[0:20]I welcome everybody to our judiciary committee's annual Justice Department oversight hearing. But before I and Durban give our opening statement, I
[0:30]want to say this is the second anniversary of Hamas invading the sovereign state of Israel.
[0:41]Yesterday I had some Palestinian advocates uh talk to me about
[0:52]the number of people being killed. I like to remind them there wouldn't be one death if there hadn't been this invasion of the sovereign state of Israel
[1:04]by what happened two years ago today. Attorney General Bondi, since your confirmation, you've now had the opportunity
[1:14]to face the federal bureaucracy that you must reform to better serve the American people. As I said to Director
[1:24]Patel, your charter is no simple task. When you arrived, you were left with the Justice
[1:34]Department freefall. Senate Democrats have denied your leadership personnel. We haven't been able to confirm your
[1:45]assistant attorney general for congressional affairs. It's now been seven months. All the while, Democrats complain that they can't get answers
[1:54]from the office of ledge affairs. They have uh blocked the confirmation of that person. Since your confirmation,
[2:05]you've taken steps to institute needed reforms. Uh, under your leadership, the Justice Department's cut funding to politicize
[2:16]programs to reinvest in core policing activities. Focusing on crime and getting tough on criminals is a welcome change from four
[2:28]years of Biden administration soft on crime policies. During the Biden administration, the Justice Department failed to collect billions of dollars in
[2:38]criminal fines and penalties from corporate offenders. That's money should have been placed in the crime victims fund. And much of the
[2:49]money of the past administration did collect went to the depart justice department slice funds instead of aiding
[2:58]uh victims of criminals and violent activity. My Democratic colleagues have shared concerns about funding agency and law enforcement but generally haven't
[3:10]supported funding programs. Under the Democrat leadership, the COP's reauthorization was held over in committee at least eight times before
[3:20]the 118th Congress concluded. It never received a vote in this committee. More recently, Democrats have refused to
[3:31]support fundamental Justice Department programs like Protect Safe Neighborhoods. And last week, Democrats again blocked
[3:40]most of the police week bills from passing the Senate, even though they passed out of this committee unanimously.
[3:50]In contrast to these indefensible positions, the judiciary provisions in the Republican reconciliation bill made hundreds of millions of dollars
[4:01]available to the Justice Department to combat crime. Attorney General Bondi, you've also
[4:11]created task force to uh attack the problems left by your predecessor. You've created a team to review the
[4:21]overwhelming evidence of political weaponization by federal law enforcement, including the discredited Crossfire hurricane investigations.
[4:31]Your weaponization working group has worked with my staff to bring forward resolutions for whistleblowers and I commend you and
[4:40]your staff efforts to find solutions for these patriots. I understand the task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias has done an
[4:52]investigation and how the Biden administration weaponized the government against people of faith. I look forward to your next report on that subject.
[5:03]Now, you have also shuttered a certain task force that was a stain on this country, the Foreign Influence Task Force. Democrats have cried about
[5:14]closing this misleadingly named unit. The task force was involved in undermining my and Senator Johnson's
[5:24]Biden family investigation. Instead of rooting out foreign influence, the task force became a political weapon. And speaking of political
[5:35]weapons, I'm now going to address examples of political weaponization in the previous administration. Most recently, I and Senator Johnson
[5:45]made public information relating to Arctic FOs expansive targeting of Republicans.
[5:56]And on Monday, just yesterday, because of our investigative work, the FBI disclosed that the Biden administration used Arctic Frost to target Republican
[6:07]senators, including several senators on this very committee. This is an outrage, an unconstitutional breach, and ought to be immediately
[6:18]addressed by you and Director Patel. It's also clear example of why the Justice Department has had to fire
[6:27]personnel who you hear Democrats defending. While the taxpayers's dime, while on the taxpayers's dime, these now
[6:38]fired employees not only weaponized law enforcement, but some of them also retaliated against patriotic whistleblowers.
[6:48]These are indefensible acts. Now, I've obtained additional weaponization records thanks to brave whistleblowers that predate Arctic Fost.
[7:00]I've obtained documents created by then supervisory special agent to dated March
[7:07]2, 2017. The title of this document is quote unquote Trump and it appears to relate
[7:17]to matters different than Crossfire Hurricane. This document discusses a rumor at FBI
[7:26]at FBI headquarters that the FBI's Washington field office was leaning towards opening a case on the Trump
[7:35]campaign. TBO noted they weren't closing they were they weren't close to opening an investigation but did say this quote
[7:47]what are we doing aggressively seeking out open-source information human intelligence info that could predicate a
[7:56]case end of quote you see less than two months into the Trump's first presidency
[8:04]the partisan Comey FB FBI was very hard at work trying to manufacture another case against Trump. Tibo
[8:16]and the FBI eventually got their wish in April 2022 with the opening of Arctic Frost. This was a political fishing
[8:26]expedition to get Trump at all costs just like Christ fire hurricane. And of course, it's a disgrace to the taxpayers.
[8:38]Whistleblowers have provided me with another document. This document is a 2017 case updated, also drafted by then supervisor special
[8:49]agent to. This is a case update for CR15, the now disbanded and discredited public
[8:58]corruption squad at FBI's Washington field office, which says, quote, McAuliff case, Steve Sullivan, chief
[9:10]financial officer of to nail was interviewed in New York City. info
[9:18]provided seemed to confirm to nail was used as a pass through for Doug Band to pay former President of the United
[9:30]States. End of quote. Doug Band was deputy assistant to then President Clinton and continue to work for him in postp presidency. Therefore, it's pretty clear that the reference to the
[9:42]president of the United States is Bill Clinton. The document further notes additional interviews the FBI planned to conduct as part of the case.
[9:53]This information confirms there was an FBI case on McAuliffe and it indicates the Clintons and their
[10:01]associates were relevant to it. Did the FBI throw its resources behind this matter just like it did against Trump
[10:11]and his associates? a legitimate question or did they sweep it under the rug? A legitimate question. So, General Bondi, I'd like to have you provide me
[10:22]with all the records relating to these in uh matters for further verification. Lastly, whistleblowers have provided me
[10:31]additional records related to the Biden FBI political conduct against Peter Navaro. The first document is a request for
[10:41]physical surveillance on Navaro the day the FBI arrested him. The second document is a timeline of that
[10:49]surveillance when Navaro the FBI didn't with Navaro FBI didn't arrest him at his house which was literally right next to
[11:01]the FBI headquarters. Instead they surveiled him and his fiance all morning. starting at his home, following
[11:11]them to the airport, and then arrested him in public at the Reagan airport. The way Navaro was treated is unnecessary.
[11:21]General Bondi, I would like you to provide me all records relating to this matter.
[11:30]Attorney General Bondi, this Congress, I've made public one document after another, one whistleblower disclosure
[11:39]after another, one example of weaponization after another. So to to our average constituent, this is all history. But
[11:49]it's all pointing out the wrong of government, using the power of government to go after people.
[11:59]There are political people you don't like. We're pointing this all out because we can't have this repeated in the United States. We want an end to it
[12:10]right now. Whether we have Republican or Democrat administrations, all evidence of your predecessors total failures. It's time for accountability,
[12:21]and I look forward to hearing about your success in that regard. Senator Durban. >> Thanks, Chairman Grassley, for holding this oversight hearing. Welcome, Attorney General Bondi. I'm glad that we
[12:33]are following this committee's long-standing tradition of regular oversight hearings with the attorney general, the director of the FBI, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.
[12:43]These hearings have never been more important. As President Trump turns the full force of the federal government on Chicago and other American cities, the
[12:54]assault on the city I am proud to represent is just one example of how President Trump and Attorney General Bondi shut down justice at the Department of Justice. Even before the
[13:05]president's party controlling the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, shut down the government, the attorney general has systematically weaponized our nation's
[13:15]leading law enforcement agency to protect President Trump and his allies and attack his opponents and sadly the American people. You have purged
[13:26]hundreds of senior career officials since you first appeared before us. These men and women had dedicated their careers to protecting the American people. As a result, the department has
[13:37]lost literally thousands of years of law enforcement expertise. To be specific, you disbanded the FBI's foreign influence task force and the National
[13:48]Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team despite the growing threat of foreign election interference and the drastic rise in cryptocurrency crimes. You forced out
[13:58]almost 75% of the civil rights division's career attorneys while hate crimes are on the rise. You fired more than a 100 immigration judges while the
[14:09]immigration case backlog is more than three million. You cut the public integrity section from 30 prosecutors to two while political corruption
[14:20]skyrockets. During your confirmation hearing, I asked you about your many potential conflicts of interest as a former lobbyist. You responded under oath,
[14:31]quote, "You will consult with career ethics officials within the department and make the appropriate decision." End of quote. But the Justice Department then removed those career ethics
[14:42]officials and put in their place inexperienced political appointees beholden to President and you. and you've effectively shut down the Office
[14:52]of Professional Responsibility, which investigates misconduct by Department of Justice attorneys. Now, with these ethical guard rails out of the way, corruption has run rampant
[15:03]at the Department of Justice. Although you've been a registered foreign agent for Qatar, you did not recuse yourself from signing off on President Trump's solicitation of a free jet from the
[15:15]royal family, even though this gift was clearly illegal. Connections to Attorney General Bondi seemed to yield more favorable outcomes for defendants. At least two
[15:26]long-running federal prosecutions were abruptly dropped after the defendants hired your brother. It's no surprise that Ed Morton, failed US attorney nominee you appointed as senior
[15:37]official, quoted, said, quote, "No MAGA left behind." Our nation's top law enforcement agency has become a shield for the president and his political
[15:47]allies when they engage in misconduct. Last year, President Trump's border zar Tom Hman was allegedly recorded
[15:55]accepting a $50,000 bag of cash in exchange for promising immigration enforcement related contracts. Under your leadership, the investigation into
[16:05]Mr. Homeman was dropped after President Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 January 6 insurrectionists, including more than 600 charged with assaulting or impeding
[16:16]law enforcement. The Department of Justice is arguing in court that these pardons provide immunity for wholly unrelated crimes in multiple cases.
[16:26]Jared Weiss was filmed on January 6th encouraging his fellow rioters to attack the Metropolitan Police Department
[16:33]officers and he said, "F him. Kill him." What happened to Mr. Weiss? He's been hired by you as a senior adviser.
[16:44]In February, you said the Epstein client list was quote sitting on my desk right now for review. Eight months later, you still haven't produced these files. and a credible whistleblower told my office
[16:56]that FBI agents were directed to flag any records in which President Trump was mentioned. The Department of Justice ordered the dismissal of corruption charges against
[17:07]the former New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a corrupt backroom deal to secure his cooperation with the president's immigration agenda. Acting
[17:16]US Attorney Daniel Sassoon, a Republican appointed by President Trump, resigned in protest. Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Eric
[17:26]Sbert, a Republican appointed by President Trump, was forced to resign because he didn't believe there was sufficient evidence to indict New York Attorney General Leticia Adams or former
[17:37]FBI Director James Comey. In his place, President Trump installed his former personal attorney, someone with no prosecutorial experience, to indict
[17:48]Director Comey, which she did. She joins a network of unqualified MAGA loyalists masquerading as federal prosecutors like Alina Haba who said she would use her
[17:59]position to quote turn New Jersey red close quote and Sigel Chhatta who once said that a black political opponent was quote should be hanging from an effing
[18:11]crane end of quote. The president and attorney general attempted to bypass the Senate to install these unqualified extremists. Where do you find these
[18:21]people? Courts have ruled that both Mrs. Miss Haba and Miss Chada are serving in their roles illegally, jeopardizing countless prosecutions by your office.
[18:31]Why? And just that that's just one example of how the Department of Justice is making America less safe. Attorney General Bondi shut down the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force,
[18:42]AADEV, which has dismantled thousands of criminal organizations. and you've diverted thousands of FBI, DEA, and ATF agents and DOJ prosecutors from their
[18:53]critical missions to carry out the president's mass deportation agenda. Attorney General Bondi, not surprisingly, federal drug prosecutions have dropped to the lowest level in
[19:04]decades. Let me repeat that. Federal prosecutions for drug crimes have dropped to the lowest level in decades on your watch. Department of Justice has
[19:14]also unilaterally terminated 373 grants that provide critical funding to state and local law enforcement to the tune of a half a billion dollars. The 2026 Trump
[19:25]budget would slash the highintensity drug trafficking areas program known as IDA by more than a third from 300 million to 196 million. Instead of taking common sense steps that are
[19:37]proven to help reduce crime, Attorney General, you're focusing on helping President Trump play strong men on television. He has illegally deployed troops to Chicago and other American
[19:48]citizens and has threatened to send more. The Justice Department defends this dubious legal basis for these deployments and diverts DOJ personnel
[19:58]and their components to assist in these efforts. These deployments basically target Democratic run cities and Democratic leaders, ignoring many
[20:08]Republican le areas of our country with even higher crime rates and making clear that this is for political theater, not public safety. one particular chaotic raid in Chicago
[20:20]Tuesday last week, aided by the FBI and ATF, which you supervise. In the middle of the night, federal agents pulled women and children out of their beds,
[20:31]crashed down the doors to their homes, destroyed their apartments, zip tied children and others, and detained immigrants and US citizens alike for
[20:40]hours in vans. When one witness complained about the treatment of the small children, an agent laughed at her and said, "F them kids." On Friday, a federal judge appointed by President
[20:52]Trump held that deploying the National Guard in Portland is illegal. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller accused her of quote legal
[21:01]insurrection close quote. At a time of rising threats to federal judges, this kind of language is inexcusable. Last week, the president and secretary
[21:12]Hegsith summoned senior military officials to a political pep rally at Quantico where the president said he wanted to use American cities as quote
[21:21]training grounds for our military. Training grounds for our military to fight the quote enemy within.
[21:32]Chicago is not the enemy. Our fellow Americans are not the enemy. It is abhorren for the president who is supposed to represent all Americans regardless of political party to
[21:42]describe anyone who disagrees with him in this manner. To my Republican colleagues who claim the previous administration weaponized the Department of Justice, President
[21:52]Biden retained President Trump's FBI director, Christopher Ray, who President Trump then fired. President Biden never directed the attorney general to prosecute his political opponents.
[22:03]President Biden never fired his own political appointees for refusing to prosecute his targets. What has taken place since January 20th, 2025 would
[22:13]make even President Nixon recoil. This is your legacy, Attorney General Bondi. In eight short months, you have fundamentally transformed the Justice Department and left an enormous stain in
[22:24]American history. It will take decades to recover. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you. Would you uh please rise so I can give you swear Uh, do you affirm the testimony you're
[22:39]about to give before this committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So, help you God. Please be seated and give us your
[22:48]opening statement. >> Thank you, Chairman Grassley and Ranking
[22:59]Member Durban and every member of this committee. I'm grateful for the opportunity to testify in front of you today. First, please join me in remembering, as you said, Chairman
[23:09]Grassley, all the Jewish people who lost their lives in the October 7th attacks two years ago today. Also, please let's pray for all the hostages and the
[23:20]families of all of those individuals. They are a critical reminder of our central mission here at the Department of Justice, protecting the safety and
[23:32]security of the American people. That is why even when the government is otherwise shut down because of the Democrats, the department's law
[23:41]enforcement officers and prosecutors are hard at work fighting crime, keeping our streets safe, and protecting you from the threats foreign and domestic. When I
[23:53]was confirmed as the 87th Attorney General of the United States, I took office with two main goals. To end the weaponization of justice and return the department to its core mission of
[24:04]fighting violent crime. As to ending the weaponization of justice. We learned that former FBI secretly investigated you and your colleagues. Why? They
[24:14]wanted to take President Trump off the playing field. They were playing politics with law enforcement powers and will go down as a historic betrayal of public trust.
[24:25]This is the kind of conduct that shatters the American people's faith in our law enforcement system. We will work to earn that back every single day. We
[24:36]are returning to our core mission of fighting real crime. While there is more work to do, I believe in eight short months, we have made tremendous progress
[24:46]towards those ends. Our federal surges in Washington DC and Memphis are a perfect example of how the Department of Justice should operate. We created
[24:56]strong partnerships with local leadership. Working hand in hand with both cities to send resources where they were needed most. The results speak for
[25:06]themselves. We have made more than 3,800 arrests here in Washington while seizing more than 365
[25:16]illegal guns. In Memphis, we have already made more than 300 arrest and close to 80 illegal guns in just a week. We are replicating that tough on crime
[25:28]approach throughout this country. Under the leadership of Director Cash Patel, the FBI is doing outstanding investigative work to keep American people safe. The FBI just conducted
[25:39]monthslong operation called Summer Heat, which resulted in over 8,600 arrests from June to September. More than 6,500 arrest fell under the FBI's violent
[25:50]crime and gang program. Under the leadership of administrator Terry Cole, the DEA has seized 47.9
[26:00]million fentanyl pills and 4500 kilos of fentanyl powder. That represents 370
[26:09]million deadly doses. 370 million. The DEA is dismantling violent cartel drug trafficking networks across this country, including the seizure of nearly
[26:20]470 million in criminal assets. Under the leadership of Gaddy Serala, our US marshals have been the tip of the spear on federal surges and protecting judges
[26:32]and elected officials. Our marshals have arrested more than 51,000 fugitives nationwide since January 20th. Under the leadership of acting director
[26:43]Dan Driscoll, ATF has taken more than 23,000 illegal guns off our streets. 3,400 of those guns have been linked to
[26:52]trafficking between the US and Mexico. My attorneys have done incredible work advancing President Trump's agenda and protecting the executive branch from
[27:02]judicial overreach. We've been sued more than 400 times since January 20th. Judges have issued more than 90 temporary restraining orders against us, more than the previous several
[27:14]administrations combined. Despite the unprecedented degree of activism we've seen from the lower courts, we have never ignored a court order. And why would we? We have secured
[27:25]a historic 22 victories at the Supreme Court alone with more to come. Our civil rights attorneys are fighting discrimination and anti-semitism. Our criminal attorneys are prosecuting
[27:36]violent criminals and foreign terrorists every single day. I look forward to continuing this work at the Department of Justice and I look forward to testifying before you today. Thank you,
[27:48]chairman. I forgot to turn on the microphone. Let
[28:05]me start over again. We have 10 minute rounds. Uh I've asked Senator Blackburn to chair between 10:30 and 11.
[28:15]Uh, I hope that we can have good decorum during this hearing. Uh, treat each other with respect.
[28:27]Uh, General Bondi, uh, just in case, uh, you get cut off was something that you don't get to answer your question when that
[28:38]senator's done. If you ask me for a little bit of time, not a lot of time, but a little bit of time to give a finish your answer, I'd be glad to give that to you.
