Bondi, a staunch Trump ally, sought to strike a balance between insisting she would operate independently of the incoming president while carefully avoiding comments that could irk him. Trump soured on his last two attorneys general in his first term after they bucked his demands.

“I believe that the Justice Department must be independent and must act independently,” Bondi said, adding that “politics will not play a part.”

She received a warm welcome from the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, while attempting to charm Democrats in her remarks.

Ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was first to articulate Democrats’ worries that she would do Trump’s bidding, even if it came at odds with legal ethics and DOJ policies.

“At issue I believe in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience,” Durbin said. “At issue is your ability to say ‘no.’”

2020 election

Durbin was one of several Democrats to grill Bondi on the results of the 2020 election. Bondi affirmed Trump’s loss while also making sure to couch it with allusions to Trump’s unproven claims that widespread fraud tainted the results.

“Are you prepared to say today under oath without reservation that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?” Durbin asked.

Bondi responded that “President Biden is the president of the United States” and “duly sworn in,” but said she also saw “firsthand” unspecified election integrity concerns when she visited Pennsylvania that year.

Bondi later had a far feistier exchange with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), who observed that Bondi once falsely claimed Trump won the Keystone State in 2020. He demanded she answer “yes” or “no” regarding the existence of any evidence of voter fraud, talking over her at times as she tried to respond.

“Let me answer my question. I’m not going to be bullied by you, Sen. Padilla,” Bondi replied, adding, “I guess you don’t want to hear my answer about Pennsylvania.”

Jan. 6 pardons

Bondi condemned the violence toward police officers during the Capitol attack and said that if Trump left any of the decision-making on pardons to her, she would evaluate on a “case-by-case” basis the rioters who may be granted clemency.

“The pardons, of course, fall under the president,” she told Durbin. “But if asked to look at those cases, I will look at each case and advise on a case-by-case basis, just as I did my entire career as a prosecutor.”

Durbin, dissatisfied with the answer, pressed for a “yes” or “no” response on pardons.

“I have not seen any of those files. Of course, if confirmed and if asked to advise the president, I will look at each and every file,” Bondi continued. “But let me be very clear in speaking to you: I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country.”

Trump has vowed to dish out pardons among the nearly 1,600 defendants charged or convicted for acts related to the riot, plans that Senate Republicans are in some cases reluctant to embrace.  

Bondi promises she won’t keep an ‘enemies list’

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) ran through Bondi’s past roles, asking if she ever had an “enemies list” when she served as a Hillsborough County prosecutor or as Florida’s attorney general.

Bondi repeatedly said she did not, eventually noting that Whitehouse appeared to be referencing remarks made by Trump’s controversial FBI director nominee, Kash Patel.

“Senator, to cut to the chase, you’re clearly talking about Kash Patel. I don’t believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV, which I have not heard,” Bondi said, adding, “You’ll have the ability to question Mr. Patel.”

Patel identified in his book members of the so-called deep state who he said were “criminals.” The list included dozens of prominent Democrats, Republicans who have fallen out of favor with Trump, and other current and former agency officials.

“There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice, the FBI,” Bondi said.

Bondi addresses viral remark about prosecuting prosecutors

Democratic senators seized upon remarks Bondi made on television in 2023, when she echoed Trump’s desire for charges against certain prosecutors and denounced special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal investigation of Trump.

“I said that on TV. I said prosecutors will be prosecuted, to finish the quote, if bad. Investigators will be investigated,” Bondi said to Whitehouse. “You know, we all take an oath, senator, to uphold the law. None of us are above the law.”

Bondi pointed to Kevin Clinesmith, a former DOJ assistant general counsel, as an example of a “bad” prosecutor. Clinesmith pleaded guilty in 2020 to making a false statement to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court when seeking an extension of a warrant to surveil former Trump aide Carter Page.

Hirono a no on meeting with Bondi

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked if Smith, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and Attorney General Merrick Garland were bad prosecutors in Bondi’s eyes.

“I am not going to answer hypotheticals. No one has been pre-judged nor will anyone be pre-judged if I am confirmed,” Bondi said.

Bondi then revealed that Hirono was the only Democratic senator on the committee to refuse to meet with her one-on-one ahead of the hearing.

Bondi spars with Schiff

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Bondi had an adversarial reunion when they went toe-to-toe in what sounded more like a lecturing match than a confirmation hearing.  

The pair engaged in a combative string of questions and answers that at times dredged up apparently unsettled grievances from 2020, when Schiff was a House impeachment manager in Trump’s first impeachment trial and Bondi a personal defense attorney for the then-president.

Five years later, Schiff and Bondi were now sparring over new contentious subjects like the legitimacy of the 2020 election, pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, and targeting political opponents as Bondi testified.

In one instance, Bondi accused of Schiff of “trying to engage me in a ‘gotcha.’” In another exchange, Bondi responded to a line of questioning about preserving the House Jan. 6 committee’s investigation: “You were censured by Congress, senator, for moments just like this.”

“Are you frightened because evidence was destroyed against President Trump that was false?” Bondi added.

Schiff said her answers were evidence she lacks “the independence to say no to the president.”

FACE Act

Bondi was questioned by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) about the Biden administration’s aggressive use of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to prosecute anti-abortion advocates.

Hawley urged Bondi to scale back the current administration’s record-high number of FACE Act prosecutions and the lop-sided nature of them. The DOJ, under Biden, has prosecuted dozens of defendants accused of attacking, vandalizing, or blocking entrances to abortion facilities. Meanwhile, the DOJ has brought about two cases against those who have attacked pregnancy counseling centers or churches, which are also covered under the FACE Act.

Hawley asked if Bondi would “stop the deliberate persecution of pro-life Americans for nothing more than their pro-life beliefs.”

“Yes, senator,” Bondi replied.

Klobuchar, however, wanted assurances that Bondi would continue enforcing the FACE Act against people who target abortion clinics.

Bondi replied by pointing out that the statute was intended to protect abortion providers, as well as pregnancy counseling centers and churches.

“I’ll uphold the enforcement of the law, senator,” Bondi said.

Confirmation faces week-long delay

Durbin told the Washington Examiner that Judiciary Democrats will delay Bondi’s committee vote for one week under panel rules, a customary practice exercised by the minority party. Committee Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach an agreement on more questioning in exchange for waiving the delay.

Bondi will not be able to be confirmed by the full chamber until late next week at the earliest, potentially pushing the vote into the final week of January.

“We’re going to exercise our rights under the committee rules,” Durbin said. 

The move will only delay the inevitable. Bondi is expected to have enough Republican support to advance through committee and be confirmed on the Senate floor in what will likely be a largely party-line vote.