked to judge the performance of this government contractor?

BONDI: Senator, I will consult with the career ethics officials within the Department of Justice and make the appropriate decision.

DURBIN: Thank you. Mr. Chairman?

GRASSLEY: Senator Graham.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thank you. Congratulations. You forgot to say that John's family was from South Carolina.

BONDI: The Upstate. I'm sorry.

GRAHAM: I'll give you a pass on that, Anderson, by the way.

So, listen, President Trump asked a bunch of us, who would you pick for attorney general? How many of you got asked that on our side. I probably didn't ask Dick, but he asked me.

[10:30:00]

I said, Pam Bondi. It's like an easy decision. I couldn't think of anybody more qualified, that he knew, that he trusted.