Things got heated during the Wednesday, January 15 confirmation hearing in the Senate for Pam Bondi, the Florida lawyer who President-elect Donald Trump has picked to be his Attorney General in the incoming Trump Administration, when Ms. Bondi called out Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) for refusing her a basic courtesy that everyone else, right and left alike, did.
That basic courtesy is a “courtesy call,” which is a pre-hearing phone call from cabinet nominees to the senators who will be questioning them so that the two can build a bit of rapport and discuss introductory matters before the hearing. Sen. Hirono apparently refused such a call before Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.
News of the snub came when Sen. Hirono started ranting, attacking Bondi and demanding an answer as to whether she would use her power as Attorney General to investigate and attack political enemies. Posing that fear mongering hypothetical to the Attorney General nominee, Sen. Hirono “Would you do so?”
Replying, Ms. Bondi noted that had the senator not refused the basic courtesy call, they could have discussed this sort of matter ahead of time. She said, “Senator Hirono, I wish you had met with me. Had you met with me, we could have discussed many things and gotten time –” Sen. Hirono then rudely cut her off.
Getting snippy with Bondi, the very woke senator snapped, “I am listening to you now. Could you respond to the question?” Bondi then again returned the matter of why it would have been helpful for them to meet, which would have been possible had Hirono not been so rude. She said, “You were the only one who refused to meet with me, senator. But what we would have discussed is that it is the job of the Attorney General –”
Somewhat shockingly, even for her, the senator from Hawaii then started scolding the AG nominee in the hearing. She snapped, “I’m very happy to listen to your responses under oath. Miss Bondi, so I think it’s really important to us that the Attorney General be independent of the White House, and you have a president-elect, who considers the AGs office his law firm, I would like to know whether, if the president suggests, hints, asks that you, as Attorney General, should investigate one of his perceived enemies?”
Bondi told her, “Senator, I certainly have not heard the President say that, but what I will tell you is two thirds of Americans have lost faith in the Department of Justice, and it’s statements like that, I believe, that make people continue to lose faith.” She added, “If I am confirmed as Attorney General, it will be my job, not only to keep Americans safe, but restore integrity to that department.” Watch Bondi and Hirono here:
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Bondi, commenting on her main objective as AG during the hearing, said, “My overriding objective will be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals, and that includes getting back to basics, gangs, drugs, terrorists, cartels, our border and our foreign adversaries. … I believe we are on the cusp of a new golden age where the Department of Justice can and will do better if I am confirmed.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video