florida, and she was florida's elected attorney general, working to improve the lives of floridians, to make florida the best state in the nation, to live, work, and raise a family. pam was an incredible partner, working to keep florida safe and uphold the laws of our state, and ensuring crime is aggressively pursued by law enforcement and prosecutors. president trump has made clear that one of his top priorities is to reverse the rising rates of crime, and specifically violent crime, that have plagued our communities over the past four years. pam bondi is uniquely equipped to advance his priority as u.s. attorney general because she has a she has a proven track record of success in achieving dramatic reductions in crime and violent crime. during her time as florida's attorney general from 2010, the year before she took office, to 2018, the last year she was in office together, florida experienced a remarkable 26% drop in overall crime, including a 19.6% drop in

violent crime and a 27.4% drop in property crime. these aren't just numbers. these are tens of thousands of lives saved and communities improved and made safer. and families and businesses protected. as florida's attorney general, pam bondi, also spearheaded other life saving initiatives like tackling the opioid epidemic and fighting human trafficking. her achievements are too many for me to list in this short introduction, as u.s. attorney general, pam bondi will restore law and order to the nation. she'll put americans interests first and make the nation a better and safer place. i urge every single member of this committee to support my friend pam bondi, and i look forward to voting for her confirmation soon on the senate floor and help her get to work for the american people. thank you chairman. thank you senator. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ranking member durbin and members of the committee. it is an honor for me and a privilege

to introduce pam bondi, president trump's nominee to be the 87th attorney general of the united states. i have known and worked closely with pam for years, and i'm glad to call her a friend. when pam was nominated by president trump, my reaction was, this is a home run, as many of us are. i was only to be outdone by senator graham, who described the nomination as a grand slam touchdown hole in one ace, hat trick, slam dunk, olympic gold medal pick. and he's right as the letter, joined by more than 100 former justice department officials put it, quote, it's all too rare for senior justice department officials, much less attorneys general, to have such a wealth of experience in the day to day work of keeping our communities safe. end quote pam exemplifies and personifies the department of justice's mission to uphold the rule of law, to keep our communities safe, and to protect our rights and liberties as americans. pam has distinguished

herself in her career in public service that has taken her from her small town upbringing in temple terrace, florida, to a hearing before this esteemed committee. after attending the university of florida and stetson university college of law, she started her career as a local prosecutor in hillsborough county, florida. as a local prosecutor for nearly two decades, pam kept her community safe, prosecuting violent criminals, drug dealers, those who had threatened the local community, and those who stood in opposition to the rule of law. pam's fellow floridians then elected her to serve as florida's attorney general, where she was the first woman in state history elected to that office. as a former state attorney general myself, i can vouch for the deep experience that pam bondi has developed from serving in that role as the chief law enforcement official in her state, she worked with local prosecutors to fight crime, work to protect our constitutional rights or the constitutional rights of floridians, and stood up for the

little guy by taking on abuses of power. as florida's attorney general, she worked tirelessly to combat the opioid crisis, fighting pill mills and helping to combat the widespread misuse and trafficking of deadly drugs, including fentanyl, which have devastated families and communities all across our country. she stood up for floridians in the wake of a 2008 financial crisis leading to the national mortgage settlement act, resulting in $56 billion in compensation to victims. and after the deepwater horizon oil spill, pam was there and stood up for floridians by getting $2 billion dollars from the companies responsible. on a more personal note, pam has always taken it upon herself to help others. she's incredibly generous and someone i could always count on. she's truthful, she's tough, and she's a born leader. she has charted her own course with the rare combination of backbone and heart. the next

attorney general of the united states must restore trust by reversing the weaponization we've seen the last four years, and refocusing that department to its core mission administering justice. the next attorney general must promote the rule of law, take on violent crime, keep our communities safe and safeguard the god given rights that each american has protected in our constitution. i can think of no one, no one more up to that task than pam bondi, a career prosecutor and widely respected attorney general with the prudence, fortitude and temperance for this incredibly important job. mr. chairman, it is truly an honor for me to introduce pam bondi to this committee and to our country here today and speak on her behalf. it is my hope that her nomination will be swiftly confirmed. >> thank you, senator schmidt. now, miss bondi, would you please come forward? and before you're seated, i'd like to administer the oath. would you please raise your right hand and

answer this question? do you swear that the testimony you're about to give to this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? please be seated and go ahead with your opening statement. >> thank you. chairman grassley, ranking member durbin, and members of the senate judiciary committee. >> i've had the opportunity to meet with almost all of you, and i greatly appreciate that. >> i'm grateful to president trump and to this committee for your consideration to be the 87th attorney general of the united states. >> i would not be here without my family. >> and if you can bear with me

