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Bondi hearing live updates: Bondi suggests Jack Smith's conduct is 'horrible'
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.
Key Headlines
Tillis says it's 'absurd, unfair' to ask about Jan 6 pardons
Without asking Bondi a direct question, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis attacked Democrats for asking Bondi whether she would support pardons for violent Jan. 6 rioters -- even after Bondi declined to answer directly earlier in the hearing whether such a move would be acceptable to her.
"I find it hard to believe that the president of the United States, or you, would look at facts that were used to convict the violent people on January the sixth," he said.
Despite Tillis' statement, Trump has made clear his plans to pardon a large number of Jan. 6 defendants once he takes office, and his transition has repeatedly declined to give clarity on the scope of those pardons.
Bondi evades questions on investigating Jack Smith, Liz Cheney
Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono brought up Bondi's past statements saying she would go after the "bad ones" in the Justice Department, asking her if she would prosecute former special counsel Jack Smith or former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.
Trump has called for both of them to be investigated and jailed for their probes.
Bondi said she would not answer hypothetical questions and claimed that "no one has been prejudged" and that no one will be prejudged.
Bondi dodges question of who won 2020 election for 3rd time
For the third time during Wednesday's hearing, Bondi dodged when asked who won the 2020 presidential election.
"We want an attorney general who bases decisions on facts," Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono said. "So, I want to ask you a factual question. Who won the 2020 presidential election?"
"Joe Biden is the president of the United States," Bondi replied.
Hirono accused Bondi of refusing to directly answer the question of who won.
"I can say that Donald Trump won the 2024 election. I may not like it, but I can say it," Hirono said. "You cannot say who won the 2020 presidential election. It's disturbing that you can't."