Trump Cabinet confirmation: Senate holds hearings for Bondi, Rubio, Vought and more

Dozens of former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday calling for confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Attorney General Pam Bondi later this month — praising both her commitment to the rule of law and her track record. record as Florida’s former attorney general that they said makes her uniquely qualified for the role.

The letter, previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, was signed by more than 110 senior Justice Department officials who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, including former US Attorneys General John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese.

Former acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker, deputy attorneys general Rod Rosenstein and Jeffrey Rosen, and Randy Grossman, who served as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California during the Biden administration, are among the other notable signatories.

DOJ alumni expressed their “strong and enthusiastic support” for Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who also spent 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s office.

“It is 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,” they wrote.

“As a career prosecutor, Attorney General Bondi will be ready from day one on the job to fight on behalf of the American people to reduce crime, tackle the opioid crisis, support the women and men in blue, and restore credibility to the Department of Justice,” they wrote in the letter sent to Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

The letter praised Bondi’s work as Florida attorney general, where she led an aggressive crackdown on opioids and the many “pill mills” operating in the state when she took office. They also praised what they described as Bondi’s “national reputation” for her work to stop human trafficking and prosecute violent crime in the state.

Officials also emphasized Bondi’s other accomplishments in Florida, where she secured consumer protection victories and economic relief on behalf of Sunshine State residents. After the 2008 financial crisis, her work leading the National Mortgage Settlement resulted in $56 billion in compensation for victims, the letter said — and in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Bondi’s lawsuit against BP and other responsible companies resulted in $2 billion. settlement in financial aid.

The letter also emphasized Bondi’s commitment to the rule of law and what the former officials touted as her track record for working across the aisle in the more than two decades she spent as a prosecutor.

“Some of us have worked directly with Attorney General Bondi during her tenure and can personally attest to her integrity and devotion to the rule of law,” they wrote. “Many more of us know and admire her well-deserved reputation from her long and accomplished career in public service in Florida, her litigation and advocacy on the national stage, and her courage as an attorney.”

“As former DOJ officials, we know firsthand the challenges she will face as attorney general, and we also know she is up for the job.”

This is an excerpt from an article by Breanne Deppisch.