WASHINGTON — Does it bother you that the likely next U.S. attorney general is an election denier?
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat, grilled Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi, at her confirmation hearing Wednesday, and under oath she declined to clearly acknowledge President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
“Most Americans believe that central to the peaceful transition of power in a democracy is the acceptance of the results of an election. To my knowledge, Donald Trump has never acknowledged the legal result of the 2020 election. Are you prepared to say today under oath, without reservation, Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?” Durbin asked.
Bondi in reply dodged a direct answer. She said Biden “was duly sworn in, and he is the President of the United States” following a “peaceful transition of power,” ignoring the Jan. 6, 2021 violent attack on the Capitol by Trump backers seeking to prevent Biden from becoming president.
Durbin saw through the Bondi sidestep. “I think that question deserves a yes or no. I think the length of your answer is an indication that you were not prepared to answer yes.”
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., questions Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, as she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.
Moving on, Durbin asked Bondi about Trump’s by now well known, recorded and oft-played call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. That’s when Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to win the state of Georgia.
“Have you heard the recording of President Trump on January 2, 2021, when he urged the Secretary (of State) of Georgia to ‘find 11,780 votes’ and declare him the winner of that state?” Durbin asked.
Bondi said she heard only “clips” and not the whole call, giving herself a reason to say no.
Durbin urged her to listen to the Raffensperger comments.
“Every American should. As a former prosecutor, are you not concerned that the President of the United States called a state election official and asked him to find the votes to change the results of the election?” Durbin asked.
Bondi was curiously not curious.
Trump has said he wants to pardon Jan. 6 convicted offenders.
“Do you believe that those who have been convicted of the Jan. 6th violent assaults on our police officers should be pardoned? That is a simple question,” Durbin said.
Replied Bondi, “If confirmed and if asked to advise the President, I would look at each and every file, but let me be very clear in speaking to you: I condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country.”
Saying you accept the election results is not the same thing as believing the outcome was correct. Election deniers for years have been wiggling out of saying Biden beat Trump by acknowledging the obvious — Biden was sworn into office and is the president, a term that will end Monday at noon Eastern Standard Time at Trump’s inauguration.
This was the first hearing where Durbin was functioning as the top Democrat on the panel, with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, now the chair because Republicans control the Senate.
I get why Durbin wanted to get Bondi on the record, under oath on her denialism. Election denialism is a curse on this country for which there is no sure cure.
I wonder, however, if this plays into the hands of Trump’s MAGA followers for this to come up a Bondi’s hearing — where she had an enormous platform to plant her seeds of doubts about who won. It’s frustrating that there seems to be no way to get some people to believe that after numerous investigations in various states — Google around for tons of stories about these investigations — no proof emerged that would have changed the 2020 election outcome.
Trump’s priority in naming his attorney general is to have a loyalist in charge of the Justice Department.
Bondi is Trump’s second choice.
Trump’s first pick was former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., whose nomination was dropped because his conduct was too much even for his fellow Republicans. His main qualification seemed to be Trump seeing him as someone who would do his bidding. Last month, the House Ethics Committee alleged Gaetz of “regularly” paying for sex with an underage girl and using illegal drugs while a House member.
There is no doubt that Bondi has the legal qualification to be the nation’s 87th attorney general.
She served two terms as Florida’s attorney general, — the first Florida female AG in the third largest state in this country. Nothing happened at the hearing that should deny her nomination being advanced to the Senate floor for almost certain confirmation on the strength of GOP votes.
Durbin is obviously going to vote no.
