Attorney general nominee grilled on loyalty to Trump

Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, said she will not use the US Department of Justice to fight people based on their politics during her confirmation ceremony on Wednesday.

“There will no longer be an enemy list in the Department of Justice,” he told senators as he was pressed repeatedly for his loyalty to Trump. “I will not politicize that office.”

But Mr. Bondi, who will be the head of the country’s legal system if he is confirmed as having the position by the vote of the Senate, did not directly refuse to start an investigation about those who the president-elect was against.

“It would be irresponsible of me to commit to anything,” he said when asked if he would investigate Jack Smith, who led two impeachment charges against Trump.

Trump repeatedly threatened to investigate and prosecute his political opponents during the election.

Bondi, who is set to be confirmed as the 87th attorney general of the United States given the Republican majority in the chamber, has stressed throughout that he remains independent.

But he also agreed with Trump’s view that the charges brought against him by the government are political harassment, saying that the department “has been armed for years and years and years”.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said the department had been “affected by political decisions” and said it had been “armed” under Biden’s leadership, particularly against Trump.

These comments were echoed by other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Bondi agreed with their assessment.

Then the questions from the Democratic MPs focused on whether Bondi would reject the president-elect.

“The concern is that the tools of the Department of Justice can be done under your administration,” Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse told Bondi. “We want to make sure that’s not the case, so you can remain independent.”

They also directed part of their questions to the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, who, if confirmed, would report to Bondi.

The FBI nominee has said he has an “enemies list” of people he would go after if confirmed. Several senators asked Bondi about the comments, but he said he had not heard them and the Justice Department did not have such a list.

Bondi also told the committee that he would look at impunity for the violence in the Capitol in “every case” but added that he condemned “any act of violence against a police officer in this country”.

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice, which enforces federal law. If confirmed in this role, Bondi will provide legal advice and recommendations to the president and senior department heads.

His confirmation vote has not yet been scheduled, but is expected in the coming days.

On Wednesday, senators also questioned Marco Rubio, who is expected to be confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state.

He also warned that Washington needed to change its strategy to become less dependent on China and promised to change US foreign policy to focus on American interests.