for just a moment, a lot of them have made a very long trip and i wrote them all down. >> so i don't forget anyone. >> my beautiful mother, who i wouldn't be here. >> a retired kindergarten teacher would not be here without my mom. a as of a week ago, it was 12 years since we lost my dad to leukemia. it feels like 12 days. my amazing husband, john, and his two incredible girls, collins and finley collins, is a senior at university of florida. and i think all of you on this committee will be very happy to know finley is in cybersecurity. there's a third who is traveling abroad. i wish she could be here. my amazing father in law, david, my sister beth, my brother in law is home with my niece, my nephews. if you could just raise your hand. evan, jake and soon to be niece savannah. my brother brad, a brilliant

lawyer. my sister in law tandy, and my nephews, justin, who just got a 4.0 at uva. rex, great college tennis player. brad, great tennis player is here. and my niece, my beautiful niece rhea. and the little guy is in school because he's ten. my friends leslie, kathy, dina, tiffany, kim, paula and so many of my former coworkers and ranking member durbin. if you want to get dirt on me. these women have known me since i was a child. seriously, most of them. so thank you for indulging me in that. they've all made a very long trip to be here. and thank you for holding my hearing as well and not postponing it, i appreciate that. thank you all. from the moment i interned at the state attorney's office in tampa, florida, all i wanted to

do was be a prosecutor. the supreme court certified me and i had four jury trials while still in law school. lost most of them, but had four jury trials and never wanted to do anything else. i continued my career there, trying everything from duis, domestic violence cases, capital murder cases, the whole gamut. i became a lead trial attorney in courtroom every day, trying career criminals. was deputy chief of the division and then ultimately was felony bureau chief and eventually left to become florida's 37th attorney general for the state of florida. nothing has impacted my career more than my experience as a state prosecutor, because i got to know and still keep in touch with many victims and their families from when i was a prosecutor. upon becoming

attorney general in 2011, i proudly served for two terms. i was term limited. i would probably still be there right now had i not been kicked out of office by term limits. i loved being attorney general. i did my best to keep florida safe, to continue to stand up for victims of crime, and to fight the opioid crisis and the drug crisis that was not only facing florida, but this entire country. out of the top 100. this is one of the things i'm the most proud of. oxycodone dispensers in the entire country. i believe it was 98 of them, 90 or 98 of them lived in florida. we fought for tough legislation. kids were dropping dead every day. we fought for tough legislation. and after that legislation, none of those opioid dealers, doctors

practiced in florida. we fought to eliminate human trafficking by raising awareness and prevention and talking to parents and talking to children. we also provided critical resources, including safe houses, that my state was lacking. on the civil side, we worked to protect consumers. we tackled everything, including off label prescription marketing, which affects, as you know, many, many people who can't afford prescriptions as well. we partnered with states attorneys general from both parties and federal agencies across administrations. we went after price gougers during hurricanes, if confirmed as the next attorney general of the united states, my overriding objective will be to return the department of justice to its core mission of keeping

americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals. and that includes getting back to basics gangs, drugs, terrorists, cartels, our border and our foreign adversaries. that is what the american peopl from the department of justice. if confirmed, i will do everything in my power and it will be my great responsibility to make america safe again, making america safe again also requires reducing recidivism. we have to fix the bureau of prisons, and i am looking on both sides of the aisle. the bureau has suffered from years of mismanagement, lack of funding and low morale. i was proud to support president trump's first step act. i think

more can be implemented and more can be done on that front. president trump's leadership on criminal justice reform has demonstrated what is possible when a president is unafraid to do the things that have been deemed to be too difficult, we have to reach across the aisle and get solutions for all of these problems. 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 partizanship. the weaponization will be gone. america will have one tier of justice for all. in

all this work, i'll collaborate closely with this committee. i will work with all of you as i have committed to do. when i met with almost all of you, and i will partner not only with the federal agencies, but with the state and local officials throughout our great country. i look forward to answering your questions today and working together for this country and our constitution. thank you, senators. >> i will ask first questions and senator durbin, and then i'll call on the democrat people. the way that senator durbin would say so on their arrival or here by seniority, in the same way that on the house side. and i'll make sure that i don't abuse the seven minutes. i

want you to have your attention on this binder that i put up here. he gets to a key factor of each senator's role, and oversight. it contains 144 oversight letters that i sent to the biden, harris, justice department and its component agencies with many of those letters in there to the fbi adding letters to the inspector general, that would be about 165 letters. so i've sent more letters since you've been in my office before christmas, should you be confirmed, 144 letters will be your responsibility. the responses i have received so far fall in two categories. first, they weren't answered at all.

