Bondi refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election
Under questioning from Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi dodged when asked if she believed Donald Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020.
“To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never acknowledged the legal results of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today, under oath, without reservation, that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?” Durbin asked.
“President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024,” Bondi responded.
Pressed further by Durbin, Bondi continued to equivocate:
All I can tell you, as a prosecutor, is from my first-hand experience, and I accept the results. I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States. But what I can tell you is what I saw first-hand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the campaign. I was an advocate for the campaign, and I was on the ground in Pennsylvania, and I saw many things there. But do I accept the results? Of course, I do. Do I agree with what happened? I saw so much.
You know, no one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country. We should all want our elections to be free and fair, and the rules and the laws to be followed.
“I think that question deserved a yes or no. And I think the length of your answer is an indication that you weren’t prepared to answer yes,” Durbin said.
Key events
Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked Pam Bondi “under what circumstances will you prosecute journalists for what they write?”
“I believe in the freedom of speech – only if anyone commits a crime. It’s pretty basic, senator, with anything, with any victim, and this is this goes back to my entire career, for 18 years as a prosecutor and then eight years as Florida’s attorney general. You find the facts of the case, you apply the law in good faith, and you treat everyone fairly,” she replied.
Bondi refuses to acknowledge that Trump lost the 2020 election
Under questioning from Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi dodged when asked if she believed Donald Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020.
“To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never acknowledged the legal results of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today, under oath, without reservation, that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?” Durbin asked.
“President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn in, and he is the president of the United States. There was a peaceful transition of power. President Trump left office and was overwhelmingly elected in 2024,” Bondi responded.
Pressed further by Durbin, Bondi continued to equivocate:
All I can tell you, as a prosecutor, is from my first-hand experience, and I accept the results. I accept, of course, that Joe Biden is president of the United States. But what I can tell you is what I saw first-hand when I went to Pennsylvania as an advocate for the campaign. I was an advocate for the campaign, and I was on the ground in Pennsylvania, and I saw many things there. But do I accept the results? Of course, I do. Do I agree with what happened? I saw so much.
You know, no one from either side of the aisle should want there to be any issues with election integrity in our country. We should all want our elections to be free and fair, and the rules and the laws to be followed.
“I think that question deserved a yes or no. And I think the length of your answer is an indication that you weren’t prepared to answer yes,” Durbin said.
Bondi pledges to end ‘weaponization’ at justice department if confirmed as attorney general
Pam Bondi said she would fight “partisanship” and “weaponization” at the justice department as attorney general – an echo of language Republicans used to attack Joe Biden’s attempts to hold Donald Trump to account for overturning the 2020 election.
“Like the president, 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. Lastly, and most importantly, if confirmed, I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components. The partisanship, the weaponization, will be gone. America will have one tier of justice for all,” Bondi said.
As Trump’s legal trouble mounted, he and his allies increasingly accused Biden of “weaponizing” federal law enforcement. Here’s a look back at that:
Hugo Lowell
Ivan Raiklin, the far-right political operative who was investigated by the House January 6 committee for his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, has shown up at Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing.
Democratic ranking member says he’ll seek assurances that Bondi would reject illegal orders from Trump
Next up was Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin, who said he wanted to know whether Pam Bondi would stand up to Donald Trump, if he were to give her an illegal order.
“I need to know that you would tell the president no if you’re asked to do something that is wrong, illegal or unconstitutional,” Durbin said.
He turned to her background of supporting Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election:
Ms Bondi, you are one of four Trump personal lawyers that he has already selected for top positions in the Department of Justice. You joined Mr Trump in working to overturn the 2020 election. You repeatedly described investigations and prosecutions of Mr Trump, Trump as witch-hunts, and you have echoed his calls for investigating and prosecuting his political opponents.
This flies in the face of evidence like Mr Trump’s call to Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, we’ve all heard that audio recording. These are the kinds of anti-democratic efforts that in the past you have defended, and it’s critical that we understand whether you remain supportive of Mr Trump’s actions.
Top Republican demands Bondi end ‘political decision making’ in justice department
In his opening statement, the judiciary committee’s Republican chair, Chuck Grassley, described the justice department as riven with politicization, and said Pam Bondi was the right pick to reverse that trend.
He then launched into attacks on a variety of investigations, some from years ago, that Republicans have claimed are unconstitutional scandals. These include the investigation of ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia, and former special counsel Jack Smith’s attempts to prosecute Trump under Joe Biden.
“The justice department is infected with political decision making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality,” Grassley said.
