4 minutes ago
Coverage of Bondi’s testimony has ended
From Joseph Nepomuceno
The Washington Examiner’s coverage of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee has concluded.
Live updates: Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies to Congress on Justice Department oversight
Updated 2:46 pm, October 7, 2025
Here's what we're covering
- Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 7 for the panel’s annual hearing on oversight of the Department of Justice.
- She fielded questions about a report published Monday night by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) that showed Special Council Jack Smith targeted eight Republican Senators over the Jan. 6 riots.
43 minutes ago
Moody ‘horrified’ by Pritzker and Johnson rhetoric
From David Zimmermann
Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) lambasted Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for engaging in disturbing rhetoric about National Guard deployments and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations amid a rise in left-wing violence.
“I have been horrified watching the partnership between a governor in Illinois and a mayor in Chicago, the collaboration, some might say, the corruption, and the rhetoric they are using,” Moody said in a long monologue toward the end of Bondi’s oversight hearing.
The senator then cited some examples of Pritzker and Johnson’s rhetoric. The Democrats have essentially decried the Trump administration’s mobilization of military troops and federal agents to crack down on crime and illegal immigration, using words such as “unconstitutional invasion” and “war zone” to describe Illinois and Chicago.
“I am wondering if Pritzker and Johnson understand that there are federal laws that criminalize inciting violence against law enforcement and federal agents,” Moody said.
“I am wondering if they are concerned at all about what their speech is doing and the danger it’s putting not only federal agents in,” she continued, “but the danger it’s putting the citizens of their community in.”
Moody called their rhetoric “incredibly dangerous” and argued foreign adversaries are thanking Pritzker and Johnson for undermining the Trump administration.
“That puts you in such a remarkable, important position right now,” she told Attorney General Pam Bondi. “You are the top law enforcement official in this country, and you have a responsibility to call out this rhetoric. And when it violates and crosses over from free speech into inciting violence, we have to call that out.”
1 hour ago
Bondi blasts Padilla: Agents are working without pay ‘because you voted to shut down the government’
From Molly Parks
Attorney General Pam Bondi traded barbs with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) on Tuesday, telling the blue state lawmaker, “I wish that you loved your state of California as much as you hate President [Donald] Trump.”
She first threw that line at Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) in an exchange over the National Guard deployment to Chicago. Padilla was questioning Bondi about the independence of the Justice Department and the use of department resources for immigration enforcement.
Padilla grilled Bondi on the indictments of Trump’s political enemies, saying they send a “dangerous message that prosecutorial decisions can be driven by political loyalty instead of the law.” He also echoed a point by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticizing the use of DOJ resources for immigration enforcement.
“The Department of Justice has pulled resources away from organized crime, away from counterterrorism, away from the protection of civil rights, to focus on immigration enforcement,” Padilla said.
Bondi pointed to crime statistics in California and brought the issue back to the government shutdown.
“You can’t go on for five minutes and criticize my agents who are out working without pay right now because you voted to shut down the government,” Bondi said. “They are out there working without pay.”
1 hour ago
‘Don’t call me a liar’: Bondi snaps back at Peter Welch
From David Zimmermann
Bondi fired back at Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), who asked about the existence of the Department of Justice’s tape and video evidence of bribery allegations against Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan.
“It’s not resolved. There’s $50,000. Homan has it, or somebody has it. Do you have no interest in knowing where it is?” Welch asked.
Bondi said she didn’t know of such evidence and got defensive.
“You’re not going to sit here and slander Tom Homan. The FBI and Deputy Director Blanche said there was nothing,” she said.
“Don’t call me a liar!” Bondi told Welch moments earlier.
1 hour ago
‘They need to be prosecuted’: Blackburn on Operation Arctic Frost
From Molly Parks
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) in calling for a special prosecutor to investigate the wiretappings of U.S. senators in Operation “Arctic Frost” under the Biden administration.
“My hope is that as we look at what happened with Arctic Frost, that there will be a special counsel, that we will do our due diligence, and that those who did this wrong, illegal activity, absolutely they need to be prosecuted, and they need to face the full extent of accountability within the law,” Blackburn said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi again referred to what she called the “weaponization” of former President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice.