second, i received a response, but it didn't fully respond. said another way. the justice department merely sent me words on a piece of paper. so should you be confirmed? you'll have an obligation to respond even to the minority and consider a letter from them. even if my signature is not on it, as they want information. will you commit to responding to my oversight requests, as well as the request of other members of the committee chairman? >> either i or my top staff will personally review the letters and do everything we can to respond to you. >> your tenure as florida attorney general was impressive. you fought against pill mills, human trafficking. you

eliminated a backlog of rape test kits in state labs. you fought against organized retail theft, and you were known to stand for law and order. with such achievements, it's easy to see why the people of florida reelected you in 2014 and why president elect trump nominated you to serve as the nation's chief law enforcement officer. so this gives you a chance to tell us on this committee and the people of this country, what you're proud of is your record as attorney general of florida. thank you. >> chair. >> thank you, chairman grassley. i am i was truly honored to serve the people of the state of florida for eight years. but it was a team effort. i had great people around me, many of whom are in this room today, and we did a lot. we did a lot to fight crime. and i've been reminiscing

a lot since i was asked to take this nomination. opioids, as i talked about, were a top priority right when i took office. when i was running for office, i went through the entire state of florida. parents were walking up to me, handing me pictures of their children who were deceased from opioid abuse. after i was elected, i took those pictures and i framed them in my office as a goal of stopping that fight, which i talked about in my opening statement. and if us attorney general, i'll bring those pictures back out and they will be there to inspire me on the further drug abuse we're facing throughout this country. we also learned that something else was happening. pregnant women were having babies as a result of being opioid dependent. we call it neonatal abstinence syndrome. we fought to educate mothers. we fought that issue as well.

fentanyl was wreaking havoc in our country, but it was just getting started. i actually fought my own party a bit on scheduling fentanyl, because at that time, people thought it was something you merely got in the hospital on a patch after surgery. apples and oranges. and boy, do we all know that. now the difference. fentanyl is raging throughout our country and i will do everything i can to fight that. with the agencies that fall under the department of justice, human trafficking became a top priority for me as attorney general. i had the opportunity on a bipartisan trip to go to mexico, and the one thing i found out there, they were doing better than we were. they had safe houses. i saw things i never dreamed i would see, and all of these things in my past have formed the person i am right now. sitting here before you. i came back to florida. we started a human trafficking council and we

partnered with others and we expanded and added safe houses in the state of florida. i don't know how many are in this country right now, but i would like to partner with both sides, if confirmed to continue those efforts, i'd like to interrupt you. >> yes, sir, and go to another question and i'll have another round so you can finish on that point. i'd like to ask you about something that's central to. fighting government waste and fraud. the false claims act. i want to want you to know that attorney general garland calls me once a year. he called me yesterday to tell me the success of the false claims act since 1986, when i got it passed and president reagan signed it, it's brought in $78 billion as of

yesterday is report two and 9/10 billion dollars for the year of 2024. most of that is because of patriotic whistleblowers who found the fraud and brought the cases forward at their own risk. the supreme court has long upheld the law's constitutionality. but i want you to know your view is the false claims act constitutional? before you answer that one time in the 1990s, one of the attorney generals said it wasn't constitutional. and when that same person by the name of barr was back five years ago to be attorney general, he said it was constitutional. so if confirmed, will you commit? well, answer that first question. do you think it's constitutional? would you defend the constitutionality of it? >> i would i would defend the constitutionality, of course, of the false claims act.

>> senator, last question, if confirmed, would you commit to continuing d.o.j. defense of the constitutionality of it? and will you assure the entire staff and funding levels to properly support and prosecute false claim cases? >> senator, the false claims act is so important, and especially by what you said with whistleblowers as well, and the protection and the money it brings back to our country. yes, sir. >> thank you for your answers, senator durbin. >> thank you. senator grassley. miss bondi, if you're successful in your nomination, this democrat would like to give you three words of advice. answer grassley's letters. you'll never hear the end of it if you don't. at issue. i believe in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience. at issue is your ability to say no more than any other cabinet official. the attorney general has to be prepared to put the constitution first, and even