[28:50]So, starting myself, you inherited a bloated bureaucracy. It requires reorientation
[29:00]to better serve your mission of the department. That would include reassessing grants disguised to help Americans, but many
[29:11]were partisan pet projects. It also requires reallocation of resources to better serve the American people. On
[29:23]this issue, I've got two questions. What updates can you share with the committee about your review and grant
[29:31]DOJ uh and grants that go DOJ has reassessed >> just give us some examples don't I know
[29:48]>> Sure thank you chairman during my appearance at the department's budget hearings I acknowledged that some grants were mistakenly terminated and we
[29:58]have made a process to correct that. All grant termination appeals will be individually considered for alignment with our current policies which are
[30:08]strengthening law enforcement and protecting victims. Recipients are given the opportunity to appeal a grant termination consistent with the rules by writing to the assistant attorney
[30:20]general. Of the 5800 discretionary grants that were reviewed, only 376,
[30:28]approximately 7% were terminated. So far, OJ has turned back on 18 awards. 17 appeals have been denied and the rest
[30:39]are actively being reviewed with decisions expected soon. Uh my colleagues on the other side claim that your department has reallocated
[30:50]resources to immigration enforcement and it's had a negative impact on law enforcement. We know that drugs and crimes are very
[31:01]much a part of immigration enforcement. So these attacks are clearly off the mark. Explain your view of these
[31:09]misguided assertions. Chairman, every day our FBI, DEA, ATF,
[31:21]and now US Marshals working on a task force with Homeland Security are out there keeping Americans safe and getting
[31:31]illegal aliens out of our country, many of whom have committed violent crimes in this country. Our agents will continue
[31:41]to fight violent crime in this country working hand in hand. One example is right here in Washington DC. We have the
[31:51]DC task force that has been incredibly successful. We are so proud of the work that that has done. We have been working hand inand hand inand with the local
[32:02]officials here in DC and we are very proud of that work and we're taking that to Tennessee and around this country to keep Americans safe.
[32:11]Um, I won't repeat the things I've said about Arctic frost, but u, we had this recent
[32:20]revelation yesterday of my Republican senators being targeted by the government underscoring the point about
[32:30]Arctic Frost. When taken in context with widespread government weaponization against Trump and conservatives in the
[32:38]last decade, the conducts uh arguably is worse than Watergate. So I got two questions along this line. How many
[32:49]Department of Justice and FBI personnel have been held accountable for their partisan and constitutional uh questionable conduct? and what was
[33:00]their punishment? If you could give a few examples or follow up in writing since there's so many uh people that
[33:09]fall into this category. >> Yes, Senator. Yes, Chairman, we will. >> So, you want to answer that in writing? Yeah. Okay. >> Yes. The exact number I can answer in
[33:20]writing. Um Yes. >> Okay. Uh, was Attorney General uh, on the same subject, was Attorney General Garland, Director Ray, andor President
[33:31]Biden's White House aware of the FBI targeting Republican senators? Did they approve it? Now, let's be clear. Either they knew and allowed it to happen or
[33:42]they didn't know. And if they didn't know, it points to a lack of oversight of Jack Smith's runaway uh, in uh, case.
[33:54]Chairman Grassly, that's what we've been talking about when we refer to the weaponization of government. Operation Artic Frost was an unconstitutional,
[34:03]undemocratic abuse of power. During Arctic Frost, the FBI also placed 92 linked Republican individuals and
[34:14]Republican groups such as Charlie Kirk's Turning Point on their list. This is the kind of conduct that shattered the American people's faith in our
[34:24]government. As I said in my opening statement, we are ending this weaponization. Our FBI is targeting violent criminals, child predators, and other lawb
[34:35]breakakers, not sitting senators who happen to be from the wrong political party. Several of your colleagues sitting at this dised
[34:47]>> and others. >> We will continue to stop that throughout the Justice Department. That is the ultimate weaponization of government.
[34:58]>> Have you sought grand jury secrecy waiverss so that all of Arctic Fox documents can be produced to Congress?
[35:06]And if not, have do you plan to do that? Chairman Grass Grassly, I will be working directly with the director Patel on this issue and there's not much more
[35:18]we can say about the issue for obvious reasons at this time. Okay. >> Public safety officers benefit program PSO
[35:28]provides benefits to law enforcement and first responders if they're disabled or killed in the line of duty. Uh affected family members may also benefit. My
[35:40]oversight and a government accountability office report shows that some claims have taken thousands of days to conclude. PSOB applicants have also
[35:51]informed my office that they've been left in tears with disrespectful ways. They've been treated by the government. Question number one and two in this
[36:02]area, but I'll start just with one. What actions have been taken to hold uh DOJ officials accountable for their failures to manage the program and treat
[36:14]applicants with respect. >> Chairman Grassley, as stated earlier, there have been many terminations from the Department of Justice, and we stand
[36:25]by all of those. Many of those are subject to active litigation. This Department of Justice will treat everyone with respect and we will do everything in our power to help citizens
[36:35]of this country. Please reach out to us with any individual cases and I will personally look at them for you, chairman. >> Okay. So, if you'll provide that information, that was my second
[36:46]question. And so now let's go on to uh uh regarding the initial FBI 1023 document
[36:59]that I made public last Congress. That document mentioned one text messages, two audio recordings, and three financial records that allegedly
[37:10]approved a bribery scheme with the Biden family and foreign interest. I asked Director Patel if his predecessors made
[37:20]any effort to determine whether these records existed. He answered no. What steps has the department taken to determine whether these records exist?
[37:31]One way or another, this matter ought to be put to rest. >> Chairman Grassley, I know Director Patel is working hard on this with the members
[37:41]of the FBI. >> Okay. So, you uh you we don't know if these records exist or you just can't say that
[37:52]publicly at this point. >> I I don't want to discuss any of that publicly. Director. >> The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act includes a safeguard to prevent political weaponization.
[38:03]The reauthorization mandated certain members and their staffs shall be entitled to attend any proceedings of the FISA court.
[38:13]former Biden uh DOJ Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen drafted a privacy agreement that allowed the department to
[38:23]hide information from Congress during FISA proceedings. Matt Olsen made a career out of targeting President Trump
[38:32]and his allies. So, it's not surprising that he would attempt to hinder congressional oversight or cover up for the Biden regime. I want to make sure
[38:43]that you get rid of the ridiculous and misguided Olsson memo. When can you tell me that will be done? >> We will notify you, Chairman Grassley.
[38:54]Thank you. >> Okay, Senator Dur. >> Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Uh, Madam Attorney General, let me ask you this question. Were you consulted by the White House
[39:04]before they deployed uh National Guard troops to cities in the United States? I am not going to discuss any internal
[39:14]conversations with the White House. >> You won't even say whether you talk to the White House about this. >> I am not going to discuss any internal conversations with the White House with you chair um ranking member.
[39:25]>> I noticed that. What's the secret? Why do you want to keep this secret to the American people? Don't know the rationale behind the deployment of National Guard troops in my state. The word is and I think it's been confirmed
[39:37]by the White House. They are going to transfer Texas National Guard units to the state of Illinois. What What's the rationale for that? >> Yeah, chairman, as you shut down the government, you voted to shut down the
[39:48]government and you're sitting here. Our law enforcement officers aren't being paid. They're out there working to protect you. I wish you love Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently, the National Guard are on the
[39:59]way to Chicago. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. >> Been on this committee for more than 20 years. That's the kind of testimony you expect from this administration. A
[40:10]simple question as to whether or not they had a legal rationale for deploying National Guard troops becomes grounds for personal attack. I think it's a legitimate question. It's my responsibility. She refuses to answer as
[40:22]to whether she had any conversation with the White House about deploying national troops to my state. That's an indication, I'm afraid, where we are politically in this place. Let me ask you another question. I want to uh if
[40:34]you will hold on a second, make sure I got the right page of facts here. You testified under oath when you last before this committee that before uh
[40:45]your appointment to attorney general, you had served as a representative of some sort for the royal family of Qatar. There was an issue that came before you
[40:56]in May when President Trump accepted a $400 million luxury jet from the royal family of cutter for temporary use as Air Force One before it's permanently gifted gifted to the Trump Presidential
[41:07]Library Foundation. The Constitution unequivocally bestows on Congress the power to control whether any officer of the United States, including the president, may accept a gift, quote,
[41:17]from any king, prince, or foreign state. End of quote. And this gift clearly violates the statutory regime enacted by Congress. You've refused to answer a letter I sent to you five months ago
[41:29]asking the legal rationale you relied on to advise President Trump to accept this unprecedented gift from your former uh legal client. Can you make a promise
[41:39]today that you will disclose that? >> Disclose what? Ranking member, >> I assume there was a letter or some sort of statement from your office to the
[41:51]White House to advise them that you felt it was permissible. >> First, to address my role with Cutter, as I addressed with you during my confirmation hearing, I disclosed it in
[42:01]my SJQ in private practice. I worked for Qatar for antihuman trafficking for the World Cup. That was my only involvement. and I
[42:12]made that very clear and I'm very proud of everything I've done with antihuman trafficking. Obviously, in preparing any advice for the president on a jet or anything else, we consult with the
[42:24]office of legal counsel. The confidentiality applies to their input as well. And chairman, if you would approve and vote to approve, as chairman Grassley said, excuse me, ranking
[42:35]member, as chairman Grassley said, my employees, we would answer your letters a lot faster. yet you're stalling them at every stop. And to go back to your previous question,
[42:47]your city has a murder rate five times higher than New York's. 571 homicides last year. If you were serious
[42:59]about protecting your people, you would be asking this administration for help. You're you're saying that we're coming into your state and your city. We're
[43:09]there to help make America safe and Illinois safe, whether or not you want to. >> I believe cutting federal grant programs
[43:20]to law enforcement in my state and across the nation does not make us any safer. And you've done just that. You've supplanted that decision by sending in National Guard troops to California and
[43:32]other places. Uh that is a situation where the governors have not asked for that help. If you truly wanted to do this on a bipartisan basis, you wouldn't defy a governor. You would work with
[43:42]them. I'm prepared to do that. I'm prepared to work with this administration. But cutting these grants to law enforcement does not make us any stronger as a nation or give us the tools we need to reduce crime in
[43:52]Chicago. Now, I'd just like to ask you, when it came to this cutter situation, did you consult with the ethics office in the Department of Justice before making your decision on this gift of a
[44:03]jet? Chairman, I didn't gift a jet to anyone. My office of legal counsel provides
[44:13]confidential advice to the president, to the White House. Period. And you're conflating two issues.
[44:23]Cutting grants. I was very clear about what grants we've cut and what grants we haven't. Only 7%. And if you have a grant in Illinois that you think that
[44:33]I've cut that is not protect that is protecting law enforcement officers or your people, you personally call me and I will work with you to turn that grant back on. I think many of the Democrats
[44:44]here can tell you I have worked with them to turn grants back on. There's an appeal process. Tell me a specific grant that I have turned off in Illinois that
[44:53]would help law enforcement and I will work with you. But you have not done that. Did you take a look? >> The National Guard is on the way right now as we speak. Oh, by the way, so is Director Patel and Deputy Attorney
[45:05]General Todd Blanch. You're sitting here grilling me and they are on their way to Chicago to keep your state safe. >> Madam Attorney General, it's my job to grill you.
[45:15]Investigation of your agency is part of my responsibility and this this committee. You may not like the experience, but others have weathered the storm and answered questions in a
[45:26]respectful manner. Can you tell me the grants, ranking member, please? >> Take a look at the president's budget on Haida grants. What happens to it in his proposed budget? >> I'd be glad to meet with you on the grants.
[45:36]>> It's cut by onethird from $300 million to 196. That's one example of a grant that works and your administration has suggested cutting it
[45:47]in and the budget lies ahead. I want to ask you about an items in a letter I sent you in July that you have uh not answered. In February, you made a public claim that the Epstein client list was
[45:58]quote sitting on my desk right now for review. End of quote. You then produced already public information and no client list at a major media event hosted at the White House. Attorney General Bondi,
[46:09]why did you publicly claim to have the Epstein CL client list waiting for your review and then produced nothing relevant to that claim? >> Senator Der Senator Durban, if you
[46:20]listen to my entire clip on that, I said I had not reviewed it yet. that it was sitting on my desk along with the JFK files, the Martin Luther King files, and
[46:30]I said I had not yet reviewed it. And if you see our memo on Epstein, you will see, excuse me, our memo on Epstein clearly points out that there was no
[46:41]client list. Our July 6th memo, you also didn't let me respond to the Haida question. The budget transfers $196 million for highintensity drug
[46:52]trafficking areas to the Office of Justice Programs, OJ. The Justice Department will continue to administer
[47:00]those grants under OJ in 2026. Going back to the Epstein files, uh, according to another whistleblower who
[47:10]made a protected disclosure to my office, you pushed the FBI to review approximately a 100,000 Epstein related records on an arbitrarily short deadline
[47:20]in March, and the FBI was directed to flag any documents that mentioned President Trump. Nothing came of that review until July when DOJ and FBI released an unsigned memo stating,
[47:30]quote, "There's no incriminating client list." Why was the July 7th memo unsigned? >> The July 7th memo came from the FBI and the Department of Justice. Director
[47:42]Patel answered those questions very clear. And you know, Senator Durban, I I find it very interesting that you refused repeated Republican requests to
[47:51]release the Epstein flight logs in 2023 and 2024. You fought that. Did you take money from Reed Hoffman campaign donations? No. who was a huge Epstein
[48:03]friend. Why did you fight for years to Why did you fight to not with disclose the um the flight logs? Senator Durban,
[48:13]>> I can tell you I did not refuse. One of the senators here wished to produce those logs and I asked her to put it in writing and she never did. >> Yeah, I think Senator Blackburn would quarrel with you on that. >> I will quarrel with you as to read
[48:25]somebody that you mentioned. I never heard of >> Reed Hoffman. So, who gave the order to flag records related to President Trump? >> To flag records for President Trump.
[48:38]>> To flag any records which included his name. >> I'm not going to discuss anything about that with you, Senator. >> Eventually, you're going to have to answer for your conduct in this. You
[48:49]won't do it today, but eventually you will. I yield, Mr. Chairman. >> I got Mr. Chairman something here. >> Mr. Chairman, >> Mr. Chairman,
[48:59]since Senator Durban referred to me, I would really appreciate the opportunity to correct the record because Senator
[49:07]Durban knows I repeatedly asked for those flight logs. I brought up the subpoena. You even shut down the
[49:17]committee because you didn't want that. And you know, I submitted that in writing and you continue to misrepresent that. And I am not going to let that
[49:28]record stand. >> Okay, >> Mr. Chairman. >> Go ahead, Senator Durban. >> I just want to make it clear that the reason the committee business ended was that your side invoked the two rule.
[49:40]Point number two is I asked you if you wanted any documents like flight logs to put it in writing. You never did. >> Yes, sir, I did. And your staff knows that I did. We'll submit once again the
[49:51]information to you. We've done that several times, but we'll be happy to once again send it to you. I think your staff doesn't show that to you.
[50:02]>> Well, as I started to say about the emument clause and Democrats bringing that up in regard to Qatar back in March of 2016, they didn't care
[50:13]anything about my bringing up the imal imalment cause in regard. I wrote to the uh Obama Justice Department. That letter
[50:25]was based on Secretary Clinton's uh 2009 to 2013 financial disclosures when she was Secretary of State. Those disclosures showed that her husband
[50:37]participated in at least 62 events with foreign states. Some of those were speaking events with connections to foreign governments and some speaking
[50:47]events were financially supported by foreign governments. Uh two examples, uh Bill Clinton received hundreds of thousands of dollars for appearance
[50:57]sponsored by Middle Eastern governments. Bill Clinton also received $200,000 for a speech connected to the Chinese government. and I don't recall getting
[51:08]any help from my Democrat colleagues on that investigation. Senator Graham, >> good morning. >> Good morning.
[51:19]>> Thank you. Um, so I want to make sure I got this clear. If a Democrat or a Republican senator has a problem with a grant that's been cancelled or reduced, you would be glad
[51:30]to talk to them. >> Yes, Senator, and I have been doing that as well. There have been Democratic members who called you. >> They have t spoken to my office. Yes, senator. >> And you've tried to respond
[51:42]>> on either side of the of course. If it has anything to do with law enforcement or victims, >> and that includes Senator Durban. If he's got a problem, he can call you and you try to respond. >> Absolutely.
[51:52]>> Thank you. How many illegal immigrants are in Chicago? >> Does anybody know?
[52:02]>> I do. Countless. What we have seen since January 20th, Senator Graham, is a 1,000%
[52:14]increase in violent attacks against our ICE officers. >> Right. But I just want to know is there
[52:22]like 10 or 100,000? Does anybody know? There have been multiple and we have made multiple arrests of course
[52:30]involving violent gangs in Chicago throughout Illinois. >> Right. So the only reason I ask that is Chicago a sanctuary city. Do they help ICE deal with illegal
[52:46]immigration? Are they sanctuary city? Do you know >> they are not cooperating? And and I would ask that I wish Senator Dervin would condemn the governor for for not cooperating with our law enforcement officers.
[52:57]>> The only reason I mention this, 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
[53:08]Chicago being one of them, that you're home free and that just encourages more illegal immigration. Do you deal with that? Agree with that? >> I I do, Senator Graham. And can I add something to that,
[53:20]>> please? Um, one of our biggest wins was against the Sinaloa cartel and that came in Chicago. The state of Illinois has a trust act which prevents local law enforcement
[53:32]from cooperating with our federal immigration authorities. And that's what I was trying to talk to Senator Durban about. On September 15th, our partners at ICE arrested an illegal alien from
[53:43]Mexico for beating a 21-year-old man to death. He had been imprisoned in Illinois prior to the murder and was released under Illinois's trust act. We
[53:54]filed multiple lawsuits in Illinois for sanctuary policies, specifically instate tuition for illegal aliens and obstructing employers from verifying
[54:05]citizenship. You can't make this up. On September 5th, a federal grand jury in Chicago indicted a major Sinaloa cartel
[54:14]boss. narco terrorism, guns and drug charges. On July 11th, we announced a guilty plea
[54:25]for Ovidio Guzman Lopez. You may know him as the son of El Chapo, one of the worst narot terrorist in the world. In
[54:35]the world, Chicago in Chicago. in Chicago. He entered a guilty plea to drug conspiracy and two counts of knowingly engaging in a continuing
[54:45]criminal enterprise in the state of Illinois. I could continue with fentanyl. I could continue with child predators in Illinois.
