The statements echoed Trump's claims that the Justice Department had been weaponized against him and came as Democrats express concern that the president-elect will look to use the agency's law enforcement powers to exact retribution against his adversaries, including the investigators who investigated him.
“They targeted Donald Trump," Bondi said. “They went after him — actually starting back in 2016, they targeted his campaign. They have launched countless investigations against him.” She added: “If I am attorney general, I will not politicize that office.”
The department, she later said, “had been weaponized for years and years and years, and it's got to stop.”
Democrats focused their questions on whether Bondi would be prepared to say “no” to Trump if asked to do something unethical or illegal. She sought to allay those concerns by saying that her only client was the American people, not the president. When asked by Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, what she would do if her career prosecutors recommended bringing a criminal case but the White House said no, she said: “If I thought that that would happen, I would not be sitting here today.”
Republicans, by contrast, eagerly welcome her as a course correction to a Justice Department they believe has pursued an overly liberal agenda and unfairly pursued Trump through investigation and a special counsel appointment resulting in two indictments.
“If confirmed, I will work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice — and each of its components,” Bondi said in her opening remarks. “Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end. America must have one tier of justice for all.”