tell the president of the united states, you're wrong. the political danger and personal costs of such a decision are well documented. you have only to ask former attorney general jeff sessions and bill barr, whom donald trump sacked for lack of loyalty. and so i have three basic questions i'd like to ask you. most americans believe that central to the peaceful transition of power in a democracy is the acceptance of the results of an election. 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? >> ranking member durbin 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. >> do you have any doubts that joe biden had the majority of votes, electoral votes necessary to be elected president in 2020? >> you know, senator, all i can tell you as a prosecutor is from my firsthand 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 firsthand 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? and 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. have you heard the recording of president trump on january 2nd, 2021, when he urged the secretary of state of georgia to, quote, find 11,780 votes and declare him the winner of that state. >> no, i've heard about it through clips, but no, no, senator, i've not heard it. >> what was your reaction to president trump making that call? >> i have i would have to listen to the tape, senator. >> well, the quote that i give you is exact. he said to the georgia secretary of state, find 11,780 votes. >> do you have the entire context of that call? i feel like it was long, much longer than that and may have been taken out of context. >> it was an hour long and you can certainly listen to it. i hope you will. every american

should. as a former prosecutor, are you not concerned that the president of the united states called a state election official and asked him to find enough votes to change the results of the election? >> senator, i have not listened to the hour long conversation, but it's my understanding that is not what he asked him to do. >> you need to listen to it. let me ask the third question. do you believe that the january 6th rioters who've been convicted of violent assaults on police officers should be pardoned? >> senator, if confirmed as attorney general of the united states, the pardons, of course, fall under the president. 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. >> you also advised the president on pardons as part of

your responsibility as attorney general. and so i'm asking you, do you believe that those who have been convicted of the january 6th riot, violent assaults on our police officers should be pardoned? that's a simple question. >> so, senator, 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. but let me be very clear in speaking to you, i condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country. >> let me ask you about your work as a lobbyist for ballard partners. you did not list your current position as a partner at the lobbying firm, nor the work you've done for your ballard ballard partner. clients such as lobbying for the country of qatar for $115,000 a month, and for corporate giants amazon and uber. when you were asked about conflicts of interest, why do you believe your work as a lobbyist does not constitute

potential conflicts of interest? >> well, senator, first, that was the amount my firm received. i believe multiple people represented the country of qatar within my firm, my role, and i am very proud of the work that i did. it was a short time and i wish it had been longer, for qatar was an human trafficking efforts leading into the world cup, which is something i'd like to talk about later too. i was registered as fara, along with many members of my firm. that was the sole portion of my representation for qatar. now, if there are any conflicts with anyone i represented in private practice, i would consult with the career ethics officials within the department and make the appropriate decision. i would also like to point out to you, i don't believe that i would be the first attorney general who has represented and advocated for businesses in their past.

>> of course not. and the question is whether you will recuse yourself from any cases involving your ballard clients. one of those clients was the geo group, was it not? >> geo. yes. >> a private prison company you lobbied for. it manages correctional institutions and detention facilities. the geo group has faced criticism for safety violations, inadequate health care and poor management. the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement is geo's largest source of revenue under the trump administration. geo stands to earn hundreds of millions of dollars by detaining immigrants. if there is this mass deportation, would you sense any conflict of interest? if you're asked to judge the performance of this government contractor? >> senator, i will consult with the career ethics officials within the department of justice and make the appropriate decision. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> senator graham. >> thank you. congratulations. >> you forgot to say that john's family was from south carolina,

the upstate. >> i'm sorry. yeah. >> give you a pass on that madison, by the way. >> so, listen, president trump asked a bunch of us, who would you pick for attorney general? >> how many of you got to ask that on our side? >> probably didn't ask dick, but he asked me. i said, pam bondi. >> it's like an easy decision. i couldn't think of anybody more qualified that he knew that he trusted. and it's okay to have. >> you were his lawyer, right? >> yes, sir. i represented him when they tried to impeach him the first time as part of white house counsel, office of special counsel. >> then trump's lawyer prepares you for many things. >> so, yeah, you have a long standing relationship with the president. he trusts you. that's a good thing. that's probably why president kennedy picked his brother, bobby kennedy. i guess you can say no to your older brother. i'm sure he would. but this idea there's something bad is ridiculous. who do you pick?