[54:56]>> Well, thank you. I I think I've seen numbers over 100,000. So, Chicago and other sanctuary cities, you're making it harder for us to deal with illegal
[55:05]immigration by doing what you're doing. And uh I am glad President Trump is trying to change those policies. And if you need the National Guard to bring
[55:15]order out of chaos, uh so be it from my point of view. Let's get back to the topic uh sort of at hand here uh about
[55:24]how the law is being used politically. In September 2022, Attorney General James from New York
[55:34]basically said in a campaign that she would go after Trump, his business transactions, and his family will full force.
[55:43]November the 15th, 2022, Trump announces his candidacy for president. November 2022, 3 days after Trump announced his
[55:53]re-election campaign, Jack Smith was appointed by Garland to be special counsel to look at classified information
[56:04]u document mishandling and uh trying to undermine the 2020 election. In March, President Trump was indicted in
[56:12]Manhattan of 2023, just after announcing um 34 felony counts. And what they did is they took misdemeanors
[56:23]and turned them into felonies by using a legal theory that no one in the history of Manhattan had ever been charged with.
[56:32]June 2023, a federal federal grand jury in the district court for the Southern District of Florida indicted President Trump on 37 charges uh regarding
[56:43]classified information. Now, all I can say is that taking a hammer to a hard drive and bleach bid apparently
[56:52]doesn't make the cut. Having documents in the garage of President Biden doesn't make the cut. In
[57:01]August of 2023, he was indicted yet again regarding the 2020 election. So,
[57:10]all I can say is that in September 27th, uh Jack Smith's team asked for my phone records and seven other senators. Now,
[57:21]that's just the 20 24 election. Comey,
[57:30]are you aware of the fact that in August Comey, then director CIA, I mean, excuse me, FBI, August of 2016,
[57:42]was in a meeting at the White House where it was discussed that uh by Brennan, then then CIA director, that there was intelligence that maybe the
[57:54]Clinton campaign was trying to cook up a narrative that Trump was a Russian an asset. >> Senator, I believe that has been reported publicly, but I cannot comment on that.
[58:04]>> Okay. Well, I'm just telling you now. This is a campaign for president in 2016. In July, they open up Crossfire
[58:15]Hurricane. In August, they have a discussion in front of President Biden that there's intel that maybe this is generated by his political opponent.
[58:24]Nothing happened in September. Are you aware of the fact that the intelligence community sent a memo to the FBI director detailing intelligence that
[58:36]suggest is Clinton's campaign behind the idea that Trump is colluding or cooperating with the Russians? >> Senator, I believe that has been reported >> and that was addressed to the FBI
[58:46]director and Mr. Struck. This memo, are you aware that he told this committee? I don't recall that. the FBI director. >> Senator, I can't discuss anything.
[58:56]>> Well, I can tell you this. What the hell would you recall? You're the sitting FBI director. There's a campaign for president going on. You've opened up an investigation believing that the
[59:08]Republican candidate may be a Russian asset. And now all of a sudden, less than a month later, two months later, you have two inquiries, two events to
[59:19]suggest it may be his political opponent. Did anybody in the FBI inform the FISA court or anyone else about this activity that you know of? >> I can't discuss that matter. As you
[59:31]know, Senator Grant, >> should they have? Is there a requirement by law enforcement to tell the court if their warrant is being sought or a defendant that there's sculpatory
[59:42]information out there about you >> in general? Of course. Senator. >> So to the country, the FBI director gets an memo from the intel community. This
[59:52]may be all a political plot by his opponent. They didn't do a damn thing. Are you familiar with the steel dossier? >> Yes, Senator. >> That was a dossier prepared and paid for
[1:00:04]by the Clinton campaign. Are you aware that it was that document was used to get a warrant on five different occasions against Carter Page, an American citizen? >> Yes, Senator. And that has been
[1:00:15]>> Are you aware of the fact in February 2017 after Trump is president, the person who gave Christopher Steel the information,
[1:00:25]the Russian guy told the FBI, "The information I provided you was all bar talk, hearsay, and not reliable." Are you aware of that?
[1:00:34]>> Yes, Senator. Do was there ever an effort by the FBI to tell the FISA court about evidence that the man who helped prepare the doc do document retracted his
[1:00:46]statement? >> I can't discuss that, Senator. >> Should there have been? >> Can't discuss that. >> You wonder why we're looking at Comey? Give me a break.
[1:00:57]Why are we looking at Comey? Because he ran an FBI and personally knew about it. sculpatory information and let it slide.
[1:01:07]How in the hell can two FBI agents interview a man who says the document you're using against a sitting president
[1:01:17]to suggest he may be a Russian agent or Carter Page that is now no longer reliable? How does that not get to the court? Can you tell me how that doesn't
[1:01:26]get to the court? You can't. Can you? >> I can't, Senator. Can you tell me why my phone records when I'm the chairman of the judiciary
[1:01:37]committee were sought by the Jack Smith agents? Why did they ask to know who I called and what I was doing from January
[1:01:48]4th to the 7th? Can you tell me that? >> No, Senator. And there were eight senators in total. >> Yeah. Do you think that was an abuse of power? Senator, I cannot discuss whether
[1:02:00]there is or is not an ongoing investigation. If I may add one thing, they also wasted $50 million on what you just described trying to put President
[1:02:09]Trump in jail prior to the election. >> Before Senator White House, I want to introduce into the record what is called the Durham Annex. The annex is a
[1:02:20]declassified appendix to John Durham's report about Crossfire Hurricane. The Durham annex contains information exposing a reported Clinton campaign
[1:02:32]plan to falsify uh uh and tie uh President Trump to Russia. For years, I've fought to
[1:02:41]assemble and publicize all the facts surrounding Durham investigation, crossfire, hurricane, and related matters. The Durham annex was
[1:02:51]declassified as a large part because of attorney general bonding. >> Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman. >> Yeah. >> May I ask you a question?
[1:03:02]>> If I can answer it. Yes. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Are you going to hold a separate hearing on your whistleblower account of the FBI
[1:03:12]investigation of eight United States senators? I think we need I my answer to your question is I think we need to wait until we see what uh the FBI can report
[1:03:24]and whether it's necessary to have a hearing. Right now I haven't ruled one out, but I haven't made a decision. >> And what year do you think that will happen in?
[1:03:34]>> Uh I I I want the FBI to be a thorough investigation of it and report to us what information they can give us. And I don't know how long that'll take them.
[1:03:45]>> With respect, are you giving them a certain period of time? >> I have not given them a certain period of time. I'll I'll discuss that matter with my staff and see if that needs to be done.
[1:03:55]>> Okay. If civil suits are filed against the perpetrators at the FBI, will that facilitate your investigation? >> Well,
[1:04:06]what's the question again? If if uh the eight senators who were spied upon sue the hell out of the Department of Justice >> and the perpetrators involved, will that
[1:04:17]facilitate uh their investigation andor yours? I guess what I'm getting to is I don't understand why we don't have a separate hearing. I find this breathtaking.
[1:04:28]>> Yeah. Um it's it's just been 24 hours since the FBI investigated on it. Please give me an opportunity to sort through all this. >> Fair enough. I just don't want to wait
[1:04:39]24 years to get an answer. >> Yeah. Uh we do have an active investigation going on through my staff. I want to make that
[1:04:49]very clear. Mr. White House or Senator White House. >> Thank you, Chairman. Miss Bondi, good morning.
[1:04:59]>> Good morning. What became of the $50,000
[1:05:05]in cash that the FBI paid to Mr. Hman in a paper bag? evidently Senator, as Deputy Attorney General Todd
[1:05:28]Blanch recently stated, the investigation of Mr. Hman was subjected to a full review by the FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors. They found no credible
[1:05:38]evidence of any wrongdoing. >> And that was not my question. My question was, what became of the $50,000 in cash that the FBI delivered evidently
[1:05:50]in a paper bag to Mr. Hman? >> Senator, I'd look at your facts. >> Are you saying that they did not deliver
[1:06:01]$50,000 in cash to Mr. Holman? >> Senator, as recently stated, the investigation of Mr. Holman was subjected to a full review >> by the FBI agents. That's a different question.
[1:06:12]>> Department of Justice prosecutors, they found no evidence of wrongdoing. >> That's a different question. What became of the $50,000?
[1:06:22]Did the FBI get it back? >> Mr. White House, excuse me, Senator White House, you're welcome to talk to the FBI. >> The report to you. Can't you answer this question? >> Senator White House, you're welcome to
[1:06:34]discuss this with Director Patel. Did H Homeman keep the $50,000? >> As Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch
[1:06:46]recently stated, the investigation of Mr. >> Never mind. I can see I'm not going to get a straight answer from you to a very simple >> FBI agents and the DOJ. They found no
[1:06:57]credible evidence of wrongdoing. You know, you're very concerned about money and people taking money and you rail against Wait a second. Wait a second. You work with dark groups all the time. Senator,
[1:07:08]>> wait a second. >> Did you know >> whether or not in that investigation they looked at whether the 2024 $50,000 payment to Mr. Hman
[1:07:20]was declared by him on his tax returns. Senator, I would be more concerned if I were you when you talk about corruption
[1:07:30]and money that you that when you pushed for legislation that would subsidize your wife's company. >> The um questions here are actually
[1:07:40]pretty specific. So having you respond with completely irrelevant far-right internet talking points really
[1:07:50]is not very helpful here. I'd like Mr. Chairman, you generally like to have us be able to get answers to know and we'll
[1:07:59]follow up with the QFR and to the extent Patel wants to answer. That would be great as well. What happened to the $50,000?
[1:08:08]Did Homeman keep it? Did the FBI get it back? If he kept it, did he put it on his tax returns? Pretty simple questions.
[1:08:17]Um Homeman was the same guy who said there was a deal with Eric Adams. He said, "If Adams doesn't come through, I'll be back. I'll be in his office up his butt saying, "Where the hell is the
[1:08:29]agreement we came to?" Which brings us to the um OPR investigation of prosecutorial
[1:08:38]misconduct by Amile Boie because he was also involved in that transaction. >> What became of the OPR investigation of
[1:08:48]prosecutorial misconduct by Amile Bo? >> Yeah. Senator White House to correct you for one moment. That would be the honorable judge Amal J. Boove III to you.
[1:08:58]>> Not at the time of this. He was uh an employee of the Department of Justice. And what became of the OPR investigation? >> It's all pending litigation. Senator, I can't discuss pending litigation nor
[1:09:10]personnel matters. OPR customarily publicly says when there is an investigation and at the end of it they
[1:09:21]provide a summary. Why can't you say whether there is an OPR investigation and whether if it's concluded there's a summary? >> Senator, I'm not going to discuss personnel matters,
[1:09:32]>> even public ones. >> Senator, I'm not going to discuss personnel matters. So, um, Cash Patel told this committee
[1:09:44]that his grand jury testimony after immunization after initially pleading the fifth was, and I quote,
[1:09:53]sealed by the Department of Justice. How and when and why was his testimony sealed and by whom?
[1:10:04]Senator, I'm not going to discuss any testimony, especially testimony that could be sealed with you. >> No, the question is was it or was it not sealed,
[1:10:14]>> Senator? I'm not going to discuss that with you. >> Well, he also said that he worked with the Department of Justice to have his
[1:10:24]transcript released publicly. How and when was his transcript released? Presumably, if he released it
[1:10:36]publicly, that's something you can discuss because it's public. >> Well, Senator, I believe you discussed that with Director Patel. >> And I'm asking you because he said the Department of Justice
[1:10:47]made this decision and you run the Department of Justice. I would refer that to Director Patel. >> Even though you run the Department of Justice and he testified that the
[1:10:57]Department of Justice released his transcript publicly. >> If it is released publicly, we will get you a copy, Senator. Gladly.
[1:11:06]if being a rather important word there when your FBI director testified that that was a fact. Treasury compiles suspicious activity
[1:11:19]reports referred to often as SARS that DOJ receives automatically.
[1:11:27]Hundreds related to accounts of Jeffrey Epstein. How many of those Treasury SARS did you
[1:11:37]or Director Patel investigate? >> Senator, I'm not sure if you're concerned because you took money, I
[1:11:49]believe, did you? From Reed Hoffman, one of Epstein's closest confidants, not only once but twice in 2018 and 2024, if
[1:11:57]that's correct. But Senator, did you ask Merritt Garland any of this over the last four years when he sat before you?
[1:12:07]>> This investigation has been going on. This investigation was closed. Did you ask Alex the cost of that? >> And Patel came to office. You said you would look into this. There were
[1:12:18]hundreds of suspicious activity reports. Some people would deduce from the fact that they are called suspicious activity
[1:12:27]reports that there might be suspicious activity. And yet you seem to have looked at zero of those suspicious
[1:12:37]activity reports involving Jeffrey Epstein accounts. Let me ask you something else. There's been public reporting that Jeffrey Epstein showed
[1:12:47]people photos of President Trump with half naked young women. Do you know if the FBI found those photographs in their
[1:12:58]search of Jeffrey Epstein safe or premises or otherwise? Have you seen any such thing? You know, Senator White House, you sit here and make salacious remarks once
[1:13:09]again trying to slander President Trump left and right when you're the one who was taking money from one of Epstein's closest confidence, I believe. I could
[1:13:20]be wrong. Correct me. Reed Hoffman, who was with Jeffrey Epstein on multiple occasions, and the senator sitting right next to you tried to block the flight
[1:13:31]logs from being released. Yeah, you're grilling me on President Trump and some photograph with Epstein. Come on. >> The question is,
[1:13:41]did the FBI find those photographs that have been discussed publicly by a witness who claimed Jeffrey Epstein
[1:13:50]showed them to him? You don't know anything about that? Okay. Um, here's what some Well, now we cut to
[1:14:05]something else. Um, the Marshall Service is supposed to protect our federal judges.
[1:14:15]I have asked repeatedly for the Marshall Service to let me know if they are
[1:14:26]investigating or being inhibited from investigating whether or not there is orchestration
[1:14:36]of threats against federal judges, whether under either conspiracy laws or raketeering enterprise laws or aiding and abetting laws, whatever. But as you
[1:14:48]know, there's the person who says the threat and then there may very well be somebody orchestrating the threat behind them. Is the Marshall Service allowed to
[1:14:58]investigate orchestration of threats? And do you know if they've taken one step to do so? >> May I answer the question, Chairman Grassly? The time is expired.
[1:15:09]>> I think it's the convention of the committee that if I've started my question in my time, you may answer the question. >> I was asking the chairman. >> Okay. Before I go to corner, she wants to answer the question. Chairman,
[1:15:21]>> oh, please go ahead. I thought you said you didn't want answered. I'm sorry. >> Thank you, Senator White House. I would be happy to sit down with you regarding
[1:15:32]any threat to any federal judge in this country. We take threats very seriously. I will set a meeting with you with
[1:15:42]director Saralta of the US Marshalss and I will be there and we will talk about any threats on federal judges including who threatened them or who orchestrated them. >> Bingo. Thank you.
[1:15:53]>> Okay. before Cornin speaks. Uh I I get kind of amused about my Democratic colleagues bringing up Treasury
[1:16:03]suspicious activity reports regarding uh Epstein. When Senator Johnson and I issued our Biden family reports in 2020,
[1:16:13]we used information from these very same types of documents. And you know what? We were criticized by our Democratic colleagues for doing so. And for years
[1:16:24]they ignored the evidence of the Biden family criminality. I don't think my colleagues can have it both ways. Senator Cornin,
[1:16:34]General Bondi, six out of 10 Americans say they live from paycheck to paycheck. And I'm sure that includes a lot of
[1:16:45]federal employees, border patrol, FBI agents, people who support them,
[1:16:55]frontline prosecutors. Do you find it somewhat inconsistent that our Democratic colleagues claim to support law enforcement and the rule of
[1:17:06]law, but yet they vote to deny those same individuals the pay which they've earned? >> Yes, senators. our law enforcement
[1:17:17]agencies, DEA, ATF, FBI, US Marshalss, and all the other federal agencies, Homeland Security, Treasury, all the
[1:17:27]agencies, all of my federal prosecutors, all of our employees are working tirelessly, national security, around
[1:17:36]the clock, to keep this country safe and to keep this world safe. Yet the Democrats voted to shut the government
[1:17:46]down and they are out there working without a paycheck with families at home risking their lives every single day. Thank you for pointing that out and
[1:17:58]thank you for caring Senator Cornin. >> So let's get back to some basics. The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the land, is it not?
[1:18:08]>> Yes, sir. applies to all Americans, the entire country. Federal law likewise applies to the entire nation, does it not?
