Bondi, Trump’s AG pick, refuses to discuss TikTok ban with Senate

On By Littum

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WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to become US attorney general, Pam Bondi, told senators on Wednesday that she could not discuss at her confirmation hearing whether she would enforce a law threatening to ban TikTok.

The former Florida attorney general cited pending lawsuits over the mega-popular video platform. But Bondi said she would consult with Justice Department officials about it.

Sunday is the deadline for TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US assets or allow the app to face a nationwide ban unless the Supreme Court moves to block it.

TikTok has asked the Supreme Court to delay or overturn the deadline, and a decision is pending.

Supreme Court justices asked Friday during a hearing on the ban whether Trump could choose not to enforce the law because he has said he wanted to “save” the company.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the top lawyer representing the federal government at the Supreme Court, has said the president has discretion over how to enforce the laws.

But she said Trump would need to review national security information about the company when he returns to office Monday before making his decision.

At Bondi’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked if she would enforce the law, signed by President Joe Biden last spring, because of Trump’s support for TikTok.

“TikTok will be banned unless it is sold because it has become a tool for the Chinese to gather information and conduct surveillance and endanger our national security,” Blumenthal said. “If you can commit, you will enforce that law quickly and effectively.”

Trump’s attorney general during his first administration, Noel Francisco, represented TikTok in the Supreme Court and asked for a delay of the deadline.

“I can’t discuss pending litigation,” Bondi said. “But I will talk to every career official — prosecutors — who are handling the case, absolutely.”

Cast: Eric Lagatta and Greta Cross