you pick people you know, you pick people you trust, people that you're qualified. i'm glad he picked you. he knows you, he trust you, and you're highly qualified. so the idea that there's something wrong with that is just absolutely ridiculous. so let's talk about the job you're about to have here. do you support making certain drug cartels in mexico, foreign terrorist organization? >> senator, i personally went to mexico. i personally dealt with these cartels when i was a state prosecutor. and they are a grave and violent threat to our country. yes. >> advising the president. good, good. now, when it comes to crossfire hurricane or those days over, if you're attorney general. >> absolutely. okay. >> lake and lake and ryan, are you familiar with that case? >> sadly, i am senator graham. >> do you know why the man who killed her was released from

custody? >> he was paroled to the detention capacity at the central processing center in el paso, texas. >> now, that's not your call. you'll be d.o.j. >> but do you agree with me that the statute regarding parole does not allow parole to be based on. >> we don't have detention beds. there's nothing in that statute would authorize parole based on lack of capacity. are you familiar with that statute? yes, sir. >> and that's frightening. >> yeah, well, it is frightening. are you going to fix it? >> i'm going to do everything in my power to fix it. >> if confirmed as attorney, you're going to advise president trump. we need more beds. tom homan is the guy that's going to do this. but would you, as attorney general, say we need more bed space? so lincoln riley never happens again. >> senator, my job, if confirmed as attorney general, will be to keep america safe. >> do you think that more detention space. >> and that includes having enough space for violent

criminals, for people that should not be in this country who have committed violent crimes? and lincoln, rhode island, like lincoln riley is one of many. >> yeah, but 41,000 beds in this country to detain people. we've got like millions of people here illegally. we let this dude go because we didn't have any place to put him. i hope those days are over. and if tom, you're listening out there, i hope you'll create enough detention space to make sure we don't find this dilemma ever again. do you think we're at war? and if so, who with? >> oh, senator, we're at war on so many fronts. >> or war with isis. >> of course we're at war with isis. >> they're they're at war with us. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. >> do you think since our withdrawal from afghanistan, threats to our homeland have gone up from isis? yes. okay. march 7th, 2024, general carrillo, isis, isis retains the capability and will to attack the u.s. and western interests abroad in as little as six months with little or no

warning. that's march of 2024. general mckenzie, isis has a strong desire to attack the united states after it began to grow in afghanistan following u.s. exit in august 2021. he also stated the threat to isis, k from isis is growing. major general quantock the u.s. remains target number one for isis. k do you agree with that? >> senator? i don't have my security clearance, but from everything i've read and heard, isis is one of the greatest threats. >> okay, well, when you get your security clearance, you're going to find out these people are coming after us and they want to kill us. so i would like to have a strategy to deal with the isis threat that's beyond just the law enforcement model. does that make sense to you that we should use every tool in the toolbox, senator, that includes wrapping in our state and local officials

to and better cooperation throughout our country and our world? i totally agree. do you support reauthorizing fisa in 2025? >> senator, i believe 702 is up in 2026. i believe it's 2026. and we will closely be looking at that. fisa is a very important tool that the. >> 702 provides important intel gathering capability to protect our nation. >> extremely important okay. >> so pam, you're about to step into a job that's one of the most important jobs in any democracy. let's go back to pardons. if i'm a lawyer for somebody in jail, would you promise to listen to the application and read it before you made a decision? yes. okay. no matter who you are. good. that's the way it works. people want to bargain with you up here. will you do this? will you

do that? all i ask you to do is call it as you see it. hire good, competent people and give the president the best legal advice. you can. run the department of justice in a manner that other people would want to join it one day. growing up, i had a fondness for the fbi. i watched the show. i think it was every sunday. wanted to be an fbi agent. right now, the fbi needs, need, needs an image overhaul. so you have a real task ahead of you in two areas to restore trust to many americans who have lost trust in department of justice, and to make sure that this country is safe from drug cartels that are killing 3000 americans every two weeks for money to go after these people and to protect our homeland that's under siege. i think you're the perfect pick at one of the most dangerous times in american history, and i look forward to supporting you. >> thank you. senator. >> senator whitehouse, thank you, chairman. welcome, miss

bondi. >> thank you, senator, and thank you for meeting with me. i greatly appreciate that. >> it was a pleasure. >> miss bondi. you were a courtroom prosecutor for a great many years. as a courtroom prosecutor, did you ever have an enemies list? >> no, senator. >> and you went on to be florida's attorney general as florida's attorney general, did you ever have an enemies list? >> no. senator. >> as florida's attorney general, you were responsible for hiring into the florida department of attorney general, correct. >> senator, the attorney general's office in florida is the third largest in the state. approximately 1400 employees and approximately 400 lawyers. only california and texas are our bigger offices. >> and you were responsible for hiring into that office while you were attorney general? yes. would you have hired someone into the florida attorney general's office who you knew had an enemies list? >> 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. i saw your sign or senator durbin sign about kash, but i. i know that kash patel has had 60 jury trials as a public defender, as a prosecutor, he has great experience in the intel department, department of defense. i have known kash, and i believe that kash is the right person at this time. for this job, you'll have the ability to question mr. patel, and i'm questioning you right now about whether you will enforce an enemies list that he announced publicly on television. oh, senator, i'm sorry. there will never be an enemies list within the department of justice. thank you. >> the fbi's. what is the fbi's role in national security and counterterrorism? and how important is that role? >> you know, senator, i believe now more than ever,