[1:18:20]>> Yes, Senator. >> And so when federal law enforcement agents go to cities like Chicago to enforce federal law, they are acting
[1:18:30]within their authority, are they not? >> Yes, Senator Corner. So, on what legal basis would a governor or
[1:18:40]a mayor say, "We're going to deny or prevent a federal law enforcement agent from enforcing federal law." What would
[1:18:51]be the legal basis for them to do that? >> You know, Senator, there there's not one. And and and as I stated, there were 571
[1:19:00]homicides in Chicago last year. And that's why right now, Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch are on their way to Chicago. I've been to
[1:19:10]Memphis. They're in Chicago right now to protect the people of Illinois. And and what Senator Graham, the point he was trying to make earlier was that when you
[1:19:21]don't cooperate with law enforcement, if I was a TDA member, if I was a Sinnoloa cartel narot terrorist, you know where I'd go? Chicago. because they're not enforcing the law and they're running
[1:19:33]their operations. As I stated earlier, two of the biggest terrorists, narot terrorists, we arrested right in Chicago because it was a safe haven for them and
[1:19:43]they're operating these networks around our entire country. So, we are going to keep our entire country safe. We're going to protect all Americans. If if
[1:19:54]these senators aren't going to to vote to open our government to let these people, our people work with for pay with paychecks, they're going to do it anyway. Whether or not the locals are
[1:20:05]cooperating with them, we're going to be there protecting all Americans in this country. Senator Cornin, >> I find it uh the the comparison between
[1:20:15]the nation's Washington DC here in the nation's capital where the where the mayor has welcomed the federal law enforcement agents which as I travel
[1:20:26]around uh the city um are providing a level of deterrence against crime that I have not seen
[1:20:35]before. and Washington DC happens to be one of the more most dangerous metropolitan areas in the country. So watching seeing what the response has
[1:20:46]been by local officials here in Washington DC seeing how the public here who visits here as tourists from Texas and elsewhere how they're welcoming this
[1:20:57]uh law federal law enforcement presence. It strikes me as a stark contrast between what we've seen in places like
[1:21:06]Chicago and I just don't understand how elected officials are sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution of the United States could take the position
[1:21:15]that no, we don't want a safer community in our major cities that have a high level of crime like Chicago. Doesn't it
[1:21:26]strike you as bizarre, >> Senator Cornin? I I don't understand it either because we we've been working hand inand right here in DC with Mayor
[1:21:36]Bowser. She has been an incredible partner at making DC safe again. We've been working with her. We've been working with the police chief. We've
[1:21:46]been working with their staff. And the numbers speak for themselves. 3,156 arrest, 294 illegal guns seized. I think it's the
[1:21:57]numbers probably higher today. Carjacking's down 87%, violent crime down 45%
[1:22:07]right here in the nation's capital. I have been out there countless times before they go out on the streets and I'm watching the DC Metro Police. I'm
[1:22:17]watching them with the transit authority police who of course keep our metro safe. I'm watching them with our DEA,
[1:22:25]FBI, ATF, US Marshalss, Treasury agents, and HHS has even provided doctors out there to help the team. And what they
[1:22:37]are, they're a team. And they are working hand in hand. If you couldn't see their shirts on their insignia, you wouldn't know what agency they were with. I've truly never seen a
[1:22:47]partnership like that in my career and it's working together and that's what Illinois is refusing to do. And I wish these senators, you know, I wish Senator
[1:22:58]Durban would condemn the governor of Illinois and have him work with us with us like we're doing now in Memphis. We have the governor of Memphis. We have
[1:23:08]our two great US senators in Memphis. We have the mayor of Memphis. the same the chief working hand in hand there. >> Last week, maybe the week before last, I
[1:23:20]lose track of the day as we had the head of the uh Metropolitan Police Union for the District of Columbia here. And I asked him about violent crime in our
[1:23:31]communities. And I asked him if whether there was a straight line from the open border policies of the Biden
[1:23:39]administration, which helped facilitate the cartels from exporting their poison to the United States only to then find
[1:23:51]it distributed by criminal gangs who then engage in violence in our communities like Chicago to protect their territory uh and the profits that
[1:24:01]go along. along with that illegal illegal drug uh trafficking. But I want to ask you about another con another aspect of the open border policies and
[1:24:11]that has to do with one of the least reported tragedies and scandals associated with the Biden open border policies and that
[1:24:21]has to do with the 500,000 children sometimes called unaccompanied children UAC's 500,000 children that the Biden
[1:24:33]administration allowed to be placed was sponsored es in this country that were largely unvetted and subjecting them to who knows what
[1:24:42]and then abandoning them by taking the position that it's not the federal government's responsibility. It's local child protective agencies that have to follow up on these kids. So they
[1:24:53]couldn't tell you whether they were being trafficked, recruited into gangs, whether they were going to school, whether they were getting the health care that they need. They couldn't tell
[1:25:04]you because they didn't care. So, I know that President Trump's administration, the Department of Justice in particular,
[1:25:12]has located 22,000 of these 500,000 children. Could you talk to us a little bit about your efforts to rescue these children that had been abandoned by the
[1:25:24]Biden administration? >> Yes, and Senator, thank you for for asking that question. President Trump cares deeply about our children of this country and children from around the
[1:25:34]world. This is horrific what has been happening in our country. Law enforcement has arrested approximately 458
[1:25:45]sponsors. Now what these sponsors are, they lie to ORR, many of them
[1:25:56]to have an unaccompanied alien child. Some of them later exploit and abuse these children. They're not parents.
[1:26:07]They're not guardians. They're coming into this country. They were coming into this country without any ramification across the Mexican border until Donald
[1:26:17]Trump became president again. And that's when it stopped. We are doing everything in our power to find and arrest these
[1:26:26]people who are exploiting these children and find these children throughout our country. One of those cases, we charged a Guatemalan national unlawfully
[1:26:37]residing in Cleveland with lying to government because he became the sponsor of a young girl. And of course, we found he was later sexually abusing her.
[1:26:48]That's one of many cases, Senator Cornin, that I can talk about. And Donald Trump will not rest until all of these sponsors
[1:26:59]are found and these children are found and protected. Thank you, >> Senator Clolobachar. You're recognized. >> Thank you. Um, Attorney General Bondi,
[1:27:09]good morning. I'm going to start on different subject um on behalf of um families in my state. And I wanted to thank the FBI and the local justice
[1:27:20]officials in Minnesota, the US Attorney's Office for the work uh that they did um catching the murder um in the horrific murder of my friend, Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband
[1:27:32]and the shooting of Senator John Hoffman. Um, just last month, my state was again shaken to its core when a mass shooter uh attacked Enunciation Catholic
[1:27:43]Church in Minnesota shooting through the stained glass windows, injuring 21 people, including 18 kids, killing little Fletcher, little Harper and eight
[1:27:54]and a 10year-old, murdering them when they're in mass praying 12y olds protecting eight-year-olds. I know we've spoken about these tragedies and we both
[1:28:05]agree that this kind of violence, whether in Minnesota or at a Mormon church in Michigan or the assassination of Charlie Kirk, has no place uh in our
[1:28:16]politics or in our democracy. Uh in 2018, after the Parkland shooting, you were attorney general and there was a bill called the Marjgery Stoneman
[1:28:27]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
[1:28:37]from 18 to 21. And you actually defended the law in court from a challenge from the NRA. And we know that I'm in favor of an assault weapon ban, period. I look
[1:28:49]at these bills and I think, does this hurt my uncle Dick in the deer stand? We have a proud tradition of hunting in Minnesota. I don't think they do. Um, but as I talked to Director Patel and he
[1:29:01]told me um, in the chair you are sitting in right now that assault weapon bans could prevent future attacks. I talked to him about better background checks,
[1:29:11]about red flag laws, and then that perhaps we could find common ground on what actually happened in Florida, which would be to at least change the minimum
[1:29:20]age for purchasing assault weapon because um we've got 18 to 20 year olds commit gun homicides at over triple the rate of adults 21 years and over. Even
[1:29:31]though that wouldn't help it hap helped in Annunciation Church because he was a few years older. She was a few years older, but as you know, the shooter at Parkland was 19 years old and the
[1:29:43]shooters in Buffalo and Yuvaldi were both 18 years old. So given your efforts in Florida, do you agree that at least raising the age for purchasing assault
[1:29:54]weapons could reduce the number of these shootings? >> Senator, first that that's pending litigation and I can't discuss that at all. The the 21 is pending litigation. I
[1:30:05]cannot discuss that. But if I could go back, >> the 21 age is pending litigation. I I can't discuss that. But Senator, back to to what you said about what happened in
[1:30:15]Minnesota. There is no place for that. And I believe I spoke to you after that horrific horrific those murders. And um I'm so sorry that
[1:30:27]that happened. and all of my federal agencies were partnering with state agencies working hand in hand in Minnesota.
[1:30:38]What I can tell you about the Second Amendment is this is a very this is the most pro- second amendment DOJ in American history as you know, but we
[1:30:48]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
[1:30:58]criminals and gangs. Since January 20th, the ATF and FBI have seized more than you read these statistics. I really was
[1:31:09]guns. I I have 10 minutes. >> 30,000. You have given these statistics and I I truly appreciate those statistics, but what I was just trying to get at was something where maybe we
[1:31:20]could find common ground on a bill that you actually defended in court in a state uh which uh Director Patel seemed open to. And that was looking at could
[1:31:29]we at least raise the age to 21 of the purchase of an assault weapon federally while states look at banning uh these weapons overall given these little babies that this gun is used to kill. So
[1:31:41]we can talk about it later but that was my question and you don't want to answer it. >> No, it's pending litigation. So >> okay, but your views on this is not pending litigation. So I want to get to
[1:31:52]the independence of the justice department. uh at your nomination hearing, I specifically ask you to provide assurance to every member of this committee that the Justice
[1:32:02]Department will will only follow the facts in the law and the White House will play no role in the cases investigated or brought. You stated in respon response, this was you, politics
[1:32:14]will not play a part in my decisions and you also said the Justice Department must be independent and must act independently. Do you believe that you
[1:32:24]have upheld that commitment? >> I absolutely have upheld that commitment, Senator. I pledged that I would end the weaponization also of the Justice Department and that America
[1:32:35]would once again have a onetier system of justice for all. And that is what we are doing in this country. We saw this
[1:32:45]with the president directing an investigation prosecution of Chris Krebs, the former head of cyber security. um Lisa Cook, former who is a
[1:32:55]current governor of the Federal Reserve, Director Comey and the president. And I know you have said that you will not discuss um dis discuss discussions you've had with the president about
[1:33:07]Comey. Is that correct? That you won't testify here about that? because I was going to ask you if you received advice, instruction, or request
[1:33:17]from anyone at the White House to direct the department to engage in any investigations, prosecutorial actions, including decisions not to investigate or prosecute anyone.
[1:33:28]>> I'm not going to discuss any conversations. that. Then how about the truth social post on September 20th, 2025 in which the president said, "We can't delay any longer, Pam, using your
[1:33:40]name, not bringing criminal charges, are killing our reputation," his words and credibility, and then goes on to tell you to prosecute a member of this
[1:33:52]committee, to prosecute the attorney general of New York, and to prosecute James Comey. Do you consider that a directive to the Justice Department?
[1:34:02]>> Senator Clolobashar, President Trump is the most transparent president in American history. And I don't think he said anything that he hasn't said for years. >> Okay. It has been reported that you
[1:34:13]initially pushed back against report against requests by senior Trump administration officials um to push out
[1:34:22]or fire the acting US attorney in Virginia, Eric Sabbert, who's a conservative Republican um who made the decision that Comey that the evidence
[1:34:33]was not there to prosecute Comey. What made you change your opinion? >> I am not going to discuss personnel decisions. >> Okay. Is it true that the career prosecutors in the Eastern District of
[1:34:44]Virginia found that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against former Director Comey? I am not going to discuss pending cases because
[1:34:54]Comey was indicted in the Eastern District of Virginia by, I may point out, one of the most liberal grand juries in the country. >> Okay, let's go on to other firings or
[1:35:06]terminations. Last week, the Justice Department fired at least two senior attorneys in the Eastern District of Virginia, including the office's national security chief, Michael Beneri.
[1:35:17]It is reported that his firing came following criticism from a right-wing social media commentator who wrote, "One can only assume he was part of the internal resistance in the Comey
[1:35:27]indictment. In fact, he did not work on the Comey case. Instead, he was working on pursuing justice for service members killed in Afghanistan.
[1:35:38]How does firing a 20year national security prosecutor enhance public safety? Senator Clashar, I'm not going to discuss personnel decisions, but the
[1:35:49]personnel issue that I'm having right now is that all of my agents, all of my lawyers are working. My agents are on the street working without a paycheck because your party voted to shut down
[1:36:01]the federal government. >> Unfortunately, the House isn't even back here. They're 18 days off the job to even meet with us to come up with a resolution that we would like to discuss
[1:36:12]with them about saving people's healthcare. Let's move on to the antirust division. Did you authorize your chief of staff to overrule top officials in the antirust division to
[1:36:23]settle the challenge to the Huelet Packard Enterprises Juniper Networks merger? Senator Gail Slater runs my antitrust
[1:36:33]unit and she is doing an excellent job on many, many cases. As you know, that is a pending case. >> Okay. In any merger, just to clarify, in
[1:36:44]any merger, Senator, there is a a deal struck with our office and with the corporations involved. But then that
[1:36:54]also goes to a court to certify in any merger. In any merger, it's a multi-step process. Okay. I will ask some further still pending
[1:37:04]>> questions about antitrust. I just had one other thing. DOJ uh can now take the extraordinary step of subpoening journalists. Has the Justice Department issued any subpoenas to journalists
[1:37:16]under the updated guidance? >> Time is expired. >> Okay, I'll ask those on the record. >> Respond, Miss Bondi. >> You can respond. She said,
[1:37:25]>> "Oh, >> Senator, my office
[1:37:38]in April restored the Justice Department's long-standing norm on this issue. It was AG. Garland who had
[1:37:46]deviated on the media investigations policy, allowing self-identified journalist using the self-serving status as a
[1:37:58]shield against being held accountable for endangering our nation's security. We have taken that policy back to the
[1:38:08]norm. and I can't comment on whether we have or have not or do or do not have pending investigations. >> Time is expired. Senator Lee, you're recognized. >> Attorney General Bondie, thank you for
[1:38:19]being here today and thanks for your service as Attorney General of the United States. I want to start by thanking you for acknowledging a moment ago the importance of protecting the rights of the law-abiding. uh in a
[1:38:31]country where there are hundreds of millions of guns, one of the most alarming uh not to mention unconstitutional things the government could do is to disarm the law-abiding. It would be unfair. It would be fatal to
[1:38:43]many. It would be contrary to our constitutional system. And I appreciate you standing up for that. I'm also grateful uh uh for you standing up for Gail Slater, the assistant attorney
[1:38:52]general over the antitrust division. I I have full confidence in her and I can tell you do as well. More broadly, uh, Attorney General Bondi, through your leadership, you've
[1:39:04]returned the Department of Justice to its core mission. And its core mission, of course, involves protecting the American people, upholding the law, upholding the Constitution, and making
[1:39:14]sure that justice in our system is applied even-handedly, fairly, consistently, as the law requires, uh, without fear, favor, or political bias
[1:39:24]making those decisions with you. um as attorney general at the helm of this great department. Uh the department of justice has strengthened its efforts to secure our borders
[1:39:36]against what has been an unprecedented influx of illegal immigration. It's disrupted sophisticated networks of
[1:39:45]criminals, including people who profit uh immensely and have profited over the last uh five years roughly
[1:39:54]um from a massive human trafficking and drug smuggling operation. Um and it also just demonstrated an unwavering
[1:40:05]commitment to the safety of American citizens. Your work has sent a clear message to criminal organizations and to criminal criminally minded people everywhere, foreign and domestic. The
[1:40:16]rule of law in the United States will be enforced and those who pray on the vulnerable will face especially swift and unpleasant consequences. I'd also
[1:40:27]like to commend you and FBI Director Cash Patel, Deputy Director Dan Bonino for your collaboration with state and local law enforcement in my home state
[1:40:38]of Utah in assisting with the prompt apprehension of the shooter in the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk just a few weeks ago at Utah Valley
[1:40:47]University. Your leadership has helped reaffirm uh that the Department of Justice exists to preserve the rule of
[1:40:55]law, to protect the peace, the safety of the American people, and ensure that our constitutional republic endures uh for
[1:41:05]many generations to come. Now, due to the open border policies that we had in the previous administration, a number of individuals, a number that
[1:41:16]is unknown and unknowable, but that is estimated to be in the many mill millions. Some would estimate at the low end be in the 10 million range. Others say more more like 15, others say it's
[1:41:28]more than that. But this unknown and unknowable group number of individuals um uh came across our border illegally and an unknown number uh or percentage
[1:41:39]of of of those people are individuals who posed significant security risks including some who were suspected terrorists. They were all allowed to enter the United States without proper
[1:41:50]vetting in many cases without any vetting at all. What progress have you made uh so far, Attorney General Bondi, in um in solving some of those issues
[1:42:00]related to the illegal uh immigration of an estimated 10, 15 million, maybe more over the last four years.
[1:42:09]>> Senator Lee, we are working handinand with Christine Gnome, of course, the director of Homeland Security. She has been doing an incredible job. All of our
[1:42:19]agencies are working in partnership with them at the direction of President Trump. He ran on the promise of making America safe and closing our borders.
[1:42:30]And that's what he did on day one. He has also declared many of these transnational gangs as terrorist organizations, which is exactly what
[1:42:41]they are. They have been coming into our country from Mexico, from Venezuela, from other countries. They have been setting up shop right in our country.
[1:42:51]They are narco terrorist and it is going to stop and it is stopping under his watch. Our task forces are working hand in hand with homeland security. Director
[1:43:03]Patel, Deputy Director Bonino have been going nonstop to make America safe again. That's not just a slogan. That's protecting everyone in this room. That's what we're
[1:43:14]doing as a country. We don't care if you live in Chicago. We don't care if you live in Florida. We don't care if you live in Utah. President Trump wants everyone to be safe, including right
[1:43:25]here in Washington DC. And that's what he's been doing. Not only that, Senator Lee, the surge, I'm sorry about my voice. The surge of drugs in this
[1:43:36]country has been horrific over the last four years. DEA has they have seized
[1:43:45]4500 kilos of fentinol powder and 50 million fentanyl pills which I said earlier represents 370
[1:43:56]million deadly doses of fentanyl. The these transnational gangs it's all about drugs and money and they are destroying our country. They are destroying our
[1:44:06]children and a lot of this fentanyl as we know is made the precursors in China. They're coming in our country through Mexico and now other places and under
[1:44:16]Donald Trump. It's going to stop because he has secured our borders. Senator Lee, >> and we're very grateful for that effort. It's interesting to note, moreover, that
[1:44:27]um under the leadership of your predecessor, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and others who routinely appeared before this committee, when asked about the uh uh human smuggling
[1:44:38]operation going on across our southern border, routinely denied that fentinel was coming in u in significant quantities uh through the human
[1:44:48]trafficking operation. uh they they they stated never with any evidence, never with any uh uh ability to back it up to prove this was the case that these things were coming across the
[1:44:59]ports uh points of entry uh through vehicles uh through trucks and otherwise. Um uh we know that not to be true and uh we appreciate uh your work in exposing that. Now, in recent months
[1:45:10]going along with this law enforcement effort, there's been a disturbing trend. Uh it's a disturbing trend that seems to be on the increase in recent days and weeks. uh that is a a rise of violence
[1:45:21]uh directed at federal law enforcement officers engaged in immigration related arrests u including direct physical threats, organized riots outside of
[1:45:31]detention facilities and most tragically uh of late a fatal shooting targeting an ICE facility in Dallas. Then just yesterday, it was reported uh that uh a
[1:45:42]cartel member in Chicago put a bounty, that's right, a bounty out there offering $2,000 on information about any
[1:45:51]ICE officer and $10,000 for those who kill an ICE officer. Now, keep in mind, this information is not for kicks and giggles. It is not for a game of trivial
[1:46:03]pursuit. That information for which the cartel member would pay $2,000 is there so that others can kill an ICE officer
[1:46:12]and get $10,000. That's what that is. Can you discuss what protections are essential to ensuring the safety of IS officers and their families and why uh
[1:46:23]requirements to display personal information and prohibiting them from ever wearing any kind of covering would represent a totally unacceptable indefensible risk to their public
[1:46:35]safety. >> Senator Lee, our our federal agents have been doxed and many of you know what that means. It has happened to you on
[1:46:45]both sides of the aisle. Our federal agents lives have been threatened. We fought while we spoke with Apple and Google to get the ICE block app taken
[1:46:56]down. That was reckless and criminal in that people
[1:47:04]were posting where ICE officers lived. We worked with both Apple and Google to take that down. It's it's stunning. I would add here that it took it took as
[1:47:15]much work as it did by you to get them to take that down. Remember in the days following January 6th, they took down all kinds of things, including a social media app called Parlor uh uh based on
[1:47:26]very thin evidence that was late later largely rebotted suggesting that people had been manipulating Parlor in order to plan the January 6th attack. That wasn't true and they took it down. It's I'm
[1:47:37]glad they have taken this block ICE app down, but it's it's a shame that it took as long as as it did and as much work on your part to get them to take it down. >> I will tell you they were cooperative and to correct myself, it was where they
[1:47:48]were going, the the jobs they were doing. And that's what's been happening because hundreds of organized rioters, Senator Lee, are showing up where our ICE officers are. And as you know, they
[1:47:59]have fireworks, they have gas masks. You know, they don't want our officers to be protected from with their identity. Yet, they're wearing gas masks. They're wearing goggles. And they're
[1:48:11]>> so it's okay for them to be safe. It's okay for Antifa to be safe. It's okay for those doing the bidding of international violent drug cartels to be safe, but heaven forbid our ICE officers should be safe.
