Bondi Vows DOJ Won’t Have ‘Enemies List’ Under Her Watch

(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be attorney general said the Justice Department won’t have “an enemies list” if she is confirmed, drawing a contrast with conservatives who want the agency to investigate and prosecute those who opposed or investigated Trump and his allies.

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“There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice,” Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, said during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

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The hearing focused largely on political controversies that have plagued the department for years and whether Bondi would resist pressure by Trump, the White House or conservatives if they demand she take certain actions. Bondi repeatedly said she will determine which prosecutions to pursue but she dodged providing direct answers on several matters, including explosive comments Trump has made and whether Biden won the 2020 election.

Part of the hearing devolved into a proxy battle over whether Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kash Patel, is qualified. Patel has openly talked about having a list of enemies he will target if confirmed.

Bondi defended Patel, saying he’s “the right person at this time for this job,” but pushed back on his plan to go after those who Trump and his allies view as political adversaries.

‘Bad’ Prosecutors

Bondi stood by comments she’s made about investigating some prosecutors. In an interview on Fox News in August 2023, she said the “bad” prosecutors who investigated Trump will be investigated once Trump is president again.

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But she declined to say if she would investigate former Special Counsel Jack Smith, Attorney General Merrick Garland and former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, telling Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono that she wouldn’t respond to hypothetical questions and that “no one has been prejudged.”

Bondi told senators that all department officials will be held to an “equal, fair system of justice.” She said her overriding objective “would be to return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law.”

“If confirmed, I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice – and each of its components,” Bondi said. “Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end. America must have one tier of justice for all,” she said.

TikTok Ban

Citing ongoing court action, Bondi declined to share her views on the imminent US ban on TikTok, the Affordable Care Act’s preventative care coverage and Medicare’s authority to negotiate prescription drug prices. She instead offered broad commitments to enforce US laws.

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Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to pause the law barring TikTok from operating in the US unless its Chinese parent company sells it. The justices heard arguments on Jan. 10.

“That is pending litigation within the Department of Justice,” Bondi said about TikTok. “I can’t discuss pending litigation.“

Senators pressed Bondi on whether she will seek to prosecute journalists and also questioned on her lobbying work for clients such as the government of Qatar, Amazon.com Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc.

A fierce defender of the president-elect, Bondi, 59, has repeated Trump’s claims that the department’s investigations of his conduct have been laced with politics. If confirmed as attorney general by the Senate, she’d oversee everything from defending controversial government policies in court to investigating corporations and doling out billions of dollars in federal grants.

Bondi also has publicly backed Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election. Pressed about that issue on Wednesday, Bondi said she accepted the results and Joe Biden as president, but continued to suggest that there were problems, telling the committee that she “saw many things” when she visited Pennsylvania as an advocate for the Trump campaign, though she didn’t offer details.

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Trump Loyalist

Trump selected Bondi after his first choice for attorney general, former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, withdrew amid allegations of sexual misconduct, even though he denied the claims.

Bondi served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019. She has been a loyal Trump ally for years. In 2020, she served on Trump’s legal defense team during his first impeachment by the US House.

After serving as Florida attorney general, Bondi became a partner at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm that also employed incoming Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Bondi disclosed her lobbying activities in a questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

She said she registered as a lobbyist for the governments of the Dominican Republic, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Republic of Kosovo.

Along with Amazon and Uber, she also lobbied for Carnival North America LLC, Major League Baseball and the Bankers Financial Corp.

She said she would evaluate whether to recuse from matters involving her former lobbying clients if necessary.

“In the event I am confirmed, I will consult with the appropriate Department of Justice ethics officials and act consistent with governing regulations with regard to these cases and legal matters,” she wrote.

(Updates with more information from hearing.)

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