Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) on Tuesday grilled Attorney General Pam Bondi about whether President Trump’s public pressure on the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies is influencing the agency.
Klobuchar, at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, noted that Bondi pledged at her confirmation hearing to not let politics play a role in her decision-making and to preserve the Justice Department’s independence.
“Do you believe that you have upheld that commitment?” she asked.
Bondi said that she has done so, and has worked hard to end the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and return the country to a “one tier system of justice for all.”
Klobuchar cited Trump’s calls for investigations and prosecutions of former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs, Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook and former FBI Director James Comey.
She asked Bondi if she received any advice or instruction from the president or anyone else at the White House.
“I’m not going to discuss any conversations,” Bondi said.
Klobuchar asked about Trump’s post on Truth Social last month addressed to “Pam” and urging that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!!” while lamenting the lack of charges against Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“Do you consider that a directive to the Justice Department?” Klobuchar asked.
Bondi responded: “President Trump is the most transparent president in American history and I don’t think he said anything he hasn’t said for years.”
Klobuchar asked about reporting that Bondi pushed back against efforts to push Erik Siebert out of his role as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after he decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute Comey.
“I’m not going to discuss personnel decisions,” Bondi said.
When Klobuchar asked Bondi to confirm that career prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia found there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Comey, Bondi said she would not discuss a pending case.