[1:48:22]>> Thank you, Senator Lee. Time is expired. Senator Coons, you're recognized. Thank you, Senator Blackburn. Um, and
[1:48:34]thank you to the committee for holding this oversight hearing. And Attorney General Bondi, thank you for your service and for being with us. I want to start with an area where I think we have a lot to agree on. In May, your Bureau
[1:48:45]of Prisons issued a directive to expand the availability of home confinement. The directive said it was rooted in the principle of smart, fair criminal justice reform and explained that smart
[1:48:55]reform and public safety can go hand in hand and that second chances are not just possible, they're necessary for a justice system worthy of the American people. There's more to do to implement this directive, but I appreciated the
[1:49:07]BOP's recognition of these principles. Could you briefly speak further about the work BOP Director Marshall and Deputy Director Smith, himself, a former inmate are doing with regard to reform
[1:49:19]and what opportunities you see for us to do more. >> Thank you, Senator Coons. And you have been a champion of that and we believe
[1:49:30]in second chances. As a career prosecutor, I know that most people, even violent criminals, are going to be locked up and then they're going to be released. And that's why we need
[1:49:41]everyone to be a productive member of society. I believe in halfway houses and that's part of what the second the first step act did. It gives people a second
[1:49:51]chance at life and that's what Billy Marshall and Josh Smith have been doing working hand inand at the Bureau of Prisons. I talk to them constantly and
[1:50:02]they are working so hard. In fact, they inherited a dysfunctional and neglected agency and they are taking despite more than $450
[1:50:14]million being appropriated between n 2019 and 2024. We found that funds had been diverted
[1:50:22]away from the department of the prisons, the bureau of prisons. And so they are doing everything to create more halfway houses
[1:50:33]and to give inmates everything they need to be successful upon release, but also by keeping America safe. And I just
[1:50:45]learned from Billy Marshall, we just made a an incredible case that someone, I believe the case was in Texas, one of our federal prisons, no one was monitoring this. And there
[1:50:56]was someone who was caught with a drone dropping off recently. Cell phones. >> Yep. >> Paraphernalia. >> Let me follow up on that point if I might. >> Many, many things that could cause
[1:51:08]violence within our prisons and allow criminal cartel networks to function within our federal prisons. And that's what a lot of this money is going for to
[1:51:19]make our prisons safe within and so these criminals cannot function while they are in prison. But what one good thing I can also add is we have given inmates I think we've over doubled the
[1:51:31]amount of minutes they can have on their phones so they can talk to their family members because we believe that is important. One of the challenges federal probation officers face is massive case
[1:51:42]loads. And um I am about to introduce hopefully reintroduce soon um a bill with Senator Lee that would improve our federal supervised release system by
[1:51:53]focusing resources on those who really need to be supervised uh and providing incentives to reduce uh oversight of those who've really made progress and who've changed the direction of their
[1:52:03]lives. that is broadly supported by law enforcement and a variety of policy groups. And I'd love to work with you on that, Madam Attorney General. >> Yeah. And Senator, can I just add because I I just got the the the
[1:52:13]numbers. So, what we have is $ 8.7 billion for the Bureau of Prisons. And what that does is it adds 587 correctional officers to help with the
[1:52:25]things that we just discussed. 95 million for new hires. We have to recruit and we have to retain. We know that's a really tough job to be a
[1:52:35]corrections officer and that's why Josh Smith is such a valuable part of that team with Billy Marshall and I would I would welcome working with you on that and President Trump is the one who
[1:52:46]signed the First Step Act because he believes in second chances. We all do. Thank you Senator Coons for that question. One of the things um I have been
[1:52:56]concerned even upset about is how early in this administration at the behest of Doge uh the department cut hundreds of grants totaling hundreds of millions of dollars uh many of which serve critical
[1:53:07]public safety needs supporting victims assisting with re-entry violence prevention including in my own home state this was literally defunding the police and I have some concerns about
[1:53:19]how DOJ is putting at risk public safety by assigning thousands of agents and prosecutors away from drugs, firearms, corruption, violent crime to help ICE
[1:53:30]arrest people without criminal records. You've indicated a willingness to review any grant that a member of Congress has concerns about and noted a number of them have been restored on appeal, and I
[1:53:41]appreciate that willingness to admit some misjudgments or mistakes in some of the many grants that were cancelled. But can you assure us this process is going to be fixed going forward? So better
[1:53:53]decisions are made at the start and not just after appeals. And can you assure us that we are not leaving doors wide open uh for crime and criminality in our
[1:54:02]communities and overfocusing on arrest and deportation of those without criminal records? >> Yes, Senator, thank you for that question. And as I said earlier, we are
[1:54:12]reviewing all the grants and I believe we have I say turned some back on for senators who have called. It doesn't matter what state you're from. um if it's a law enforcement grant, if it's
[1:54:23]protecting victims, let us know and we will work with you. And I'm not sure if we have done any in your state yet, but I would be happy to work with you on that. What I can tell you is 200 there
[1:54:35]have been out of the 5800 discretionary grants that were reviewed, only 376 around the country, 7% were terminated.
[1:54:44]225 of the grant recipients have appealed that termination. And so far we've turned back on 18 of those. 17 appeals have been denied and the rest
[1:54:55]are being actively reviewed. If any if any of you know of any of those that you believe should call me. Should be turned back on. Call me. We don't want to
[1:55:04]jeopardize this hurting, please do. And and and Senator to to go to what you said about the FBI and my federal agencies and being pulled to work on
[1:55:13]immigration cases. They're working hand in hand because we believe that, you know, we have ICE officers out there, as we just discussed. I don't want to repeat that, who who are being harmed.
[1:55:25]We're going to work with them. And I have directed all of my law enforcement agencies to work with ICE to make sure they're safe in Chicago, to make sure they're safe in Memphis, to make sure they're safe right here in Washington
[1:55:36]DC, but also at President Trump's direction. We are not stopping the core function of what we're doing, and that is fighting violent crime. And I think director Patel made that very clear with
[1:55:48]all of the arrests that our FBI have been making on violent criminals. And you know, there's so much that we can't talk about here, but if any of you are on the intel committee, you know, we are
[1:55:58]fighting terrorists around this country every single day. Our lawyers are shut down right now. They're not getting paid. But crime is not stopping. They
[1:56:08]are working around the clock to not only keep our country safe, Senator, but to keep our world safe. And >> Madam Attorney General, I think I think all of us uh hate that there's a
[1:56:19]shutdown and its impact on the federal workforce and are working to find a way out of this shutdown, but one that will also restore cuts to health care. We could spend a lot of time on that, but
[1:56:30]let's focus on, if I could, two more questions related to your service as the attorney general. The government's asserting the authority to sumearily kill people. It says our cartel members through military strikes against boats
[1:56:42]on the open ocean in the Caribbean. Congress has never authorized such a use of military force. And it's unclear to me how the administration has concluded that these strikes are legal. I'm concerned with what the limiting
[1:56:54]principle is, whether the government could sumearily kill people. that just declares our cartel members as well as unlawful combatants inside the United States or if they were American
[1:57:04]citizens. This isn't about defending cartels and these aren't hypothetical questions. President Trump assembled military leaders and said they would be needed to fight the enemy from within
[1:57:15]and to train in cities in the United States that he describes as chaotic and violent. Due process is the cornerstone of our Constitution. I'm deeply concerned about the authority our
[1:57:26]president seems to be asserting to sumearily kill people suspected of criminal activity outside the law. As the chief lawyer for our federal government, you have a unique responsibility to ensure maintenance of
[1:57:38]our constitutional standards. How did you conclude that these strikes on ships or boats in the open ocean are legal? Senator Coons, I'm not going to discuss
[1:57:51]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, what I can
[1:58:01]tell you is Maduro is a narco terrorist and we announced a historic, I announced $50 million reward for his capture to
[1:58:13]bring him to this country to face charges. He is currently under indictment in our country. Drugs coming from Venezuela are killing our children
[1:58:24]at record levels. >> And members of this committee are as passionate as you at protecting our families and our communities from fentanyl. But we also need to protect
[1:58:35]our sailors on the high seas who are conducting freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea from just an abject violation of international norms and standards about
[1:58:46]how we interdict ships on the high seas. We can push back on fentanyl and drug trafficking. Many of my colleagues have done so as former US attorneys or prosecutors or attorneys general, but we
[1:58:57]have to do it in a way that is in keeping with the core values of our constitution. My colleagues have pressed you on a number of recent actions particularly in the Eastern District of Virginia. Uh my colleague Senator
[1:59:09]Clolobashar did. Uh and I just wanted to add my voice to those who have expressed real alarm at how in your confirmation hearing you said you would be leading a department that would look forward. Yet,
[1:59:21]public statements by President Trump urging you to go after and to indict and to prosecute specific named people seem to have led to dramatic and sudden
[1:59:31]action by the department. Um, I am gravely concerned about what is no longer a hypothetical question, which you refused to answer in your confirmation hearing, but is a real
[1:59:41]question about when or if the president demands you prosecute individuals because he views them as opponents or enemies. what you will do and what your
[1:59:51]limiting standard is because the recent episode around the indictment of James Comey left me very concerned about the direction of the department.
[2:00:00]>> We are a minute and a half over. Senator Chairman, may I answer? >> Yes. >> Senator Coons, as you have stated in the
[2:00:10]past, no one is above the law. >> And James Comey is a pending case right now. It's a pending indictment. He was indicted by one of the most liberal grand juries
[2:00:21]in the country by our US attorney Lindseay Halligan >> right >> right here in in Virginia. And it's a pending case. So I'm not going to discuss the facts of a pending case.
[2:00:31]>> But you can understand the alarm about the the the circumstances of the indictment immediately following President Trump demanding that you take action to indict prosecute that specific
[2:00:42]individual. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before Holly and without objection introduce two documents into the record.
[2:00:52]First one is the expanded scope of Arctic Frost. The second document is a list of Republican groups and people that Arctic Frost targeted including
[2:01:03]Charlie Kirk's group Turning Point USA. These documents show the political weaponization of the Biden administration against Republicans. Senator Holly.
[2:01:14]>> Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Attorney General Bondi, good to see you. Welcome. I've been listening closely in this hearing and I've heard over and over from my Democrat colleagues concerns about targeting political
[2:01:24]enemies and they've accused you of all manner of things and the current president. I've also heard them said, and I just wrote it down because I wanted to be sure I heard it correctly. I've heard them say that Joe Biden never
[2:01:34]targeted his political enemies. Joe Biden never directed his attorney general to target his political opponents. Huh. That's interesting because I could have sworn that
[2:01:46]yesterday we learned that the FBI tapped my phone. Let's look at it. We've got a list. Tapped my phone. Tapped Lindsey Graham's
[2:01:56]phone. Tapped Marshia Blackburn's phone. Tapped five other phones of United States senators. Gee, it sure looks like targeting political opponents to me. And yet, I
[2:02:07]haven't heard a word from that side of the DAS about any concern. whatsoever. We've got nothing but concerns today, but no concern at all for a Justice
[2:02:18]Department that is tapping the phones of sitting United States senators because who knows why they don't like them? They're members of the opposition party. They're Republicans. They're
[2:02:29]conservatives. You've seen this document, Attorney General Bonnie. What was going on here? Who ordered this? Who ordered the tapping of the phones of United States senators? Senator Holly, I cannot discuss the
[2:02:44]details of that right now for very good reason. >> You're going to do a thorough investigation into this, I trust. Is that correct? >> We will be looking at all aspects of this and I have talked to Director Patel at length about it.
[2:02:55]>> And you're going to figure out who was involved in this, who signed off on it, who knew about it. You're going to get to the bottom of all of it. Is it correct? >> Yes. And I've spoken to Director Patel about it, and he is committed to doing
[2:03:07]this. Well, I can tell you we already know many of the details. We already know that this was ordered by the special prosecutor, Jack Smith, who reported directly to the attorney general of the United States, Merrick
[2:03:17]Garland. And we know that Jack Smith was on his witch hunt because he was directed to do so by the president of the United States, Joe Biden. Let's just
[2:03:27]remember. Let's take a walk down memory lane. April 2nd, 2022. The New York Times. Garland faces growing pressure. The Times says as recently as late last
[2:03:38]year, that would have been 2021, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle, he believed former President Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted. It goes on to say that Garland that that the Biden rather was
[2:03:49]frustrated with Garland and wanted him to take decisive action against Trump. Here's what we're talking about. Trump, of course, was a private citizen at the
[2:03:59]time. So he appoints his own hitman, Jack Smith, who goes after the president, former president, who goes after members of this body. You
[2:04:10]know, the thing about it, though, that really strikes me is is that it didn't stop with members of the United States Senate, >> did it? Attorney General Bonnie, it didn't it didn't stop here at all. I mean, just as egregious, maybe more so
[2:04:21]than tapping the phones of US senators is this memo that I know you've seen before. Let's just look at it again. This is an FBI memo from the same time period. I might add, from the same time
[2:04:32]period in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation attempts to recruit informants into Catholic parishes in this country. So here you have an administration that is activating the
[2:04:42]FBI against its political opponents and tapping the phones of United States senators. Can I just say that again for my colleagues for the benefit of my colleagues on the other side of the DAS?
[2:04:52]Tapping the phones of United States senators. This isn't hypothetical. This isn't maybe what will you do in the future. This isn't oh gee, can you
[2:05:02]imagine a situation? This happened. This happened and this happened. The targeting of Catholics in this country because Joe Biden and his FBI didn't
[2:05:13]like Catholics who went to a certain kind of mass. I mean, good God in heaven, what is happening to this country? What happened under Joe Biden? Or then how about this? the infamous
[2:05:24]school board memo where Merrick Garland at the direction of the White House issued a memo activating the FBI's counterterrorism division against parents who attended schoolboard
[2:05:36]meetings and had the tmerity to ask what their kids were being taught. And some of those parents were treated like this. Let's just remember. Let's remember how parents were treated. Treated like this man.
[2:05:47]>> That's right. a parent at a schoolboard meeting, I think in Virginia, who was drugged out of the schoolboard meeting. He's bloodied there. You can see it. And
[2:05:57]what was the response of Joe Biden's DOJ and FBI? It was to issue a memorandum saying that people like this ought to be investigated by the counterterrorism
[2:06:07]unit. And unbelievably, they were. They were. Or how about this? Let's remember Mark Hal and the prolifers who were
[2:06:16]prosecuted for what? For going to a clinic, an abortion clinic, and praying on a sidewalk outside an abortion clinic. This is Mark Hul and his beautiful family at mass. This man, at
[2:06:28]the direction of Joe Biden's FBI, this man had an FBI SWAT team come to his door in the early morning hours with his beautiful children there,
[2:06:39]terrorizing them with weapons drawn. He was then arrested and prosecuted. Unfortunately, a jury acquitted him.
[2:06:49]This is what was happening under Joe Biden. United States senators spied upon. Former presidents, the political opponents of the president at the time,
[2:06:59]targeted, prosecuted. Proifers targeted, prosecuted. Catholics targeted, prosecuted. 92 conservative organizations put under surveillance
[2:07:10]targeted for potential prosecution. Gee, I don't know. Would you call that an example of weaponization? Attorney General Bonnie, do you think that's a fair characterization? >> Senator Holly, that is the ultimate
[2:07:25]weaponization. And weaponization under Donald Trump has ended. It has ended. Har Dylan is running our civil rights unit and she is doing an incredible job.
[2:07:36]No longer will parents be targeted. No longer will parents who care about whether their elementary school children
[2:07:46]have to read a transgender book be targeted and told they cannot they cannot have any say in their child's education. That has ended under this
[2:07:56]administration. People can worship freely whether they're Catholics at synagogues or Muslims. everyone can worship freely. That was the ultimate
[2:08:07]weaponization. They were targeting Catholics. No longer. They have been targeting so many American citizens throughout this country. And and Senator Holly, you have been a champion of this
[2:08:17]and thank you for being a champion of that. But under Donald Trump's watch, it has ended. You know, I I think about some of the abuses of power in this country's history, and there's been
[2:08:27]sadly a lot of them by by members of the executive branch over the years, whether it's Watergate, whether it's what Jay Edgar Hoover did in his time at the FBI, uh spying on many public figures, RFK,
[2:08:37]MLK, JFK, you name it. And I just have to say what we now know happened in the last four years under this administration surpasses all of that. It surpasses all of it. Not just for the
[2:08:48]interference in the legislative branch, not just for the blatant disregard for the separation of powers, not just for the blatant disregard for the First Amendment, but for the targeting of ordinary American citizens who can't
[2:08:59]afford lawyers, who can't afford to mount a defense, who when the FBI knocks at their door or comes with the SWAT team, they don't know what to do. It is absolutely a disgrace. It is a stain on
[2:09:10]the history of this country and on the conscience of this country, what this administration did in the last four years. So here's what I think needs to happen. Madam Attorney General, I think we need a special prosecutor to be
[2:09:22]appointed whose sole responsibility will be to get to the bottom of what has happened in every instance that I have just named. I think we need to know exactly who approved the wire taps on
[2:09:32]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, the
[2:09:43]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 Hal, who terrorized
[2:09:54]prolifers and tried to intimidate them. I think we need to know that, Mr. Chairman, this committee needs to do oversight hearings. We need to have thorough hearings into what has happened
[2:10:05]these last four years and this abuse that has now just been uncovered because we have to ensure that it stops. As you just said, Attorney General Bondi, it we have to ensure that it stops. This
[2:10:17]chapter in American history needs to come to a close, never to be opened again. The use of the most powerful law enforcement bodies in the world against ordinary citizens and political
[2:10:28]opponents must end once and for all. And we have a chance to do it. And it needs to be done with a thorough investigation, full transparency. And those who violated laws need to be
[2:10:40]prosecuted. I thank you for what you're doing, Attorney General Bondi. I hope that you will launch a a thorough investigation. I hope you'll appoint a special prosecutor. Mr. Chairman, I hope we'll hold hearings. And with that, I yield.