“The weaponization against you and your colleagues should concern all of us. It should concern Democrats. It should concern Republicans,” Bondi said. “That weaponization is over. No one is above the law, and there is a one-tier system of justice in this Justice Department.”
1 hour ago
Booker questions use of DOJ resources in migration enforcement
From Molly Parks
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) questioned Bondi on the use of Justice Department resources in immigration enforcement during Tuesday’s hearing.
“There has been a significant movement of law enforcement resources away from many other issues and into immigration enforcement,” Booker said.
He pointed to figures released from both the White House and the libertarian Cato Institute.
“According to the Cato Institute, you’ve reassigned 7,460 law enforcement away from their primary duties – investigating drug traffickers, prosecuting child pornography, targeting high value white collar criminals – and again, forcing them, this is according to the Cato Institute, into low-level Immigration enforcement,” Booker said.
He also questioned the Justice Department’s decision to make cuts to the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, to which Bondi responded.
“The work of OCDETF is continuing. The executive office is being dissolved,” Bondi said. “The resources that were previously provided to law enforcement organizations through OCDETF are now going directly to those organizations.”
2 hours ago
Kennedy outraged at telecommunications companies’ involvement in senator phone taps: ‘Serious as an aneuyrism’
From Molly Parks
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned the involvement of phone companies in Operation “Arctic Frost,” during which several Republican lawmakers had their phones tapped under the discretion of former Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Kennedy said the companies could have denied government requests to tap the senators’ phones, and their surrender was as “serious as an aneurysm.”
“The telephone companies could have contested those subpoenas. Could they not?” Kennedy asked Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Hypothetically, yes,” Bondi said. “I can’t talk about the facts in this particular case.”
2 hours ago
Hirono claims the Department of Justice has become the ‘Department of Revenge and Corruption’
From Molly Parks
Sen. Maize Hirono (D-HI) blasted Bondi’s Department of Justice in her remarks on Tuesday, questioning the attorney general.
“I just want to close by saying that what was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption,” Hirono said. “Rather than pursuing cases without fear of favor, this DOJ seeks to favor the president’s friends and instill fear in his alleged enemies.”
“If you’re on the wrong side of this president, you will face the wrath of the DOJ, no matter what the facts, law, or justice support,” Hirono said.
She pointed to the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, which Bondi refused to discuss, as it is a pending case.
“He was indicted by one of the most liberal grand juries in the country, by our U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan, right here in Virginia, and it’s a pending case, so I’m not going to discuss the facts of a pending case,” Bondi said earlier in the hearing.
2 hours ago
Bondi calls out Blumenthal for lying about his military service and accusing her of ‘impropriety’
From Molly Parks
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Bondi engaged in a heated debate after Blumenthal questioned mergers that occurred under the Trump administration.
Blumenthal discussed the Justice Department’s dropping a lawsuit over the American Express GBT merger. Blumenthal asked Bondi what conversations she had with the head of her former firm, Ballard Partners, which he claimed was “instrumental” in lobbying on the case.
“I cannot believe that you would accuse me of impropriety when you lied about your military service, senator. How dare you? I’m a career prosecutor. Don’t you ever challenge my integrity. I have abided by every ethical standard. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as attorney general,” Bondi said.
Blumenthal claimed he had served in the Vietnam War, then admitted in 2010 that he did not serve in Vietnam.
3 hours ago
Hawley calls for special prosecutor to investigate Biden DOJ
From Molly Parks
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi consider appointing a special prosecutor to investigate several occurrences within the Biden administration’s Department of Justice and FBI.
“I think we need a special prosecutor to be appointed whose sole responsibility will be to get to the bottom of what has happened in every instance that I have just named,” Hawley said to Bondi.
Hawley referred specifically to the wiretapping of GOP senators as part of the FBI operation “Arctic Frost” announced Monday. He also referred to an FBI intelligence memo tied to the Richmond field office that linked “radical-traditionalist Catholics” to extremist violence. Hawley also pointed to an FBI raid on the home of anti-abortion and Catholic father Mark Houck, who was arrested on allegations of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act.
