Trump’s AG Pick Pam Bondi Ducks Senate Democrat’s Question About Trump Losing 2020 Election
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) grilled Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Attorney General, about her representation of the incoming president and his persistent denials that he lost the 2020 election at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.
Bondi, the former Attorney General of Florida, also represented Trump during his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election. Durbin began his questioning of Bondi by acknowledging her experience but expressing his concerns about her independence from Trump.
“At issue, I believe in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience,” said Durbin. “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.'”
Durbin continued, noting that the “political danger and personal costs of such a decision are well documented,” as shown by former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, “whom Donald Trump sacked for lack of loyalty,” and therefore he had “three basic questions” he wanted to ask Bondi.
Below, a transcript of their exchange:
DURBIN: 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.
BONDI: 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.
DURBIN: Do you have any doubts that Joe Biden had the majority of votes, electoral votes, necessary to be elected president in 2020?
BONDI: 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.
DURBIN: 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?
BONDI: No, I’ve heard about it through clips, but no, no, Senator, I’ve not heard it.
DURBIN: What was your reaction to President Trump making that call?
BONDI: I have I would have to listen to the tape, Senator.
DURBIN: Well, the quote that I gave you is exact. He said to the Georgia Secretary of State, “find 11,780 votes.”
BONDI: 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.
DURBIN: 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?
BONDI: Senator, I have not listened to the hour long conversation, but it’s my understanding that is not what he asked him to do.
DURBIN: You need to listen to it. Let me ask a third question. Do you believe that the January 6th rioters who’ve been convicted of violent assaults on police officers should be pardoned?
BONDI: 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.
DURBIN: You also advise 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.
BONDI: 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.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