[2:10:51]>> Yeah. Before I call on Blumenthal, I want to without objection introduce into the record a document that General Bondi helped to declassify. The document is
[2:11:02]array FBI analysis of Nelly Or's false statements to Congress or never suffered consequences for advancing this phony
[2:11:14]Trump n Russian narrative in attempting to cover up her involvement in hoax with false statements. Yet time and again the American justice system has been
[2:11:25]weaponized against President Trump and his associate. And I've already talked about Peter Navaro in regard to that. The DOJ's inaction on Nelly Or's
[2:11:36]criminal referral, despite the obvious incriminating evidence provided in the FBI's own analysis, undermines public trust of the rule of law thanks to
[2:11:47]Director Ray's utter failure. Senator Blumenthal. >> Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Uh just so the American people understand uh this issue of weaponization
[2:11:59]of justice goes to the core of the integrity of our criminal justice system. And I think we can all agree that
[2:12:09]no individual, no group should be targeted simply because they are a political opponent or because the president of the United States
[2:12:20]has some personal animosity toward them. You've just said that President Trump is the most transparent president in history.
[2:12:31]Tragically and chillingly. You may be right when it comes to criminal justice because far from ending
[2:12:40]weaponization of justice, I would submit, Madame Attorney General, that President Trump has embodied it and
[2:12:51]we have a record, it is a public record of his express instructions that certain individuals be investigated.
[2:13:02]the attorney general of New York, Tis James, my colleague Adam Schiff, the former SISA director, Chris Krebs, the DHS former chief of
[2:13:12]staff, Miles Taylor. There's a list and he has been transparent. In fact, 5 days before the indictment of James Comey,
[2:13:24]he put this post up as instructions to you. He didn't mince words. He was very open and public that you
[2:13:35]should indict James Comey and others because they are guilty as hell.
[2:13:43]No more delay now. 5 days before you indicted or grand jury at your instructions
[2:13:53]indicted James Comey. I'd like to know from you what conversations you've had with President Trump about the indictment of James
[2:14:04]Comey. >> Senator Senator, I am not going to discuss any conversations I have or have
[2:14:15]not had with the president of the United States. You're you're an attorney. You have a law degree and you know that I'm not going to do that. I also find it
[2:14:24]fascinating, you know, because I'll keep fighting to ensure that law enforcement and the judicial process move forward without political interference. No one
[2:14:36]is above the law, not even the president. That's a quote from you, Senator Blumenthal, in 2017. >> Let let me ask you then, when you saw that post,
[2:14:46]>> no one is above the law. That was your quote. When you saw that post, did you talk to anybody in the White House? >> I am not going to discuss any
[2:14:57]conversations I have nor any investigations. >> You are unwilling to tell this committee about conversations with the White House.
[2:15:07]>> And if James Comey's indictment, >> And if I may, let me show you a picture. James Comey was indicted by one of the most liberal grand juries
[2:15:17]in the United States. >> The night before James Comey's indictment, you had dinner with President of the United States. Pretty intimate group. >> Actually, there were a lot of people
[2:15:29]there that night. That's a great picture. >> James Comey discussed at that dinner. >> I love that picture. That's a great picture. And there were a lot of people there that night. I think the entire cabinet was there.
[2:15:40]Did you discuss James Comey with the president of the United States? He was sitting >> just to your left. >> Well, two seats down. Yes. Two seats
[2:15:49]down. And I am not going to discuss any or not have with >> the American public is entitled to know. Madam Attorney General,
[2:15:59]>> the entire took instructions from President Trump after he told you very directly to indict James Comey, which is
[2:16:09]weaponization of the Department of Justice. >> I I want to agree with my colleague Senator Holly that weaponization
[2:16:21]of our justice system must end. That's the reason that I proposed legislation and I challenge him and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join me in legislation that would create a
[2:16:33]statutory right of action for people who are selectively or maliciously prosecuted for political reasons. It would codify your manual,
[2:16:44]the Department of Justice manual on political prohibitions against political considerations in charging decisions and prohibit the White House from
[2:16:56]intervening, President Trump and any other president from intervening in political in charging decisions. It would make
[2:17:06]reforms to the grand jury process. You've just said this grand jury was liberal. We should reform the grand jury process to ensure that the government is not abusing its power and authority. And
[2:17:18]it will require transparency and accountability reforms at DOJ so that you will and other attorneys general be held accountable for these kinds of
[2:17:28]decisions. Will you join me in supporting that kind of reform? Senator Blumenthal, I find it so interesting that you didn't bring any of this up during President Biden's administration when he was doing everything to protect
[2:17:40]Hunter Biden, his son. And I think you just saw what Director Radcliffe just released. >> You know, this is an information. If I can finish answering the question, I'm not going to yell over you. I'm not
[2:17:51]going to get in the gutter with you, but information information that the Biden administration told them not to investigate Hunter Biden's involvement
[2:18:01]with Ukraine. >> And I'm not going to be lecturing that you will review the lied about being in the military just to be elected
[2:18:11]as senator. The merger between Hulip Packet Enterprises and Juniper Network was settled.
[2:18:23]You authorized the settlement. It was the subject of a lawsuit to block it. The settlement produced virtually no
[2:18:33]concessions from Ulan Packard. It was a settlement that prompted criticism from the antitrust division.
[2:18:44]Did you authorize that settlement yourself? As I stated earlier, Gail Slater is
[2:18:54]doing an incredible job running the antitrust unit. And as I stated earlier, that is still a pending matter. As you should know with a lawyer, did you not
[2:19:05]all mergers? If I can finish answering the question, >> I'm going to finish answering the question because my time is limited. >> Well, then don't ask me a question. >> So, let me just ask you.
[2:19:17]>> As I said, you have a law degree. You know that not only are mergers agreed upon, but they have to go to a court of law to be approved. It's a multi-step
[2:19:27]process. And as I said earlier, that is still pending. And I have full faith in Gail Slater. >> And Miss Slater reportedly objected to the settlement >> reportedly.
[2:19:38]>> And moreover, >> moreover, >> two of her top officials were fired, Roger Alfred and Bill Sher, did you
[2:19:48]authorize and direct those firings after they objected to the settlement? >> I am not going to discuss personnel matters or pending litigation in my
[2:19:57]office. Let me ask you about another merger. The uh merger involving
[2:20:09]uh two home health care agencies on favorable terms likely to drive up costs for millions of Americans. The transportation department's rule to
[2:20:20]provide compensation to travelers impacted by airline cause flight delays which was cancelled. the merger of Sky Dance, >> okay,
[2:20:32]>> and Paramount after Paramount's ownership took a number of steps favorable to the president. These kinds
[2:20:42]of mergers belly the claims that President Trump himself has made that
[2:20:51]this administration will stop big corporate mergers that ultimately benefit
[2:20:59]the owners of those corporations rather than consumers or ordinary everyday Americans. >> Senator, let me ask you, you just listed
[2:21:11]You just gave a list of of many mergers. >> I have a question. >> Can you talk to me about the the issue with these mergers? >> I I do have a question.
[2:21:20]>> In the merger that took place, >> which merger you've listed many >> involving American Express GBT. I understand that Brian Ballard,
[2:21:36]>> longtime backer and head of the law firm where you worked, was instrumental in lobbying the Justice Department to
[2:21:47]drop that lawsuit. It was dismissed. So, it's not subject to a court review. What conversation did you have with Mr. Ballard?
[2:21:57]Senator Blumenthal, I I cannot believe that you would accuse me of impropriy when you lied about your military
[2:22:08]service. You lied. You aditted you elected a US senator. You lied about how dare you. I am a career prosecutor.
[2:22:17]Don't ever challenge my integrity. I have abided by every ethics standard. do not question my ability to be fair and
[2:22:27]impartial as attorney general and anything that former firm Ballard partners. >> Thank you. >> Uh Senator uh Lee has asked for the
[2:22:37]chair just wanted to note for the record the Paramount merger that he referenced was not within the Department of Justice's and but that was uh at the FCC not the Department of Justice. Attorney
[2:22:48]General Bondi would have had nothing to do with that. Thanks. >> And that was why I asked Senator Lee. He didn't know that he was reading off a script. >> Before I call on Senator Kennedy, it's
[2:22:58]kind of laughable about my Democrats friends uh expressing fear and concern at the Justice Department's recent attempts at holding parties responsible
[2:23:09]for their actions. Uh I can only ask where have they been in the last few years? They had no problem watching the Biden administration and his White House
[2:23:18]use all of its might and power to attack Trump and associates. And now even Republican senators have been uh selected to have their uh telephone
[2:23:28]records made public uh or not public but well I guess they're public now but Biden weaponized our institutions and
[2:23:38]didn't hear a peep from the other side. Now, every investigation and prosecution under this administration, uh, people are going to be held accountable for their actions. Senator
[2:23:49]Kennedy or >> I want extra time, Mr. Chairman. >> Okay. >> I mean, this is enough is enough. >> Cruz was next, but he wasn't here.
[2:24:00]>> Senator Cruz was next. >> Okay. Senator Cruz, if you're ready, go ahead. >> Well, thank you. But I will welcome uh Senator Kennedy providing color
[2:24:11]commentary throughout my question. >> I will be happy to we finish this hearing this year. >> And I'll point out Senator Kennedy has a new book about testing negative for
[2:24:23]stupid. So I hope I test negative for stupid. I hope I hope I meet the the threshold of >> you do meet it. And I talk in the book about the tattoo of the Backstreet Boys
[2:24:32]on your back. Look, I can't help that you don't want to reach young people. I think young people are the future. Damn it. And I'll
[2:24:40]do whatever steps are backstreet boys. >> That would be on Vice President Vance's playlist. I heard that got hacked. >> General Bondi, welcome. Uh I apologize
[2:24:56]for injecting you in the middle of uh Senator Kennedy's antics. I I we can't help him. Um, thank you for the job you're doing. Uh, you are doing a
[2:25:06]tremendous job keeping this country safe. And our families are safer because you are on that wall. Our families are safer because you are
[2:25:18]returning the Department of Justice to its core function, which is enforcing the law and locking up bad guys. We saw for four years
[2:25:29]under the Biden administration, we saw the Department of Justice politicized and weaponized and we saw them refuse to do their core
[2:25:39]function. More than 12 million illegal aliens flooded into this country and the Biden Justice Department seemed to think its job was letting murderers and
[2:25:48]gangbangers and rapists go. And the results in just a few months that you've been able to produce are tremendous.
[2:25:57]Arrests of violent criminals are up 125% since the Biden administration. Fentanyl trafficking prosecutions have
[2:26:08]risen 42% since fiscal year 2023. DOJ has coordinated with DHS to remove over 220,000
[2:26:19]criminal illegal aliens this year alone. Under your leadership as attorney general, you have helped rescue 4,000 children from predators and helped
[2:26:30]arrest 1,300 child predators and 285 human traffickers. In my home state of Texas,
[2:26:39]Operation Satya Shield resulted in the rescue of 109 children. Thank you, Attorney General Bondi. Texans are safer because you are
[2:26:50]serving. Americans are safer because you are serving. You have a big task cleaning up the messes
[2:27:00]of the Biden DOJ. One of the most egregious failures of the Biden Justice Department was its refusal to protect judges and Supreme
[2:27:10]Court justices. As you know, in May of 2022, an unknown individual leaked to Politico the draft of the Supreme Court's decision in DOS versus Jackson Women's Health
[2:27:21]Organization, the opinion that finally overturned Row versus Wade. That leak was a crime. It was a theft of
[2:27:31]government property under 18 USC section 641 and it was an unauthorized disclosure of confidential information
[2:27:39]under 18 USC section 1905. General Bondi, do you agree that leaking that opinion was a criminal act?
[2:27:49]>> Senator, I can't discuss anything regarding that matter. That should answer your question. >> Well, I will say this. The leak occurred
[2:27:59]in 2022, so the five-year statute of limitations has not expired. And I'm going to ask you, if it is not happening already,
[2:28:11]to direct the FBI to investigate and find the leaker. The leaker has not been exposed. The leaker has not been identified. And the FBI has far greater
[2:28:21]investigatory tools at its disposal than does the Marshall Service. And when it comes to defending the rule of law, when it comes to the integrity
[2:28:31]of our court system, having partisan law clerks, and I believe in all likelihood it is a law clerk who leaked it, leaking opinions
[2:28:41]designed to try to pressure the court politically, is a gross subversion of the integrity of the court. And so I would ask you as attorney general to direct the FBI to
[2:28:53]use every resource possible to investigate to find the leaker and when you identify the leaker to prosecute the leaker for that criminal conduct. >> Thank you, Senator Cruz.
[2:29:04]>> All right, I want to turn secondly after that decision was leaked. I believe the leak was part part of a
[2:29:15]broader effort to intimidate and to threaten and harass justices into trying to get them to change their decision.
[2:29:25]And we saw mobs assemble outside the homes of multiple justices. Do you agree, General, that the mobs
[2:29:37]that came outside the homes of justices were there to intimidate the court and to try to influence the justice's decision? >> 100%.
[2:29:48]>> Well, as you know, federal law, in particular, 18 USC section 1507 makes it a crime to pick it or parade outside
[2:29:57]a judge's home, quote, with the intent of influencing that judge's decision. That statute is crystal clear and I will point out these protests
[2:30:08]happened in 2022. So just like the leak, the 5-year statute of limitations has not expired on these protests. But unfortunately,
[2:30:18]the Biden Department of Justice didn't give a damn about prosecuting this statute because President Biden and Merrick
[2:30:27]Garland and the political hacks at DOJ disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision in DOS and were perfectly fine turning a blind eye to violent protesters threatening the justices and
[2:30:39]their children. You you may recall I questioned Attorney General Garland about this statute
[2:30:49]and he admitted under oath that not a single protester had been prosecuted and he blamed the Marshall Service. He said the problem was the marshals quote didn't make arrests.
[2:31:00]Well, subsequent documents told a different story. Internal training materials obtained reveals that the marshals were explicitly instructed
[2:31:11]not to arrest protesters under section 1507. So the reason there was no arrest is because a political decision was made that we like what the
[2:31:21]protesters are protesting for and we the department of justice are not going to protect the safety of justices. We're going to allow them to be victims of an
[2:31:30]intimidation and threatening campaign. Just as I asked you with regard to the DOB's opinion, I would ask you to direct
[2:31:39]the FBI to review the footage of these protests, to review the evidence that exists in terms of who engaged in it.
[2:31:50]And will you commit that anyone who you can prove violated 18 USC section 1507 will face consequences and face prosecution?
[2:32:02]Senator, we currently have 63 ongoing investigations involving judges um and officials throughout this country. That scene that
[2:32:13]you're showing will not happen under my watch. It will not happen under Donald Trump's presidency. Doesn't matter if you're a liberal judge or a conservative judge or justice. That will not happen.
[2:32:25]>> Amen. And and that point that General Bondi made is very important. I I would be equally outraged if you had nuts in front of the liberal justices. I'd say arrest them and throw them in jail.
[2:32:35]Violence is unacceptable regardless of whether I agree or disagree with your politics and violence particularly fueled by
[2:32:47]rhetoric by irresponsible politicians. violence can result and tragically it resulted in one
[2:32:57]deranged individual traveling from California to Maryland with the intention of murdering Justice Brett Kavanaaugh. As you know well this deranged individual was arrested outside the
[2:33:08]justice's house. He was arrested with a kill kit. He was arrested with a gun, with handcuffs, with duct tape, with zip ties, and with the intention of murdering Justice Kavanaaugh. very
[2:33:20]possibly murdering Justice Kavanaaugh's wife and and two daughters and potentially murdering two other Supreme Court justices. >> Senator,
[2:33:29]>> as you know, just this week, a left-wing Biden appointed judge sentenced
[2:33:39]this attempted murderer, this attempted assassin to just eight years. The Department of Justice asked for 30 years. That's right. >> And that judge downward departed by 22 years. Why?
[2:33:50]Because this left-wing judge said that the attempted murderer was transgender and because he identifies as transgender. Apparently, it's okay to
[2:34:02]try to kill a Supreme Court justice if your politics are sufficiently woke. Now, I know you have said the Department of Justice is going to appeal, and you absolutely should. I called this week. I
[2:34:13]believe this judge should be impeached because the judge has demonstrated she's completely unfit to be a federal judge. And you What is your view of the justice
[2:34:23]of this sentence of just eight years for the attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice? >> I was speaking with our prosecutor, Miss Mau, who did an incredible job on this case. She did an incredible job. And
[2:34:35]yet, this judge gave eight years. And the judge also would not refer to the defendant by his
[2:34:44]biological name. Um, referred to him by the pronouns and was concerned about the treatment that this individual would get
[2:34:56]regarding a sex change while in prison. And we are appealing that sentence. I immediately said, "We are appealing that sentence." >> Thank you. But my prosecutors did an incredible job on that case.
[2:35:08]>> And the judge wanted to put him in a woman's prison >> before Senator >> Not going to happen. Excuse me. I'm sorry, Chairman. That's not going to happen in the Bureau of Prisons. Now,
[2:35:18]>> before Senator Ronald, without objection, I'd like to introduce three FBI 1023 forms into the record. The first uh 1023 form I made public last
[2:35:30]Congress. This is the one that director Patel said his predecessors did fully investigate. The second and third 1023
[2:35:40]forms relate to the first in that they reference potential Biden family criminal conduct. Senator Johnson and I
[2:35:49]made these two public and we simply want to know whether the government has investigated what it found and if not why not. Senator Ronald.
[2:36:01]>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Miss Bondi, FISA section 702 will expire in six months. In response to response to my questions for the record, uh at
[2:36:12]your confirmation hearing, you said you did not have experience with FISA, but if confirmed, you would consult with experts at DOJ. Now, you've had that
[2:36:23]opportunity. Do you support adding additional safeguards for searching Americans communications in the 702 database?