“I think we need to know exactly who approved the wiretaps on United States senators, who knew about it, what agents were involved at DOJ or the FBI. I think we need to know exactly who signed off on the Catholic memo [and] the spying memo. Who was involved with it? How far did it go? I think we need to know exactly who authorized the prosecution of Mark Houck, who terrorized pro-lifers and tried to intimidate them,” Hawley said.
3 hours ago
Hawley decries Biden FBI for tapping senators’ phones: ‘What is happening to this country?’
From Molly Parks
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) railed against the Biden administration’s FBI for wiretapping the phones of several Republican Senators under the so-called operation “Arctic Frost.”
“You have an administration that is activating the FBI against its political opponents and tapping the phones of United States senators. Can I just say that again, for the benefit of my colleagues on the other side of the dais, tapping the phones of United States senators? This isn’t hypothetical,” Hawley said. “This happened.”
Hawley also referred to an anti-Catholic FBI intelligence memo circulated from the Richmond field office.
“What is happening to this country?” Hawley asked.
Attorney General Pam Bondi agreed with Hawley, calling the Justice Department’s actions under the Biden administration the “ultimate weaponization.”
3 hours ago
Bondi calls Maduro a ‘narco-terrorist’ during Oversight Hearing
From Molly Parks
Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer Sen. Chris Coon’s (D-DE) questions regarding whether the Justice Department gave legal counsel to President Donald Trump on the administration’s air strikes on drug vessels in the Caribbean.
“I’m not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have given or issued at the direction of the president on this matter regarding Venezuela,” Bondi said. “What I can tell you is [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro is a narco-terrorist, and we announced a historic $50 million reward for his capture to bring him to this country to face charges.”
Bondi confirmed that Maduro is currently under indictment at the discretion of her Justice Department.
4 hours ago
Klobuchar tries to find common ground with Bondi with age restrictions on gun purchases
From Molly Parks
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said she tried to “find common ground” with Attorney General Pam Bondi on raising the age requirement to purchase an assault weapon to 21.
Klobuchar’s home state of Minnesota has endured several mass shootings in 2025, including the assassination of Democratic state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in late August.
“In 2018 after the Parkland shooting, you were Attorney General, and there was a bill called the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, and the bill banned bump stocks, enacted red flag laws and raised the minimum age to purchase a firearm in Florida from 18 to 21 and you actually defended the law in court from a challenge from the [National Rifle Association],” Klobuchar said, addressing Bondi.
Bondi said she could not discuss the law in Florida, as the situation “is pending litigation.”
“This is the most pro-Second Amendment [Department of Justice] in American history,” Bondi said to Klobuchar. “But we want to keep guns, as you said, where they should be, in the hands of law-abiding American citizens, while keeping them out of the hands of criminals and gangs.”
4 hours ago
Bondi avoids answering questions from Whitehouse regarding Homan investigation
From Molly Parks
Bondi and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sparred over the investigation into border czar Tom Homan after Whitehouse questioned Bondi about the allegations that Homan took $50,000 in cash from the FBI in a paper bag.
“The investigation of Mr. Holman was subjected to a full review by the FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors, they found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing,” Bondi said.
Whitehouse struck back, saying “that was not my question,” emphasizing he was asking about what happened to the $50,000 in question. Bondi did not answer where the cash went and referred Whitehouse to the FBI.
“Senator Whitehouse, you’re welcome to talk to the FBI,” Bondi said. “You’re welcome to discuss this with Director Patel.”
4 hours ago
Graham blames sanctuary cities for illegal immigration burden
From Molly Parks
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made a point of asking Attorney General Pam Bondi how many illegal immigrants are in Chicago during Tuesday’s oversight hearing, pointing to the fact that the Windy City is a sanctuary city.
“If you’re a sanctuary city, any place in the country, you’re making it difficult for the rest of us, because word gets out if you get to a certain city, maybe Chicago being one of them, that you’re home free. And that just encourages more illegal immigration,” Graham said.
Bondi affirmed that she agreed with Graham, pointing to lawsuits the Justice Department has filed against Illinois over its sanctuary policies.
“I am glad President [Donald] Trump is trying to change these policies, and if you need the National Guard to bring order out of chaos, so be it,” Graham said.
