Pam Bondi is getting grilled before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the Justice Department -- former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi -- faced questions for more than five hours before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Democrats asked about her vow to "prosecute the prosecutors—the bad ones," referring to special counsel Jack Smith and other DOJ lawyers who investigated Trump. Democrats on the committee also pressed Bondi on Jan. 6, the 2020 presidential election results, and how she would be independent of hypothetical Trump demands.
Republicans on the committee spent a lot of their time criticizing the DOJ under the Biden Administration, alleging it was weaponized to target Trump.
The committee will reconvene to hear from outside witnesses on Thursday.
Bringing up concerns about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker asked Bondi if she was committed to ensuring the agency had adequate resources to pursue illegal gun runners.
"Senator, I will do everything in my power to prevent illegal gunrunners in our country," Bondi replied.
California Democrat Sen. Alex Padilla brought up Bondi's work in Trump's legal challenges against the 2020 election results noting that she claimed a day after the election that Trump won Pennsylvania even though votes were still being counted.
Bondi did not provide details about her evidence or retract her false claims.
Things got heated between the senator and Bondi when he asked about the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship.
"I did not take your homework assignment. I was preparing for today," she said when asked about the amendment.
Sen. Eric Schmitt started his questioning by attacking the Biden administration and Merrick Garland's and Eric Holder's Justice Departments and spreading unproven claims about the investigations into Trump.
He slammed Democrats for questioning Bondi's independence.
Welch brought up Trump's vow to go after his political opponents, including President Joe Biden.
Bondi testified that she has not had conversations with Trump about any plan to prosecuted Biden, Cheney, Sen. Adam Schiff and others.
However, she made unsubstantiated claims that such political prosecutions have taken place under Biden.
"No one will be prosecuted or investigated because they are a political opponent. That's what we've seen in the last four years," she said without sharing any specifics.