counterterrorism is so important and vital in our country. we are facing such incredible threats here and abroad. if i'm sure many of you saw fbi, former fbi director wray's interview on 60 minutes, he talked about the threats that, frankly, again, i don't have my security clearance, but the threats facing us senator from china, from china right now that are so great given sleeper cells within our country, given that importance, is it responsible to call for shutting down the fbi's counterterrorism and national security work? >> and will you, as attorney general, impede or shut down the fbi's counterterrorism and national security work? >> senator. questions. senator, i believe that national security is vital right now for our country on so many fronts. i could continue to discuss many others role in that. and the fbi

plays a vital role in counter terrorism, which will or will not shut down. i will look at each agency. i have no intention of shutting anything down right now. senator. i am not in that office yet. and if confirmed, i will look at each individual agency and how it should be managed. but counterterrorism right now in our world is vital. >> you have said that department of justice prosecutors will be prosecuted in the trump administration. what department of justice prosecutors will be prosecuted and why? >> i said that on tv. i said prosecutors will be prosecuted to finish the quote, if bad investigators will be investigated. you know, we all take an oath, senator, to uphold the law. none of us are above the law. let me give you a really good example of a bad

lawyer within the justice department. a guy named clinesmith who altered a fisa warrant. one of the most important things we can do in this country. so will everyone be held to an equal, equal, fair system of justice? if i am the next attorney general? absolutely. and no one is above the law, 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 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.

>> and it would not be appropriate for a prosecutor to start with a name and look for a crime. it's a prosecutor's job to start with a crime and look for a name, correct? >> senator, i think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years. and what's been happening to donald trump. they targeted donald trump. they went after him actually starting back in 2016. they targeted his campaign. they have launched countless investigations against him. that will not be the case. if i am attorney general, i will not politicize that office. i will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. justice will be administered even handedly throughout this country. senator, we've got to bring this country back together. we've got

to move forward or we're going to lose our country. >> yeah. i think the concern is that weaponization of the justice department may well occur under your tenure, and we want to make sure that that's not the case, that you remain independent, that you remain president no, when that's necessary for to protect the constitution and the integrity of the department. so that's where i'm asking these questions. we talked in the meeting about the contacts policy that has prevailed, really, since senator hatch sat in that chair and demanded it of the clinton justice department through all the administration since then, with the exception of a brief period under attorney general gonzalez, which he corrected and which did not end well for him. there has been a contacts policy that limits contacts between the white house and the department of justice to a very few senior officials on each side. in your role as

attorney general, if you are confirmed, will you maintain, defend and enforce that long standing contacts policy? >> senator? yes, i will meet with white house counsel and i will meet with the appropriate officials and follow the contacts policy. >> my time has expired. thank you, miss bond. senator cornyn, miss bondi, your testimony is music to my ears. >> thank you. >> one of the things that i have been most concerned about over the last, certainly the last four years and extending back during president trump's administration is the weaponization and politicization of the department of justice, which, together with the fbi, is one of the most important institutions in this country. if people don't trust that their their elected officials will faithfully enforce the law or administer equal justice under

the law, they've lost faith in america. and that that disturbs me greatly. and i know it does you too, based on what you said. >> so i'm delighted to hear you say what you have said, but i want to talk about some specific topics. >> time is short. first, the border, i believe president biden and vice president harris had presided over one of the biggest humanitarian and public safety disasters in american history. senator cruz and i represent a state with 1200 miles of common border with america. but as you pointed about out with fentanyl, what happens at the border doesn't stay at the border. fentanyl poisoning is the most common cause of death of young people between the age of 18 and 45. we know where it comes from. the precursors come from china. they go to the cartels, they mix them

up, make them look like innocuous pills, and young people take them and die. it's just that simple and that tragic. so there's just so much that we could talk about with regard to the border. but, you know, a lot of i know people voted for president trump in large part because of his promise to restore security at the border. will you do everything within your power as attorney general to enforce the laws on the books, including the president's executive orders, which i anticipate he will be signing on january the 20th when he is sworn in, and help do everything you can in the department of justice. can is to restore security to our southern border. >> yes, senator. absolutely. >> one example is, of course, if you come here to the united from anywhere in the country and you show up at the border under the biden and harris administration policies, you'll simply be released into the interior of

