Late. Dick Durbin grills Trump’s AG nominee, Pam Bondi, about her election denial

WASHINGTON – Does it bother you that the likely next US attorney general is a pro-choice denier?

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat, grilled Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, at her confirmation hearing Wednesday, and under oath flatly refused to acknowledge that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

“Most Americans believe that central to the peaceful transition of power in a democracy is the acceptance of the results of an election. As far as I know, Donald Trump has never recognized the legal result of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today under oath, without reservation that Donald Trump lost the presidential race to Joe Biden in 2020, Durbin asked.

In response, Bondi avoided a direct answer. She said that Biden “was duly sworn in and that he is the President of the United States” after a “peaceful transition of power”, ignoring the violent attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021 that tried to prevent Biden from being president. .

Durbin looked through the Bondi side steps. “I think that question deserves a yes or no.” I think the length of your answer is an indication that you were not prepared to answer yes.”

Durbin went further and asked Bondi about Trump’s now well-known, recorded and often played call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. That’s when Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to win the state of Georgia.

“Have you heard the recording of President Trump on January 2, 2021, when he called on the Georgia Secretary of State to ‘find 11,780 votes’ and declare him the winner of this state?” Durbin asked.

Bondi said she only heard “clips” and not the entire call, giving herself a reason to say no.

Durbin urged her to listen to the Raffensperger comments.

“Every American should. As a former prosecutor, aren’t you concerned that the President of the United States called a state elected official and told him to find the votes to change the outcome of the election?” Durbin asked.

Bondi was strangely not curious.

Trump has said he wants to pardon felons convicted on Jan. 6.

“Do you think that those who have been convicted of the violent attacks on our policemen on January 6 should be pardoned? It’s a simple question,” Durbin said.

Bondi replied: “If I’m confirmed and if I’m asked to advise the president, I will look at every single case, but let me be very clear when I speak to you: I condemn any violence against a law enforcement officer in this country.”

Saying that you accept the election result is not the same as believing that the result was correct. Election deniers for years have wriggled out of saying Biden beat Trump by acknowledging the obvious — Biden was sworn into office and is president, a term that ends Monday at noon Eastern Standard Time at Trump’s inauguration.

This was the first hearing in which Durbin served as the top Democrat on the panel, with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, now chairman because Republicans control the Senate.

I understand why Durbin wanted to get Bondi on the record, under oath to her denial. Denial of choice is a curse on this country for which there is no sure cure.

However, I wonder if this plays into the hands of Trump’s MAGA supporters that this comes to Bondi’s hearing – where she had a huge platform to plant her seeds of doubt about who won. It’s frustrating that there seems to be no way to get some people to believe that after several studies in various states – Google around for tons of stories about these studies – no evidence emerged that would have changed the election results in 2020.

Trump’s priority in naming his attorney general is to have a loyalist in charge of the Justice Department.

Bondi is Trump’s second choice.

Trump’s first choice was earlier Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., whose nomination was dropped because his behavior was too much even for his fellow Republicans. His main qualification seemed to be that Trump saw him as someone who would do his bidding. Last month, the House Ethics Committee alleged that Gaetz “regularly” paid for sex with an underage girl and used illegal drugs while a member of the House of Representatives.

There is no doubt that Bondi has the legal qualifications to be the country’s 87th Attorney General.

She served two terms as Florida Attorney General, – the first female Florida AG in the third largest state in this country. Nothing happened during the hearing to deny her nomination from advancing to the Senate floor for near-certain confirmation due to the strength of the GOP vote.

Durbin is obviously going to vote no.