Five points to remember from Tenat de Pam Bondi and Supporter of the Smart Senate

The testimony of Pam Bondi before the Senate judicial committee was to be a controversial and supporter case. He was up to this billing.

It was the first appearance of the Attorney General at a conference surveillance hearing – and it was appropriate.

Two weeks ago, his Ministry of Justice charged the former director of the FBI, James Comey, triggering an outcry by democratic politicians.

His testimony on Tuesday also came one day after a group of former employees of the Ministry of Justice published a letter accusing Bondi of having helped to take a “hammer” for “a long -standing work that the ministry has done to protect communities and the rule of law”.

The nerves were raw and Bondi was clearly ready for a fight. Here are five points to remember from the hearing.

The recent officials of the Trump administration, including the Secretary of Health, Robert F Kennedy Jr and the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, relied on a clear gaming book for testimonies before the committees of the hostile congress.

Go to the attack early and often.

This strategy was exposed throughout Bondi’s testimony. When he put pressure on the deployments of the National Guard, she said that she wanted the Senator of Illinois Dick Durbin and the Senator of California Alex Padilla loved their states “as much as they hate Donald Trump”.

Asked about Jeffrey Epstein, she noted that several Democratic senators had taken money from deep donors who had links with the late sexual trafficker.

Bondi launched a series of sharp attacks against senators when they questioned it.

And when it was time for the Junior Senator of Vermont Peter Welch to ask questions, he started by observing Bondi’s penchant for the launch of personal attacks.

“I will wait for my turn,” said the New England with a soft voice. “But you don’t have to do it now.”

When Bondi did not attack, she often refused to comment on the questions of the Democrats and the Republicans.

She said that she would not discuss “personnel issues” when questioned about the wave of high -level dismissals of the Ministry of Justice, including senior FBI officials and an American lawyer who had recommended Comey’s accusation.

She would not comment on “undergoing investigations” and legal proceedings – including the Comey affair. She would not shed light on the conversations she had with the president or other white house help.

When a big photo of her was presented to her at a table with the president the day after the realization of a social article of truth calling him to instill Comey, her only remark was that she loved the image.

“It is supposed to be a surveillance audience where members of the congress can obtain serious answers to serious questions,” said California senator Adam Schiff after listing all the questions to which Bondi refused to answer.

“I think you owe the president of apology for your whole career,” replied.

Bondi seemed determined to focus on what she said was the Trump administration’s goal of reducing crime in the United States.

She was not long in mentioning statistics which, she said, have shown the successes they had so far – the number of arrests in Washington DC, drug repression and illegal firearm confiscations in Chicago, drug crises on the border.

“We return to our main mission to fight against real crime,” said Bondi.

Democrats may have had other ideas, but Bondi – and the White House – probably feel that they are on the safest political field when they talk about the fight against crime.

This is a problem that, according to polls, many Americans care – and who have the potential to appeal not only for hard conservative supporters, but also for independent and democrats.

A particular heat source for Bondi in recent months has been management by the Ministry of Justice of his Epstein investigation, which before his death had documented links with many rich and powerful Americans.

During most of the hearing, the Democrats were those who were leaping with questions related to Epstein.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse wanted to know if the FBI had discovered photos of Trump and “young women half naked”, and if the Ministry of Justice had examined the “suspicious activity reports” on Epstein finances.

Bondi would not answer.

Dick Durbin asked for affirmations that the Ministry of Justice had reported anything in its Epstein documents linked to Trump to the president.

“I’m not going to discuss anything with you, the senator,” replied Bondi.

The Attorney General was asked why her department now says that there is no list of Epstein customers after she said previously to have this information on her desk.

Bondi replied by quoting the previous conclusion of the ministry that there was no proof of conspiracy or concealment surrounding the investigation.

The questions that still swirl around the Epstein investigation were a rare source of bipartite interest, some Republicans joining the Democrats to ask for more transparency. It took a while, but this Senate hearing finally gave an indication.

The Republican senator John Kennedy of Louisiana told the recent comments of the trade secretary Howard Lutnick that Epstein was “the biggest blackmailer singer of all time”.

The Senator of Louisiana suggested that Lutnick, who had a house near Epstein in Palm Beach Florida, should testify in front of the Congress and speak to the FBI.

Bondi continued his Epstein dance, saying it was in Lunick and the director of the FBI, Kash Patel, to decide if a meeting was necessary.

If the Democrats focused on what they consider to be the unprecedented armament of the Ministry of Justice under Trump, most Republican senators were more interested in fighting the battles of the presidency of Biden – or earlier.

Iowa senator Chuck Grassley has spent a large part of the hearings to intervene on the way Democrats, in his opinion, had investigations to Biden family affairs on Biden family transactions.

Southern South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham condemned the FBI Russia investigation after the 2016 presidential election. Ted Cruz of Texas focused on the demonstrations outside the Maisons de la Court Supreme Court conservatives following their decision in 2021 to cancel abortion rights.

Eric Schmidt du Missouri has completed a real bingo card of right -wing complaints addressed to the Ministry of Justice.

Bondi, for his part, was with all my heart agree with the republican refrain.

When the five -hour hearing finally ended, the event had the feeling of a partisan house of mirrors, each side accusing the other of the political weapon and partisan proceedings.

“The Ministry of Justice is supposed to be the guardian of the country’s equity and the rule of law,” said senator Alex Padilla during his interrogation. “When public confidence falls down, then justice itself is in danger.”

This is the kind of comment with which the Republicans and the Democrats of the Committee could agree – before throwing the other side as a source of the ills of the nation.