Democrats on the Senate panel grilled her over her management of the Justice Division. She hit again, with GOP help.
Printed On 8 Oct 2025
United States Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi confronted fierce questioning at a Senate Judiciary Committee listening to, as Democrats accused her of politicising the Division of Justice (DOJ) and Republicans rallied behind her pledge to revive regulation enforcement’s core mission.
In her first look earlier than the Republican-controlled committee because the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, Bondi on Tuesday defended the division’s route below her management, saying she got here into workplace decided to finish the “weaponisation of justice” and refocus on violent crime.
She mentioned the DOJ was now “returning to our core mission of combating actual crime”, pointing to elevated federal exercise in Washington, DC; and Memphis, Tennessee.
Bondi additionally defended the deployment of Nationwide Guard troops to cities like Chicago and Portland, saying native governments failed to guard residents. She tied challenges in imposing public security to the continuing authorities shutdown, blaming Democrats for undermining regulation enforcement readiness.
One of many important moments of the listening to got here with Bondi’s justification for prosecuting Comey, a longtime critic of US President Donald Trump. Comey faces expenses of false statements and obstruction of Congress associated to his 2020 congressional testimony, and is scheduled to seem in courtroom on Wednesday. Democrats pressed whether or not the indictment adopted from unbiased prosecutorial judgement or political stress. Bondi declined to reply questions on personal conversations with the White Home, calling them “personnel issues”.
The Jeffrey Epstein information have been one other flashpoint within the listening to as Bondi repeatedly refused to elucidate her resolution to reverse course on releasing paperwork. She as an alternative accused Democratic senators of getting accepted marketing campaign donations from an affiliate of the late, convicted intercourse offender.
Democrats additionally quizzed her on allegations that Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, accepted $50,000 in money from undercover brokers final 12 months, earlier than the present US administration got here into workplace. Bondi mentioned the choice to drop the inquiry preceded her tenure and declined to state whether or not the cash had been recovered.
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the highest Democrat on the panel, repeatedly accused Bondi of utilizing her management to assist weaponise the DOJ. “Our nation’s prime regulation enforcement company has turn into a protect for the president and his political allies once they interact in misconduct,” he mentioned. The Illinois senator claimed Bondi “essentially remodeled the Justice Division and left an unlimited stain on American historical past”.
“It’ll take many years to recuperate,” he added.
Underneath Bondi’s management, key divisions akin to civil rights have seen mass departures, and profession prosecutors tied to investigations into Trump or the January 6 assault on the US Capitol have been eliminated or reassigned.
A letter by practically 300 former DOJ staff, launched simply earlier than the listening to, warned that the administration was “taking a sledgehammer to different longstanding work” and urged a return to institutional norms.
Republicans on the committee largely defended her actions, echoing claims that the DOJ below the prior Biden administration — which introduced two legal circumstances in opposition to Trump — was the one which had been weaponised. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley recommended Bondi for resetting priorities and asserted that regulation enforcement wanted new route.