[2:36:35]Senators, section 702 is a vital source of foreign intelligence and instrumental in keeping Americans safe. We also take
[2:36:44]individuals rights of American their individual rights of all Americans very seriously and many statutory reforms to
[2:36:53]FISA have incorporate safeguards. They have to incorporate safeguards to protect our civil liberties. The Department of Justice
[2:37:03]looks forward to working with you >> to discuss anything regarding 702. >> Appreciate I believe my staff and and Senator, I also want to thank you for the for this hearing. Your staff met
[2:37:14]with my staff and I greatly appreciate that. >> Thank you. We're going to be working on 702. So, I appreciate the openness to further uh amending 702. At your
[2:37:26]confirmation hearing, you assured me that it is the Department of Justice's decision to determine what cases will be prosecuted. Last month in the US at the
[2:37:36]US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was forced out. President Trump then posted the message behind me asking
[2:37:45]uh about prosecuting James Comey. You then appointed a new US attorney who within days secured an indictment against James Comey.
[2:37:57]That social media post behind me saying, "What about Comey?" was directed to Pam Are you the Pam that the president was
[2:38:06]referring to? >> I'm sure I was. So, it's very clear to me that when the president posts something like that that he considers
[2:38:16]the DOJ to be his law firm and you his lawyer. And in fact, very shortly after the post to you, uh, Comey gets indicted.
[2:38:27]Last year, President Trump's new borders are now borders are Tom H. woman was videotaped taking a bag with $50,000 in
[2:38:39]cash from undercover FBI agents after suggesting he could help with government contracts. Sounds like a bribe. Two
[2:38:48]weeks ago, DOJ officials reportedly shut down the bribery investigation into Mr. Holman. Miss Bondi, did you approve
[2:38:58]closing the Homeman investigation? bribery investigation. >> Senator Herono, as I stated earlier,
[2:39:11]the Department of Justice and the FBI conducted a thorough review and they
[2:39:21]found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing. You were also on video outside the White House protesting with a group called CASSA where Antifa members were. Does that mean you're a
[2:39:33]member of Antifa? >> You know, I simply asked the question as to whether or not you approve the shutting down of the investigation, Mr. Holman. I have to assume that you did
[2:39:43]because the FBI it reports to you. But the American people would look at the situation where th this person is taking a 50,000
[2:39:52]$50,000 in cash, no less, and that you testified today that a thorough investigation was done. Now, I have to
[2:40:01]assume I conclude that since no wrongdoing was determined that uh in answer to Senator White House's question, he kept the money. He kept the
[2:40:12]money and I hope that he put that on his tax returns as income. Next question. Over 1,200 riers were convicted of charges related to January
[2:40:24]6th. President Trump has since pardoned nearly all of them. As if that weren't enough, last month there was there were reports that a lawyer for the January 6
[2:40:34]riers met with senior DOJ officials about setting up a compensation fund. a compensation fund like the one that
[2:40:44]Congress set up after 911 to compensate these riers. Miss Bondi, is anyone at DOJ
[2:40:53]considering setting up a compensation fund for January 6 riers? Yes or no? >> Senator, I have had no meetings or
[2:41:04]discussions about a fund. >> So, would you support such a fund? Would would you okay such a fund? >> Senator, you can send me the information on the fund and I'd be happy to look at
[2:41:16]it. No, >> but do you think that's a good idea to you know this is what I'm getting at because to actually set up a fund and to have people talking with your senior people at DOJ political people about
[2:41:28]creating a fund and you won't uh let us know what you think about that. I uh that's pretty unbelievable. On January 30th of this year, the Trump
[2:41:38]DOJ's Anatos division sued to block the merger of two tech companies. Then a well-connected lobbyist met with
[2:41:47]your political deputies who overruled the career staff and approved the merger. So, there's a settlement on
[2:41:56]that. And separately, DOJ sued Ticket Master last year for monopolizing concert tickets and forcing consumers to
[2:42:07]pay outrageous fees. Ticket Master has hired the exact same lobbyists who met with senior DOJ political people regarding the merger of the two tech
[2:42:18]companies. So, um, my question is, Miss Bondi, have lobbyists met with your political deputies about the ticket m
[2:42:28]case? Senator Herono, as I stated earlier, I am not going to discuss anything that is
[2:42:38]ongoing. Gail Slater runs the antitrust. >> I would say and Gail Slater, if I can finish, Gail Slater is doing an incredible job running my antitrust
[2:42:48]unit. It's highly likely, Miss Bondi, that the same lobbyists who met with your people and basically got rid of the antitrust uh uh case. >> Senator, I don't think a lot of people
[2:42:59]like that you were out protesting with Antifa. >> Right now, next question. You have fired dozens of career prosecutors because they worked on cases
[2:43:10]involving President Trump or January 6 riers. For example, one career federal prosecutor secured who secured over 100 convictions in Florida. He also spent
[2:43:22]time in DC prosecuting January 6 cases. He received an outstanding review only two days before you signed a memo firing
[2:43:34]him. The memo cited no reason for his firing. Are you firing career prosecutors solely because they worked on cases like
[2:43:45]January 6th that the president doesn't like? >> Senator Herono, I am not going to talk about personnel matters with you. >> Well, we all know that hundreds of
[2:43:57]career prosecutors have left the DOJ and uh uh literally hundreds we're told. Um, and >> yeah, Senator, are you familiar with the
[2:44:07]one that threw a sandwich at a at a at an ICE officer? Are you a Homeland Security officer? >> Are you familiar with the one who went out on her lunch break and was making obscene gestures?
[2:44:17]>> Would you say that DOJ losing these career prosecutors and the thousands of hours of experience they have prosecuting criminals? That is not a
[2:44:27]reassuring situation. >> Senator, many employees took the fork in the road and resigned. And DOJ is hiring committed prosecutors who will actually
[2:44:38]come into the office and work and not work remotely and prosecute violent criminals around the country and terrorists. And I am very proud of the
[2:44:48]work all of our all of our prosecutors. I'm running out of time so I think you should stop with >> your continuous interruptions. In my opinion, Mr. Chairman, I just want to
[2:44:59]close by saying that what was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption. Rather than pursuing cases without fear or favor, this DOJ seeks to favor the
[2:45:10]president's friends and instill fear in his alleged enemies. If you're a friend of the president, this corrupt DOJ will
[2:45:20]bend over backwards to help you. Just like it it dropped the bribery investigation of Tom Pullman, like it's considering paying money to January 6
[2:45:30]riers and like it has put antirust enforcement decisions in the hands of well-connected lobbyists. But if you're on the wrong side of this president, you
[2:45:41]will face the wrath of DOJ, no matter what the facts, law, or justice support. James Comey is indicted days after the president social media directive.
[2:45:52]Experienced career prosecutors are fired just because they were assigned to work on January 6 cases. Blue states are sued to get highly sensitive private voter
[2:46:03]data, whereas red states are left alone. The double standard is clear and the American people are waking up to the corruption and favoritism and the
[2:46:15]lawlessness at the DOJ. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> May I respond, Chairman? >> Yes. >> May I respond? >> Yes, you you may respond. Then, Senator Kennedy, >> thank you. The double standard is
[2:46:26]crystal clear, Senator Herono. crystal clear because you didn't complain for four years when President Trump was being targeted by Jack Smith, by the
[2:46:36]last Justice Department, but the Americans people spoke loud and clear when they overwhelmingly elected him. The two-tier system of justice is over.
[2:46:47]>> Senator Kennedy, >> yes, >> General, welcome.
[2:46:57]Um, let's suppose that I'm appointed special counsel at the Department of Justice
[2:47:08]and um I go to the to the telecommunication companies, the phone companies. Let's let's let's single out AT&T. And I say, "Look, I
[2:47:20]know you're busy, but I want to see the a copy of the phone records of a sitting United States senator." Uh, they're they're not going to just
[2:47:30]give them to me, are they? >> No, Senator. Of course not. >> In fact, they're probably going to ask me what what planet I just parachuted in from, aren't they?
[2:47:41]>> Yes, Senator. >> They're going to tell me to come back with a subpoena, aren't they? >> Yes, Senator. >> Okay. Um, what do I have to show in that subpoena
[2:47:51]to get those phone records of a sitting Did I mention it was a sitting United States senator? I can't remember. What What do I have to show to get a the
[2:48:01]phone records of a sitting United States senator? >> Yeah, Senator, there were actually eight sitting United States senator. And you would have to have cause. >> I'm sorry. What do I have to show?
[2:48:12]>> You would have to have cause to get this. >> Good cause or probable cause? probable cause. >> Okay. Um and and uh
[2:48:22]prob probable cause or or if it's a subpoena ducus tum good cause to show what >> you would need good cause for a subpoena
[2:48:36]ducus tikum and what you would have to show is that you believed a crime had been committed or that there was a possibility of a crime or that could lead to other crimes. We frequently in
[2:48:46]criminal enterprises subpoena >> by the sitting United States senator. >> Senator, they would have to have believed you were part of a criminal
[2:48:54]conspiracy is my understanding. >> Would a judge have to sign off on it >> on the on the subpoena?
[2:49:06]>> Yes, senator. >> Well, for a subpoena dueum, Jack Smith probably took it straight to the judge.
[2:49:14]Now, the the phone companies, particularly their general counsel, if they're worried about civil liability, even with a subpoena
[2:49:26]to get the phone records of a sitting United States senator. Did Did I mention it was a sitting United States senator? >> Yes, senator. the general counsel for
[2:49:38]that phone company, let's say AT&T, they they have the right to seek to quash that subpoena, don't they?
[2:49:49]>> Phone companies frequently do that. >> Yeah. And and a smart general counsel for that phone company is going to call
[2:49:59]the sitting United States senator and say, "Would you like to weigh in on this? Would you like me to quash the subpoena? Uh, we're we're we're talking
[2:50:09]about invading someone's privacy here by a sitting United States senator. Could Could the general counsel for the phone company do that?
[2:50:21]>> Well, Senator, if they believe that a crime could have been committed, they could not tip off the person who committed the crime. Um, again, I can't comment on details of this particular
[2:50:33]case. I'm I'm I'm just asking you theoretically. >> I've I've never seen you commit a crime, >> but but let's suppose, okay, they couldn't they didn't want to tip off the sitting United States senator, but the
[2:50:43]phone company and the general counsel for the phone company or companies, if there were more than one involved, could say, you know, this is th this is serious as an aneurysm. This is serious
[2:50:54]as four heart attacks and a stroke. This is a United sitting United States senator. So, general counsel would likely advise the CEO, you need to file
[2:51:05]a motion to quash. The telephone companies could have contested those subpoenas, could they not? >> Hypothetically, yes. I can't talk about the facts of this particular case.
[2:51:16]>> We're talking hypothetical. >> Senator, subpoenas are issued all the time through phone companies working with the general counsel, >> but they can file a motion to quash. >> They could. Yes.
[2:51:27]>> Yeah. In any case, >> and and if they should have filed a motion to quash, and a reasonable person would have filed a motion to quash
[2:51:38]because this is a sitting United States senator and they didn't file a motion to quash, they would incur civil liability,
[2:51:48]wouldn't they? Senator, typically phone companies
[2:51:56]follow a subpoena from a United States. >> I know they do, but they don't have to. >> They could challenge it, Senator.
[2:52:05]>> Yeah. And if they don't challenge it, they better have a damn good reason. Right. >> Right,
[2:52:19]>> Senator. I can't talk about the facts of this particular >> This is just a hypothetical >> in general. Hypo hypothetically, Senator, maybe they didn't recognize any of the names of the eight sitting United States senators.
[2:52:30]>> Uhhuh. Hypothetically. >> That was a joke. Or maybe they should have gone to Amazon
[2:52:38]and buy some testicles online instead of just saying, "Sure, I'll just show you the phone records of a sitting
[2:52:48]United States senator on the basis of an administrative subpoena." Now, do you have do you have copies of the subpoena applications
[2:52:59]>> for these eight? >> Senator, I can't discuss anything regarding this. >> You can't even tell me if you have copies. >> I can't discuss any of this. When are you going to uh General When are you going to be able to discuss it?
[2:53:09]>> I can't discuss whether there is or is not a pending investigation brought to light. If there is a pending investigation, I don't want this to get swept under the rug. >> Okay? Because I think you're going to
[2:53:21]get pushed back from all quarters. I think the telecommunication companies are going to be all over you like a bad rash because they've got liability here for
[2:53:32]just turning over these records when they knew what was going on. I think some FBI agents may have some liability here. I think a special
[2:53:44]counsel might have some liability here. If I were your special counsel and you had appointed me and I wanted to get the the the records
[2:53:56]of a sitting United States senator, is that something you would expect me to tell you as attorney general of the United States? >> They better have. >> Yeah.
[2:54:07]>> And do we know in this instance of the eight sitting United States senators if they told Attorney General Garland? Senator, I just learned about this um
[2:54:18]very recently as did Director Patel and we cannot discuss the details. I don't know many of >> Well, maybe we ought to get Attorney General Garland here.
[2:54:28]Do do you know if the the uh M the uh the the uh special counsel told FBI direct director Ray,
[2:54:40]is that something? Let me put it another way. If I were your special counsel and you were the director of the FBI and I'm I'm trying to get the phone records of a sitting United States senator, did I mention it was a sitting United States
[2:54:52]senator? Is that something that that that you would expect me to tell you as director of the FBI? >> In general, I would believe the FBI
[2:55:02]would help execute the subpoenas. >> Yeah. >> To the business. >> Okay. I want to switch to another subject in the in the in the 12 minutes that I have left since everybody else
[2:55:13]got to go over. Um, I've got to ask you about this, General. Secretary Howard Lutnik
[2:55:23]on October one gave an interview to the New York Post about Mr. Epstein and he described Mr. Epstein as quote
[2:55:34]the greatest black mailer ever close quote. Have you reviewed that transcript of that interview? >> I have not reviewed the transcript, but I saw the clip of it.
[2:55:44]>> Okay. It it it appears that that Secretary Lutnik uh was was Mr. Epstein's next door neighbor. In fact,
[2:55:53]their their town homes um shared a wall. Um and and the uh the reporter that was
[2:56:03]asking talking to Mr. uh Lutnik uh she asked how how other prominent men could have been associated with Epstein
[2:56:14]when Mr. Lutnik could immediately sense that he was a quote pervert. And then Secretary Letic said or rather the reporter said did they see it and
[2:56:25]ignore it? Do you remember that from the interview? >> I do. And commerce secretary Lutnik said, "No,
[2:56:33]they participated." And then Commerce Secretary Utnik goes on to say, quote, "That's what his MMO
[2:56:44]was, you know, get a massage. Get a massage." And what happened in that massage room, I assume, was a video.
[2:56:54]This guy was the greatest black mailer ever. blackmailed people. That's how he had money." End quote. Is that true?
[2:57:06]>> Senator, as our July memo said, we did not uncover evidence. This case has gone through three administrations as well as former US attorney. I know
[2:57:17]that, Pam, but have you have you interviewed Secretary Lutnik? >> No, Senator. Do you plan to >> if he wants to talk to the FBI or the FBI wants to talk to him? That is more than on
[2:57:29]>> Don't you think you ought to talk to him after this interview? >> Senator, if if Howard Letic wants to speak to the FBI and if Director Patel wants to speak to Howard Lutnik. Absolutely.
[2:57:39]>> Okay. Maybe we ought to get Mr. Lenick in here too, Mr. Chairman. >> Senator Ber. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Attorney
[2:57:51]General, I know there's been a lot of talk about grants. I hate to bring you through this again, but it's really important to my state. New Jersey is one of the top four donor states in America, which means our taxpayers, Americans,
[2:58:02]Republicans, Democrats, independents, millions of people send more money down here than we get back in relative to all the other states in the nation except for three others. Um, we've been talking
[2:58:14]a lot about different grants. I want to be very specific about Office of Justice program grants. Uh there were $35 million worth of grants that were approved in a bipartisan way in this
[2:58:25]committee. Grants that invest in things that are really vital to the public safety of our community. I know again we we are in a room full of people who want to see crime go down. Republicans and
[2:58:36]Democrats, law enforcement officers have spoken to the urgency of these programs which deal with school violence which divert people into substance abuse and treatment and supportive services,
[2:58:47]community violence intervention programs. Again, bipartisan programs that this committee really worked hard on this. I I've heard what you've said to others on the committee. I heard what you said uh to Patty Murray in an
[2:58:58]appropriations committee that members should reach out to you if they want those grants reinstated. I've written letters. Um, but I am hoping that you and I can have a conversation. $35
[2:59:09]million of frozen funding for public safety that the people of New Jersey, Democrats, Republicans, and independents, uh, really invested in
[2:59:18]those resources, those programs and those nonprofits who were expecting those grants often made outs and are now really in a lurch. Can we can we talk
[2:59:28]about those grants and the restoration of them, please? >> Yeah. And Sen Senator Booker, I I had stated earlier that yes, we did terminate grants. We are we have an
[2:59:38]appeal process. We have turned some back on. We are appealing. We are looking at some. Some we have denied. Some are still pending. I believe we have multiple appeals pending with New
[2:59:49]Jersey. And I would be happy to sit down with you and look at those appeals. I believe one is with the city of New Jersey. I I know there there are multiple ones pending, but of course I
[3:00:00]would be happy to sit down with you or any senator or any House member and look at grants that have been terminated. I've been doing that and I I would welcome that. >> But I but I will be the first one you sit down with. Correct.
[3:00:12]>> Absolutely. I' I'd love to sit down with you on that. I'll look at those tomorrow, Senator Booker. >> Thank you very much. I want to move on. >> We have I'm sorry. We have been restoring some grants. Some have been
[3:00:22]denied, some have not. >> New Jersey, none have. and I really want to get to the bottom of that and hoping that we can re reinstate some of those grants. Um, the second thing I want to move on to is that earlier this year,
[3:00:34]the Department of Justice charged Newark Mayor Raz Baraka after he sought uh access to Delaney Hall detention center to conduct oversight. The charges on
[3:00:45]their face uh to many of us, especially in New Jersey, were clearly baseless. Many people say they're politically motivated. And then the judge, the federal judge admonished the prosecutors
[3:00:56]for even bringing the case. This is the quote from the federal judge. Federal prosecutors serve a single paramount client, justice itself. Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor
[3:01:07]to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas agendas. The federal judge went on to call the charges embarrassing and a worrisome misstep.
