In a fiery confrontation, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi went nuclear on Democratic Congresswoman Madeline Dean, accusing the representative of being extremely dishonest and launching a personal attack related to the attorney general’s career and her role in President Trump’s decision-making.
For background, during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on June 23, 2025, Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA) grilled Attorney General Pam Bondi on the subject of ethics compliance, pressing the attorney general repeatedly about issues ranging from her role in the January 6 pardons to whether she registered as a foreign agent. During the heated exchange, both AG Bondi and Rep. Dean talked over each other, and both also accused the other of being unprofessional.
During the hearing, Rep. Dean began by saying that she believed the attorney general was “sincere,” adding, “You want to protect law enforcement, but your principal, the president, pardoned every single [individual arrested] on January 6.” She continued, “It rings hollow when you say these words that if you spit on a police officer, we’re going to go after you.”
Continuing, the congresswoman asked AG Bondi, “What advice did you offer the president?” referring to speculation that the attorney general had “advice for the president when he came forward with the blanket pardon on January 20.” The attorney general replied, “I am never going to talk about conversations I’ve had or not had with the president of the United States.”
Pushing further, Rep. Dean asked again, “Did you give him any advice? Yes or no.” AG Bondi replied, “I am not going to discuss any conversation.” Rep. Dean interrupted, saying, “That’s a no!” Bondi replied, “I am not willing to discuss conversations that I had with the president of the United States.”
Next, the congresswoman said that the attorney general “answered and then answered it again and answered it again with a non-answer,” referring to her question related to the president.” She added, “We will she answered it by saying ‘No,’ okay. The three hallmarks of this administration are incompetence, corruption, and cruelty.”
Then the congresswoman asked AG Bondi if she had “ever been registered as an agent of a foreign principal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” to which the attorney general replied, “I assume you’re talking about when I represented the country of Qatar for a very short time [doing] anti-human trafficking for the World Cup.” She added, “You want to talk about incompetence? You’re the one who says Joe Biden on PBS was competent.”
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Offended, the congresswoman said, “Don’t, don’t insult me publicly. This is so discourteous. This is outside the committee’s guidelines. Taking a personal shot at me while swiping at Biden! Very strange and unprofessional of you.” Rep. Dean then pushed further on her previous question, to which AG Bondi replied, “I will not discuss any advice that my Office of Legal Counsel gives to the President of the United States on any matter.”
Watch the tense exchange:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video