By Anita Hamilton

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that got heated at times, Trump's nominee to lead the Justice Department promised to remain independent while dodging more pointed questions from Democratic lawmakers about how much sway incoming President Donald Trump would have over her.

The role is one of the most important in the administration, and Bondi is expected to be confirmed. As the top lawmaker in the country, Bondi would represent the U.S. in legal matters and oversee several bureaus, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Prisons, among others. Trump chose her as a replacement for Matt Gaetz, the former Florida representative who withdrew from consideration last November amid an ethics investigation.

Bondi's top priority as U.S. Attorney General would be to "return the DOJ to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals," she said. She pledged to "make America safe again," fix the Bureau of Prisons, and "work across the aisle" for solutions. She also committed to continuing work on antitrust cases, including those involving Google, Apple and property management software company RealPage.

Several senators focused on whether the former Florida attorney general would make independent decisions, considering her close ties to Trump. She previously served on Trump's legal team during his 2020 impeachment trial. In a disclosure released before the hearing, she reported owning 75,000 shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social. At the current $41 price, those are worth about $3 million. She has another 31,250 DJT warrants. She has also said she is friends with Trump.

"The Justice Department must be independent," she said. "No one will be prosecuted, investigated because they are a political opponent. People will be prosecuted on the facts and the law."

Among the questions she didn't answer directly was who won the 2020 election. When asked by Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, Bondi replied, "Joe Biden is the president of the United States." She also declined to answer several questions posed by Democratic committee members on how she would respond if Trump asked her to do something illegal, saying that she wouldn't respond to hypotheticals.

When Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, asked if she would uphold a TikTok ban, if it go into effect on Jan. 19, Bondi replied, "That is pending litigation within the Department of Justice. I cannot discuss pending litigation." The Supreme Court is currently weighing whether to delay or block the shutdown.

She also didn't directly address whether she would prosecute several people Trump has indicated may be investigated. They include Liz Cheney, a former Republican representative from Wyoming, who has been openly critical of Trump; special prosecutor Jack Smith, who led the investigations into the riots on Jan. 6, 2021; and current Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The tensest exchange of the day came when Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, repeatedly cut her off when replying to his questions about past statements on the 2020 election. "I'm not going to be bullied," she said, adding, "I guess you don't want to hear my answer."

Bondi also said Sen. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, was being "reckless" in his questioning when he expressed frustration with her answers to his questions.

Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com

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January 15, 2025 15:19 ET (20:19 GMT)

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