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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.
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Bondi questioned about resigning if asked to do illegal act
Delaware Democratic Sen. Chris Coons questioned Bondi again about her independence -- and if she would resign from her post if she were asked to do something illegal or unethical.
Coons noted Donald Trump's attorneys general in his first term were fired for failing to cooperate with his orders.
Bondi said she would not talk about hypotheticals and reiterated her statement that she would follow the law.
"Senator, I wouldn't work at a law firm, I wouldn't be a prosecutor, I wouldn't be attorney general If anyone ask me to do something improper, and I felt I had to carry that out, of course I would not do that," she said.
Bondi says no 'intention of shutting anything down' on FBI national security work
After pressing Bondi over what he called Trump FBI director pick Kash Patel's "enemies list," Sen. Whitehouse shifted to questioning Bondi on whether she would shut down the FBI's national security and counterterrorism work, to which Bondi answered that, while she will look at every agency, she has no "intention of shutting anything down."
She then expanded on her TV appearance with Fox News host Sean Hannity, where she called for "investigating the investigators."
She gave the example of a so-called "bad" prosecutor in the Justice Department as Kevin Clinesmith. Clinesmith was an ex-FBI lawyer who entered into a plea deal with former special counsel John Durham and received a sentence of probation for altering an email that was used to support an application for a foreign surveillance warrant.
Bondi responds to her claim that some DOJ prosecutors will be prosecuted
Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse questioned Bondi about her past statement that prosecutors who investigated Trump should be prosecuted for what she claimed was wrongdoing.
Bondi reiterated her claims that Trump was unfairly targeted by the Justice Department for years and it was her duty to hold everyone to standards of the law.
"None of us are above the law," she said.
When asked about prosecuting journalists, Bondi said, "I believe in the freedom of speech. Only if anyone commits a crime."
Bondi defends Kash Patel, says she doesn't believe he has 'enemies list'
Bondi was questioned about Trump's FBI director pick Kash Patel, who has spoken about using that role to "root out" Trump's political enemies.
Patel has referred to these targets as "Deep Staters," citing what critics call conspiracy theories about alleged sinister elite groups controlling the country.
Bondi said she has never had an "enemies list," and said she does not believe Patel has one.
"I don't believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV, which I have not heard," Bondi said.
"There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice," she added.
Bondi said she believes Patel is "the right person at this time" for the role.