the country, either to await a trial date, which may never occur due to the enormous backlog, or you will simply be paroled. and i know parole has a special connotation in the criminal law, but in this context, as you know, it's designed to be administered on a case by case basis. yet president biden and vice president harris had granted parole. that is released people into the united states on a categorical basis, or anybody who shows up or because they don't have the detention facilities to keep them. so do you believe lake and riley would be alive today if president biden and vice president harris had enforced the law and secured the border? >> senator, he should not have been in our country, and then lake and riley would have been alive. and i don't think it's just lake and riley. there are

so many victims throughout our country. not only that, we're all familiar with the violent gangs who are coming into our country, walking into our country freely through the open border. the cartels, the gangs, venezuela's let people out of their prisons. it's been reported. i don't have the security clearance yet to see what's happening, but i know we all know there are criminals throughout our country and it is my commitment to you on both sides of the aisle that i will do everything in my power with the agencies that fall under me. if i am confirmed to make america safe again, we have to do that, senator. >> well, many of us, of course, see classified information on the intelligence committee or just generally in our duties as a as a senator. and so you're not going to feel any better about the blinking lights. the danger that that director wray

has talked about in my closing moments here, i want to revisit an issue that is of particular importance. 60% of the president's daily brief, which is the intelligence brief that the director of national intelligence and the cia director delivered to the president comes from section 702 of the foreign intelligence surveillance act. i've called this the most important law that most people have never heard of. i know you have, and you're familiar with it, but i want to ask you a few more, a few questions about that. it's been called the crown jewel of u.s. intelligence. and of course, it cannot be used legally used to spy on american citizens. and if it is, it ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. i know you would agree with that. but there have been some, as you know, and as you pointed out to senator graham, we have a

temporary extension of the existing authorization for the use of the intelligence community to target foreign threats to our national security that expires in 2026. and i'd like you just to confirm here on the record that you will enforce that law and you can support the law as it is written. >> senator, i haven't read the entire 702 in front of you, but i will commit to reading that and doing everything i can to keep america safe again. >> of course you will. so, director ratcliffe, who's going to be. i'm going to go to his hearing on former cia director. of course, he was confirmed as director of national intelligence. he. some have argued that in order to query or look at lawfully collected fisa 702 product, that you need to get a warrant requirement in order to show probable cause

that a crime, including espionage, perhaps has been committed. but director ratcliffe has writtena warrant requirement may not achieve its intended objectives and could hinder national security efforts. do you share director ratcliffe's concerns? >> i would read his memo and i will speak to you after i read his memo. senator. >> well, we need to have a i hope you and i can continue this conversation after this because i think there's a lot of misinformation with regard to how section 702 works. i'm happy to be one of the members of the senate intelligence committee. we read that product on a regular basis, and it is not used to spy on american people. i think what's fundamentally missing is a lack of trust in the intelligence community, including the fbi, which i'm hoping you and mr. patel can restore. >> thank you, thank you. >> senator klobuchar.

>> thank you. thank you, mr. chair. we had a good meeting this week. thank you for that. and i appreciated your priorities on human trafficking that you mentioned today that work as well as fentanyl and some of your other prosecution experience. we had some similar backgrounds in doing that. and i want to talk about, first of all, the us attorney's office in minnesota, one of the premier offices in the country. this office has been instrumental in combating violent crime, dismantling street gangs, taking fentanyl off our streets, enforcing civil rights laws after george floyd's murder, ensuring victims of fraud get justice. do you agree that it should be a priority to support u.s. attorney's frontline prosecutors and case agents who work hard every single day on our streets? >> senator, i think that is one of the most important things in our country right now. and there

are so many good men and women within the justice department throughout our country, as well as all the law enforcement agencies. yes, they work very hard and they will be supported. >> the i'm concerned about some of the proposals that could put cuts in the cops program, burn jag programs. i know you're familiar with those. senator murkowski and i lead the cops reauthorization bill. just will you commit to continue to support those programs? >> senator, i will read everything about those programs, because that is a top priority of mine. and i would love to meet with you on that. and senator murkowski to support law enforcement and those programs. >> thank you. independence from political interference is vital to the legitimacy and success of the department of justice. i was honestly troubled by some of the answers to senator durbin's questions. we will continue that discussion, i'm sure, on the committee about the election, but i want to focus on the