He zeroed in on the investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents, which Smith took over after FBI agents searched the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022:
Then we get to special counsel, Jack Smith and his lawfare operation. It involved an unprecedented FBI raid on Trump’s house, including agents that even searched the former first lady’s clothing drawers. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden certainly did not receive the same treatment by government regarding their records, indeed, as my oversight exposed.
Grassley closed with:
Ms Bondi, should you be confirmed, the actions you take to change the department’s course must be for accountability, so that the conduct I just described never happens again. The only way to accomplish this is through transparency for the Congress and the American people.
Hugo Lowell
Senate judiciary committee chair Chuck Grassley is running through Pam Bondi’s resume as a prosecutor at the start of her confirmation hearing for attorney general.
The hearing room is mainly full but there are some spare seats, which reflects the fact that Bondi is one of Trump’s least controversial nominees and has not generated the same immense interest for Trump’s defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth yesterday.
The Senate judiciary committee has gaveled in its confirmation hearing for attorney general-nominee Pam Bondi, with Republican chair Chuck Grassley delivering his opening remarks.
We will next hear the opening statement from Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin, who told CNN earlier today that when he gets his turn to question Bondi, he will attempt to decipher her views on Trump’s denial of his election defeat in 2020:
I’ll ask her some basic questions on some Maga dogma. For example, did Trump actually win or lose the election in 2020? As his lawyer, she said he didn’t lose, but I think the facts have shown otherwise. Did she learn anything from that experience? Is she willing to tell us that he lost that election? There are questions like that that need to be asked and answered under oath.
Senate judiciary committee to hold confirmation hearing for Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi
Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general Pam Bondi is set to soon appear before the Senate judiciary committee for the first day of her confirmation hearings.
The former Florida attorney general has voiced support for Trump’s baseless claims that fraud was the cause of his re-election defeat in 2020. The president-elect nominated her to lead the justice department after his first choice, former congressman Matt Gaetz, bowed out amid reports of his sexual misconduct.
Bondi will take more questions from senators tomorrow. Follow along as we cover today’s hearing live.
Republican senator and combat veteran Joni Ernst’s endorsement of Pete Hegseth expected to ensure his confirmation as Pentagon chief
Joni Ernst saw combat as an army national guard soldier in Iraq, and now represents Iowa in the Senate. The Republican was an early holdout to former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Pentagon, since he has publicly said that women should not serve in military combat roles.
Hegseth walked that stance back at his confirmation hearing yesterday, and in a statement released last night, Ernst confirmed she will vote for him:
After four years of weakness in the White House, Americans deserve a strong Secretary of Defense. Our next commander in chief selected Pete Hegseth to serve in this role, and after our conversations, hearing from Iowans, and doing my job as a United States Senator, I will support President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense. As I serve on the Armed Services Committee, I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards, and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks.
Democrats at the hearing tried to steer the attention of lawmakers towards the allegation of sexual assault made against Hegseth, which he denies, as well as stories that he drank to excess and mismanaged the finances of two veterans charities. None of those reports appeared to sway Republicans, and Ernst’s endorsement is widely viewed as giving him the votes he needs to win Senate confirmation.
Here’s a look back at yesterday’s hearing:
Trump’s attorney general pick Pam Bondi to face senators as key Republican says she’ll back controversial Pentagon nominee
Good morning, US politics blog readers. A battery of Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet are going before senators today, including South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to lead the homeland security department, senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state and former congressman and intelligence official John Ratcliffe as director of the CIA. But the marquee event of the day will be former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing to lead the justice department, a role in which she could make good on Trump’s promises to retaliate against his political enemies. Bondi voiced support for Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election, and you can expect Democratic senators to demand answers about whether she would bring election denialism into the justice department, if confirmed.
Meanwhile, it appears that Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host who Trump nominated to serve as his defense secretary, won over a key Republican senator in his tense confirmation hearing yesterday. Iowa’s Joni Ernst has announced that she will support Hegseth, after expressing hesitation over comments he had made opposing women serving in combat roles. Hegseth has been dogged by a sexual assault allegation and reports of excessive drinking and financial mismanagement, but Ernst’s endorsement is seen as a major step to winning over other Republicans wary of installing him at the Pentagon.
Here’s what else is going on today:
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Joe Biden will deliver his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office at 8pm.
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Inflation, the politically damaging economic trend Trump vowed to reverse, came in slightly higher than expected in December, according to just-released consumer price data from the labor department.
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Dangerous winds are expected to strike fire-ravaged parts of Southern California again, threatening new blazes. Follow our live blog for more.
