Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump’s nominee for attorney general, was “terrified” of contradicting the incoming president in her confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee.
“She was terrified, I think, of contradicting Donald Trump in any way, saying anything to displease Donald Trump,” Schiff stated during a Thursday interview on MSNBC.
“The problem with all of that is if she doesn’t have the independence — if even before she’s in that job, to answer a simple question to Congress, as the questions I asked, or the other question I asked her about whether she’ll commit to preserving the evidence of the Jan. 6 investigation — if she can’t answer those questions for fear of Donald Trump, what will she do when she’s being pressed by him?” he added.
He argued that Bondi fears the former president, who was effectively granted “absolute immunity” after the Supreme Court ruled the leader could not be prosecuted for official acts while in office.
“None of this is in a vacuum that all takes place in the context of a Supreme Court decision that gave Donald Trump absolute immunity to commit crimes using the Department of Justice,” Schiff said.
“Clearly, so more than ever, you need an attorney general willing to say no to an unlawful or immoral request from the president. She did not demonstrate yesterday any willingness or ability to do so,” he added.
Bondi was grilled by Democrats Wednesday over whether she would push back against Trump.
“I need to know that you would tell the president no if you’re asked to do something that is wrong, illegal or unconstitutional,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said.
“I will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying that the president would do something illegal,” Bondi said in response to the Democrats’ line of questioning.