investigation, charging decisions. as a prosecutor, i'm sure you had this experience. i would get calls from people, hey, that's just a kid. give him a break. and i remember one answer i gave was, he's 40 years old. he's not a kid. but that kind of interference is attempted all the time. and one of my concerns here, whether it's a call from a friend, a corporate lobbyist, a white house, it has been very clear that the attorney generals of both parties have established clear policies to ensure the white house doesn't tamper with criminal investigations and prosecutions. at attorney general mike mukasey's hearing, he made clear that any attempt by the white house and these are the words to interfere with the case is not to be countenanced. any call to a line assistant or to a united states attorney from a political person relating to a case, is to be cut and curtailed. do you agree with the statement, senator? >> yes. i believe that the

justice department must be independent and must act independently. the number one job is to enforce the law fairly and even handedly. and that's what will be done if i am confirmed as the attorney general. >> so you will provide an insurance to every member of this committee, that the justice department will only follow the facts and the law, and the white house will play no role in cases investigated or brought. >> senator, it will be my job, if confirmed as attorney general, to make those decisions. politics will not play a part. i've demonstrated that my entire career as a prosecutor, as attorney general, and i will continue to do that if you confirm me as the 87th attorney general of the united states of america and in earlier question with some of my colleagues talked about china and the risk, yet you have a

nominee from this incoming administration, kash patel, the pick to head the fbi of serious concerns about him, has referred to the fbi's intel division, which is responsible for protecting us from foreign adversaries like china, as, quote, the biggest problem the fbi has had. >> and he said that he wants to, quote, break that component out of the fbi. do you agree? >> i have not seen those comments from mr. patel. i would review them, but we have to do everything we can to protect our country again. mr. patel would fall under me and the department of justice, and i will ensure that all laws are followed and so will he. okay. >> there are many decisions made by the fbi director, having seen a number of them do their work that can be made. while i agree you would be the boss of kash patel, i'm not sure that you would be able to intervene with every decision or position that he had or know what he's doing,

so let's continue. do you agree it is a duty of the justice department to defend the laws congress passes? and will you commit to do even when the president may disagree with an act campaigned against its passage or called its for its repeal? president reagan's ag william french smith said the department policy was the department has the duty to defend an act of congress. whenever a reasonable argument can be made in its support. so i'm specifically referring to the 2022 law that i long led, that we passed to empower medicare to negotiate drug prices, major savings for seniors. will you commit to defend the law against the lawsuits from big pharma? >> senator, i was involved in big pharma cases when i was attorney general of the state of florida. and i will commit to protect the laws of the united states of america. >> okay. thank you. that would also same question with the supreme court is going to be

hearing a challenge to the affordable care act's coverage of preventative services. and despite the fact that you twice joined suits to have the entire affordable care act invalidated, will you commit to defending this law? >> yeah, i believe this is very different. it's a very isolated. it's different. it's not the entire affordable care act, but i will it's pending litigation, of course, within the department since the 1990s, the freedom of access to clinic entrances act has protected patients, providers and facilities that provide reproductive health services. >> will you commit to continuing to enforce the face act to address violence and threats against those providing reproductive health care services? >> senator, the face act not only protects abortion clinics, but it also protects pregnancy centers and people going for counseling. the law should be applied even handedly. yes, senator. >> so you'll uphold the

enforcement of that law? >> i'll uphold the enforcement of the law, senator. okay. >> and i will ask my antitrust questions in the next round. we had a good discussion about that, and i do appreciate the nominee that has been put in place for the antitrust division. and there's incredibly important work that has to be done in that division. >> so slater is remarkable. thank you. thank you. >> i thank all of my colleagues for abiding by the seven minute rule. before i call on senator lee. i want everybody to plan o. our first break would be about 1150, and that would be 30 minutes for lunch. >> senator lee, thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, miss bondi, for being here today. >> i too share the assessment that gayle slater is great. >> had a great meeting with her yesterday and just thrilled that you're here and that you're willing to serve. >> i'd like to talk to you as a longtime lawyer and one who has handled a variety of criminal matters about the fourth amendment, what can you tell us about the fourth amendment's

warrant requirement and why it's so important? >> well, the warrant requirement requirement is so important, which i've dealt with that since i was in my 20s. as a state prosecutor, a warrant is so important because it protects citizens rights, and that's why it's so important. >> and it does that specifically because under the fourth amendment, you're required to go to a judge and you're required to show a judge evidence, evidence providing probable cause. >> and based on that probable cause, you can describe with particularity the things or persons to be searched or seized. >> and on that basis, the judge may issue or not issue the warrant, but without it you can't get it. now this is time consuming, no doubt. right? >> oh, i've done many of them. yes, it's very time consuming, senator. >> and there's probably not a law enforcement officer anywhere in the world who wouldn't acknowledge that they could save time if they didn't have to go about it, and yet we require it. why is that so important that we do it? >> well? it's so important for the reasons you just laid out when i said