‘1 level of justice for all’: 5 takeaways from day 1 of Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing

Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general Pam Bondi vowed to remove politics from the Justice Department during the first day of her confirmation hearings, even as her refusal to answer key questions about Trump’s 2020 election loss and his apparent desire for retaliation raised concerns about how she would fulfill her promise.

With a second day of her hearing set to resume on Thursday, Bondi is expected to slide through confirmation and assume the role of the nation’s top law enforcement official tasked with carrying out Trump’s long-held desire to reshape the Justice Department that brought two criminal cases against him before the election.

“The will of the party, the arming, will be gone. America wants one level of justice for all,” Bondi said, promising, “There will never be an enemy list in the Department of Justice.”

While Bondi sought to reassure the Senate Judiciary Committee of her independence from Trump and desire to usher in a “new golden age” for the DOJ, her refusal to say that Trump lost the 2020 election was a defense of her earlier statement that “prosecutors will be prosecuted,” and openness to investigate special counsel Jack Smith prompted skepticism from Democratic members of the committee.

If confirmed, Bondi will lead the DOJ with newly expanded powers after the Supreme Court ruled last year that interactions between a president and attorney general are immune from prosecution.

“The fear and the concern that we have is that the president-elect will use that loaded gun, that immunity to commit crimes through the Department of Justice,” said Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff.

Here are five key takeaways from the first day of Bondi’s confirmation hearing:

Bondi vowed to keep politics out of prosecution but keeps the door open to investigating Jack Smith

Accusing President Joe Biden of coordinating political prosecutions, Bondi said she would only bring cases based on “facts and law” and said she has not discussed launching investigations into Trump’s enemies with the president-elect.

“No one will be prosecuted, investigated because they are a political opponent. That’s what we’ve seen the last four years of this administration. People will be prosecuted, based on the facts and the law,” Bondi said.

But when pressed on Trump’s claim that special counsel Jack Smith should go to jail, Bondi declined to answer whether she would open an investigation into Smith before suggesting his behavior was “horrible.”

“Senator, what I’m hearing on the news is terrible. Do I know if he committed a crime? I haven’t looked into it,” said Bondi, who added that “it would be irresponsible … to commit to anything whatever.”

In his final report released earlier this week, Smith rejected Trump’s accusation that his work was in any way political — describing the charge as “ridiculous” — and assured Attorney General Merrick Garland that his work followed the “rule of law” and DOJ guidelines regarding political interference.

Bondi declined to answer key questions about Trump’s election denial and promised to pardon the accused on January 6

Bondi — who helped Trump spread mistrust about the outcome of the 2020 election — notably declined to say Trump lost the 2020 election, raising concerns from Democratic senators in light of Trump’s alleged use of the Justice Department to illegally retain power after his defeat.

“Are you prepared to say today, under oath, without reservation, that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden?” asked Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.

“Joe 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,” Bondi said. repeatedly refusing to give a yes or no answer to the question.

Bondi also refused to condemn Trump’s baseless claim that “massive fraud” corrupted the 2020 election. When asked about Trump’s call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” 11,780 votes, Bondi said that she hasn’t listened to it all, but suggested Trump’s comments were taken out of context.

Bondi also declined to comment on Trump’s promise to pardon the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, during his first day in office, telling the committee she would speak to Trump and declining to weigh in on the proposed pardons. because she has not read all the defendant’s files.

“Senator, I have not seen any of these files. Of course, if they are confirmed and if they are asked to advise the president, I will look at every single file. But let me be very clear in speaking to you , I condemn any violence against a law enforcement officer in this country,” Bondi responded.

Bondi avoided answering whether she would obey an illegal order from Trump

When pressed by Democratic Sen. Chris Coons to drop a criminal case if someone in the White House directed her to do so, Bondi refused to entertain the hypothetical.

“What I can tell you is that my duty, if confirmed as attorney general, will be to the Constitution and the United States, and the most important oath, part of the oath that I will take, are the last four words , “So help me God.'”

Bondi at one point replied “of course” when asked if she would be willing to step down if asked to do something inappropriate.

“Senator, I wouldn’t work at a law firm, I wouldn’t want to be a prosecutor, I wouldn’t want to be a state attorney if someone asked me to do something wrong and I felt I had to do it,” Bondi said.

Schiff, who had several heated exchanges with Bondi, expressed skepticism that she could avoid confrontation with Trump, given his former attorneys general.

“You can say you think the conflict will never come, but every day, week, month and year of the first Trump administration showed that the conflict will come. Jeff Sessions may not have believed it would come to him. It came to him. Bill Barr didn’t believe it would come to him. It came to him,” Schiff said. “It will come to you, and what you do in that moment will define your legal standing.”

Bondi promised to reform the DOJ, but offered few details about her plans

Bondi told senators she was striving to “restore trust and integrity” in the DOJ after what she called a weaponization of the justice system to target Trump. She vowed that if confirmed, she would answer to the people of the United States, not the president.

“My oath would be to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. The people of America would be my client,” Bondi said.

While her promise to remove politics from the DOJ was cheered by Senate Republicans, Bondi offered few details on how she would implement her plan across the department’s 115,000 employees. Bondi sought to defend her 2023 declaration that “prosecutors will be prosecuted,” telling the committee she would only bring cases against “bad” prosecutors.

Bondi looks set to be confirmed by the Senate as attention turns to Kash Patel

While Senate Democrats raised concerns about Bondi’s refusal to acknowledge Trump’s loss in 2020 and lack of commitments, her confirmation appears all but certain.

“I know how to count and I know how to read tea leaves. It seems to me that you are very, very, very, very likely to be confirmed and certainly look forward to working with you and your office ,” Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla said toward the end of the hearing.

After the hearing Wednesday, a few Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee avoided saying exactly how they would vote on Bondi’s confirmation, although Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said “the odds are in her favor.”

“I would say the odds are in her favor with the majority of the Senate. I don’t know if a single Republican is going against her. We’re still going to ask the tough questions today and tomorrow,” Durbin said.

With Bondi unlikely to face a serious challenge to her confirmation, Senate Democrats instead turned their attention to Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel. Bondi said she looks forward to working with Patel — calling him the “right person” for the job and defending his qualifications — and rejects the idea that either she or Patel would maintain an enemies list or break the law.

“What I can sit here and tell you is Mr. Patel, if he’s working to lead 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, and I think no, he would do anything else,” Bondi said.