Bondi rebukes Democrats as she faces criticism over DOJ leadership

WASHINGTON: US Attorney General Pam Bondi, appearing before a Senate panel on Tuesday (Oct 7), criticised Democratic lawmakers in personal terms as she faced pushback over the Justice Department's enforcement efforts in Democratic-led cities and investigations of President Donald Trump's critics.

Bondi, appearing before the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee, said the department under Trump was "returning to our core mission of fighting real crime," citing the surge in federal law enforcement activity in Washington, DC, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Bondi said the Justice Department was ending the "weaponisation of justice" even as several political adversaries of Trump face federal investigations and prosecutions.

The attorney general parried questions from Democratic lawmakers about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, a bribery probe into Trump border czar Tom Homan and the case against former FBI Director James Comey by criticising her questioners in partisan terms unusual for the nation's top law enforcement officer.

Pressed on the Justice Department's reversal on releasing files on sex trafficking investigations into Epstein, a one-time friend of Trump, Bondi accused Democratic senators of accepting campaign donations from an Epstein associate.

Asked about the legal justification for Trump's moves to deploy National Guard troops in US cities, Bondi blamed Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown and said it was jeopardising public safety.

"I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump," Bondi told Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee.

Bondi's testimony came days after the Justice Department brought charges against former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime critic of Trump who investigated alleged ties between his 2016 campaign and the Russian government, after Trump called for his prosecution and demanded the resignation of a prosecutor who did not think the evidence warranted criminal charges.

Comey is set to appear in court to face charges of making false statements and obstruction of Congress on Wednesday.

Bondi declined to answer questions about Trump's role in the case or the arguments by career prosecutors, saying she would not comment on private conversations with the White House or personnel matters.

Asked about Trump's social post calling for Comey's prosecution, Bondi said "I don't think he said anything that he hasn't said for years."

Others who have criticised or investigated Trump are also under federal investigation, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California.

Bondi's testimony followed months of tumult at the Justice Department as Trump administration officials challenged long-standing norms meant to insulate investigations from political influence and align the department closely with Trump's agenda.

Durbin criticised Bondi for firing career prosecutors and agents who worked on investigations condemned by Trump and scaling back the department's efforts to combat corruption and white-collar crime.

"In eight short months, you have fundamentally transformed the Justice Department and left an enormous stain on American history," Durbin said. "It will take decades to recover."