[3:01:18]Mayor Baraka was arrested that day on the scene, and I know you understand this, to arrest a mayor of a major city on charges that were called by a federal
[3:01:30]judge embarrassing and a worrisome misstep is very concerning to me and I think should be to the whole committee. A recently released video shows a federal agent telling fellow officers
[3:01:41]that the decision to arrest Baraka was quote per the deputy attorney general of the United States. Uh, and I'm assuming that person is Todd Blanch. This is evidence to me that the that this was
[3:01:52]decision wasn't made by people on the ground in the field, but by Maine justice, that they were directing an arrest from DC on the scene. And it leads to the conclusion that this was a
[3:02:04]political decision, that the decision to arrest was not made by the people who were there on the spot. And and I can I can assume that you can see how that's problematic to me. So, I have questions
[3:02:15]not about the case, but really about how the decisions to arrest and charge Baraka and now Maccgyver, Congresswoman MacGyver were really made uh before this
[3:02:27]committee. I I am saying that I'm going to submit these questions for the record. And I'm really hoping that we can understand how those decisions as our oversight, how we're making
[3:02:37]decisions, especially for highlevel officials in my state, the mayor of our largest city, the congressperson of that city's of that city. And I'm hoping that
[3:02:47]you can respond to those letters on the record. >> Yeah. And Senator, that that matter is ongoing and so I can't discuss it. Um, as an attorney, you realize I can on
[3:02:59]discuss an ongoing matter. >> And I and I respect that. I I guess I just want to know and I'll we'll we'll leave this for the questions for the record about about the decisions on how they're being made, not the case in
[3:03:10]itself. I want to I want to move on. Um, and again, I I've heard your testimony so far. I know uh that there is data about violent crime in this city, but
[3:03:19]I'm I'm really concerned about the application of Justice Department resources towards the challenges we have. You and I both know that about
[3:03:29]11,000 Americans have been killed uh by a firearm just this year. The Department of Justice, according to the White House's own documents, as well as that
[3:03:39]of the conservative think tank Kato, have shown that there has been a significant movement of law enforcement resources away from many other issues
[3:03:49]and into immigration enforcement. And we are seeing that in that immigration report, a lot of the people are not the violent criminals that we are really needing to rid our streets
[3:04:00]of. In total, according to the KO Institute, you've reassigned 7,460 law enforcement uh away from their primary duties, investigating drug trafficker,
[3:04:11]prosecuting child pornography, targeting high value white collar criminals, and again forcing them, this is according to the KO Institute, into low-level immigration reinforcement. This includes
[3:04:21]in terms of gun violence, 1,778 agents from the ATF to this kind of immigration enforcement. The White House
[3:04:31]itself has said that they diverted 45% of all uh of agents in 25 FBI field offices to work on immigration full-time. As a person who worked very
[3:04:42]closely in my time as mayor with the New Jersey field office, that's really concerning given the other threats. But it doesn't end there. The DOJ has
[3:04:52]eliminated the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the independent component of the DOJ whose job it was to combat transnational organized crime,
[3:05:01]dissolved the community relations service, which in New Jersey has been invaluable over 60 years responding to communities experiencing conflict or violence. and something that people on
[3:05:13]both sides of the aisle of this committee have really invested in. You all have rescended VOCA and VAWA grants to support survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking. There seems to be
[3:05:24]a disconnect here between the application of the resources of the Justice Department on the things that are most concerning when it comes to crime uh and where they're being
[3:05:34]directed instead. Senator Booker Booker first to OSEDF. The most important point is that the work of OSEDF is continuing. The
[3:05:45]executive office is being dissolved. We have said that. But the work of OSEDF is being is continuing. The resources that were previously provided to law
[3:05:55]enforcement organizations through OSEDF are now going directly to those organizations. I will assure you no work will be sacrificed. as a result of getting rid of the
[3:06:07]executive office of OSED. The agents and the attorneys are working with Homeland Security. They're all working together as a unit. >> Okay. At Attorney General Bonnie, I I'm
[3:06:17]running out of time and I'm going to put some questions in in QFRs because again, this is conservative think tanks and others are pointing about the the the the literally over a thousand people
[3:06:29]being taken off of things that I think would concern the public putting there. I'd like to get that. But I also just want to quickly mention that for the record, I want to ask about the public corre corruption unit as well. We now
[3:06:40]have gone from a public corrupt integrity section that went from 36 full-time prosecutors to now only two. And yet we know, Democrats and
[3:06:51]Republicans, there is a real problem with public corruption in our country. And we know that the DOJ has stopped enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, disbanded the Foreign Influence
[3:07:03]Task Force, dismissed uh the indictment against uh uh Trump donor Andrew Widenhorn, cut back on white collar investigations. My list goes on. I'm running out of time, but I will ask for
[3:07:15]the record against not only reassigning officers and prosecutorial resources uh from the other things I mentioned, but public corruption is really important. I want to talk about an area of bipartisanship on this committee which
[3:07:26]is antirust. This is a very bipartisan area. In June, the antitrust division finalized a proposed consent decree with Huelet Packard Enterprises and Juniper Network
[3:07:38]settling the DOJ's challenge to the company's 14 billion murder merger. Reportedly, your chief of staff Chad Meisel and acting deputy attorney general Woodard overruled career
[3:07:48]antirust uh staff and approved the merger. This is a massive area of concern for Americans at large. Th this is an area where corporate power is
[3:07:59]growing. Corporate concentration in our country is happening at great degree. I'm grateful that I uh the ranking member with uh with with Mike Lee on a committee that is really trying to get
[3:08:10]into this disturbing trend and the issues right now in the Justice Department, the resources being put on it and the appearance of improprieties that we're seeing are troubling. All I want to ask is my final question is
[3:08:22]would you commit just to talk about antitrust to coming before the antitrust subcommittee led by Senator Lee to discuss antitrust enforcement in our country?
[3:08:32]We're overtime. May I answer, Chairman? >> Yes. >> Senator Booker, I work handinhand with Gail Slater. She is doing an incredible job. I said that earlier. I will let
[3:08:43]Gail Slater handle all matters with antitrust. The HP matter, Juniper, is a pending matter still because, as you know, it has to go before the courts even after a decision has been made. And
[3:08:54]that's where it's pending right now. If I can go back to your your previous two questions. first about our agents being reassigned. Our agents are working tirelessly
[3:09:05]on their day jobs and with Homeland Security and right now they're not getting paid and they're on the streets during a government shutdown working to keep every city in this country safe in
[3:09:16]New Jersey and in every state. They're working together with DHS on task forces, but they're also doing their core mission and they're getting child
[3:09:25]predators off the street. They are working so hard with all the agencies handinand that has not been sacrificed and we're I'm so proud of the work that
[3:09:35]the FBI, DEA, ATF are doing. ATF agents have worked tirelessly. I am in constant contact with them on the incredible cases that they're making to keep our
[3:09:44]country safe and our world safe, especially our DEA agents who are stationed around this world and now they're not getting paid. back to the public integrity section. The last point
[3:09:55]you made, um, it has not been slashed. Those are going to the various US attorney offices to be handled in each office around the country instead of one
[3:10:06]unit based in DC. >> Yeah. >> Thank you, Senator. >> Before Blackburn, my Democratic colleagues continue to criticize the DOJ for their role in President Trump's
[3:10:16]historic immigration crackdown. They've talked about due process. They've talked about the lack of transparency and oversight. However, my Democratic colleagues were silent about the former
[3:10:28]Biden administration failure to vet Afghan evacuees. Instead of coming clean, the Biden administration dismissed and failed to answer my
[3:10:38]oversight request. Not a peep from my colleagues about these massive vetting failures. The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General confirmed
[3:10:49]these vetting failures. Senator Blackberg. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and A.G. Bondi. Thank you for your time before us today.
[3:10:57]I have found this hearing to be so instructive because it has pointed out to me the lack of caring from my
[3:11:09]colleagues across the deis when it comes to um how the DOJ under Biden was weaponized,
[3:11:20]how they use this for political attack on their political opponents and the smuggness from some of my colleagues
[3:11:31]across the deis. I think they enjoyed it. I think they wanted it to continue and I think that's why they oppose some
[3:11:42]of the reforms that you are making to actually get people out across the country and to get them working and to
[3:11:54]have people that are actually finding out what the FBI and the DOJ did. You look at what happened with Crossfire
[3:12:05]Hurricane and the way some Democrats tried to blow that up and make it some big issue and all about Donald Trump and
[3:12:16]the accusations and of course they've been proven wrong. You look at what has happened, what we're finding out about Arctic Frost
[3:12:26]and the way we were surveiled and the way Senator Graham, Senator Holly and I, what we don't know what all they got. We
[3:12:37]don't know who all they tracked, but to tap our phones to pull that data for the
[3:12:46]for these wireless companies to have allowed them to have that and for them to use it in their investigations.
[3:12:57]How disgusting is that? and their attitude and lack of concern about the weaponization of the DOJ. I've
[3:13:09]had a couple of colleagues who have been so concerned about some bureaucrats that the DOJ and the FBI being fired. You know what? If they did wrong, not only
[3:13:19]fire them, prosecute them. And my hope is that as we look at what happened with Arctic Frost, that there will be a
[3:13:28]special counsel that we will do our due diligence and that those who did this wrong, this illegal activity, absolutely
[3:13:39]they need to be prosecuted and they need to face the full extent
[3:13:47]of accountability within the the law. I've also I made a note of how resistant they are to reform. And in my opinion,
[3:13:59]what this shows is that they don't want one tier of justice. What they want is two tiers of justice. It was their play box.
[3:14:10]They could get in there and manipulate and use it to spy on us. So they saw this as something that
[3:14:20]furthered their political goal. So I am pleased that you are cleaning house and those who have not served the American
[3:14:32]people well fire them. They need to be gone. They need to be gone. Talk for a moment, just a moment about what you're doing to end the
[3:14:43]weaponization. Senator Blackburn, the weaponization
[3:14:54]against you and your colleagues should greatly concern all of us. It should concern Democrats. It should concern Republicans.
[3:15:05]Yet, we don't see that there was a two-tier system of justice under the Biden administration. We're learning that every day. We saw Jack Smith weaponize
[3:15:16]the Justice Department against Donald Trump. We saw the Biden administration weaponize the entire Justice Department, all of the law enforcement agencies
[3:15:27]against Donald Trump, against his family members, against his friends for years and years. And that weaponization is over.
[3:15:37]No one is above the law. And there is a onetier system of justice in this justice department and that's what we will continue to do. >> We appreciate that. And you know having
[3:15:49]vice chaired the president's transition in 2016 as you remember uh there was surveillance that took place on the transition and on the transition time
[3:16:01]team. So this is not the first time, it's the second time. And shame be to those that have furthered those lies and what James Comey did to this country.
[3:16:11]What Christopher Ray allowed to happen to this country. I want to talk to you about Memphis, the Memphis Safe Task Force, and uh you, President Trump,
[3:16:22]Director Patel, the work you're doing there is really quite amazing. I had pulled those latest stats and um we had
[3:16:34]503 arrests with the FBI task force in July and August. Um we've added with your Memphis Safe Task Force just last
[3:16:44]week. 321 arrest, 83 firearms that were seized, seven missing children that were
[3:16:52]recovered, 28 known gang members have been arrested, and the list continues to
[3:17:01]grow. We've also gotten um over 120 federal indictments. But this is really quite a success story and I think that cities like Portland
[3:17:13]and Chicago are missing out by not having this coordinated focused effort and the fact that there are 13 federal
[3:17:24]and state agencies working together to make Memphis safe again. and we are very
[3:17:31]grateful about that. Um I one of the things that we are working on is to end
[3:17:40]um a cashless bail. We have a very liberal DA in Memphis that has um
[3:17:49]campaigned on avoiding cash bail. And we had a good hearing on this last week. And we have legislation um
[3:17:59]Representative Stefonic and I have legislation that would end cash bail uh in cashless bail in DC and then also
[3:18:09]would remove funds from uh jurisdictions that practice cashless bail. um touch on that and the
[3:18:21]importance of having cash bail for that accountability keeping those criminals off the streets. >> Yeah, Senator Blackburn, first to to
[3:18:32]Memphis. I I was in Memphis as you know a few days ago with Secretary >> Hegsath >> and we had about,00 officers from at least 13 agencies
[3:18:43]working hand in hand. Your Memphis police officers care. They want to be out there doing their jobs. And what we said is we have federal law enforcement
[3:18:53]officers now who have their backs. They were thrilled to have us there. The mayor, Paul Young, is working well with us. Of course, Governor Lee was there. You have been a champion of this.
[3:19:04]Senator Hagerty has been a champion of this. You both before I was sworn in as attorney general, you both brought this problem to my attention. You talked to
[3:19:14]Director Patel and Director Patel was on the ground right away in Memphis attempting to make Memphis safe, but we knew we needed so much more than that. He put a he put a huge dent in the
[3:19:25]problem, but Memphis's crime is through the roof. The highest violent crime rate in the entire country and that's why we went to Memphis and Memphis has welcomed us. It's an iconic city and we want to
[3:19:36]continue to work with Memphis and we're going to do that just like we did here in DC. The citizens have been great working with us. Violent crime
[3:19:47]shouldn't be occurring in any of these cities. And as you said, I don't understand why Chicago, why Portland, why these sanctuary jurisdictions don't
[3:19:58]want to work with the federal government. Gangs are rampant. Transnational gangs are rampant in these cities because they're harboring them. No longer under Donald Trump. whether
[3:20:09]they want to or not, we are going to come in and make it safe for their citizens whether these liberal lawmakers want to or not. And you know what I said regarding the DA in Memphis? I said, "We're going to protect the Memphis
[3:20:21]police officers. We're going to take every single case federally that we can because the DA has cashless bail. It's a revolving door and no one is being held accountable. Police officers are seeing
[3:20:32]someone arrested and they're back out on the streets the next night committing crimes." and Janine Piro is working on that here in DC to change that as well. So, thank you for appreciate that. And
[3:20:43]the Memphis mayor is doing great. We had a Shelby County official who was trying to dox some of these officers and she's
[3:20:54]since taken this tweet down, but she's an elected official. And she goes, "Attention on Peabody between Mlan and Cooper, four fed vehicles in a trooper,
[3:21:05]men in full gear and guns on street. Hashpay attention, folks. This is the kind of action that is not
[3:21:14]called for. I mean, the fact that an elected official would do this, this is why we have legislation that would make
[3:21:24]it a crime to dox any federal law enforcement official when they are doing
[3:21:32]their job. And these apps and Apple and Google say that they've removed these naps, these apps. But I tell you what,
[3:21:42]these law enforcement officers need to be protected. We appreciate that you are doing that. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Senator. evidence that uh the Obama Biden State
[3:22:07]Department obstructed law enforcement efforts to arrest highlevel Iranian targets. This objection led by then Secretary John Kerry was done because of
[3:22:19]political consideration of the failed Iran nuclear deal. Senator Padilla. >> Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, uh
[3:22:28]appreciate uh the opportunity to uh participate in this hearing today which is our at minimum annual opportunity
[3:22:37]uh to uh ask questions as we fulfill our obligation to provide accountability over the Department of Justice. So just sort of to level set a little bit for folks in the audience and for folks
[3:22:49]watching at home, the Department of Justice is supposed to be the nation's guardian of fairness and the rule of law. The power of the Department of
[3:23:00]Justice is built on public trust and a belief that prosecutions are based on facts and law, not on politics or
[3:23:11]personal loyalty. And I call that out, Mr. chairman because when that breaks down, >> when the public trust breaks down,
[3:23:21]>> then justice itself is at risk. But under this Trump administration and the leadership of Attorney General
[3:23:30]Bondi, I believe the independence of the Department of Justice has come under attack. The department has been reorganized. It's been realigned and
[3:23:42]repurposed in ways that we've never seen before. Important offices have been closed, key programs dismantled, and agents diverted, all without
[3:23:53]congressional authorization or transparent justification. Now, these are not minor bureaucratic changes. They represent a
[3:24:04]fundamental shift in the Department of Justice's missions and priorities, its policies, and its practices. And for example, career prosecutors have been
[3:24:16]pressured to change decisions in politically sensitive cases. Ethics oversight has been taken away from independent career professionals
[3:24:27]and handed to political appointees with little experience in these matters. Internal working groups have been created to revisit investigations
[3:24:36]involving President Trump and his allies. And together these steps send a dangerous message that prosecutorial decisions can be driven by political
[3:24:47]loyalty instead of the law. Now, even more troubling is that the Department of Justice has pulled resources away from organized crime,
[3:24:58]away from counterterrorism, away from uh the uh protection of civil rights, to focus on immigration enforcement. The American people expect a Department of
[3:25:10]Justice to pursue violent crime, as do I, to pursue corruption and threats to national security, not to serve as an
[3:25:18]arm of immigration policy and in so doing underresource other critical missions. Now, the Justice Department's
[3:25:29]credibility depends on the public's faith in justice and that the justice will be applied equally to every person and not reserved for the powerful or the
[3:25:38]connected. And that faith must be protected. And so, it's in that spirit that this committee has a duty to ensure the department's work remains lawful,
[3:25:48]remains transparent, and remains true to its highest duty, the fair and impartial administration of justice. Now, that being said, I do want to get into some
[3:25:59]specific items um with Attorney General Bondi here, beginning with the firing of Michelle Beckwith. Michelle Beckwith was a 15-year career prosecutor with the
[3:26:10]Department of Justice. She prosecuted in her career some of the worst of the worst in my home state of California, sex traffickers, transnational terrorists,
[3:26:22]those who this administration claims to care about and be targeting. prioritizing in taking them off the streets. And it
[3:26:31]may surprise some to learn that Miss Beckwith was unceremonously marched out of her office and fired from her job in
[3:26:40]July of this year. Why? Not because she failed to do her job. Quite the opposite. It was because she had the
[3:26:49]audacity to remind Border Patrol Chief Gregory Boho that he was obligated to follow a court order and the
[3:26:58]Constitution in California. According to reports, she was fired less than 6 hours after she told Bino he couldn't arrest people without probable cause. Six
[3:27:10]hours. So my first question, Attorney General Bondi, is a simple yes no question. Do you believe that government officials like Gregor Bo are obligated to follow
[3:27:21]applicable court orders whether they agree with them or not? Yes or no? >> First, Senator Padilla, you have gone on for over five minutes and I wish that
[3:27:33]you loved your state of California as much as you hate President Trump. We'd be in really good shape then because violent crime in California is currently 35% higher than the national average.
[3:27:44]property crime in California is 18% higher than the national average. That should be something that we should be talking about and working together on.
[3:27:54]Yet, we're not. And no, this is important. You're talking about all these all of my agencies and I want I want to let you know what DEA has been doing and they are working hand in hand.
[3:28:05]No, you can't go on for 5 minutes and criticize my agents who are out working without pay right now because you voted to shut down the government. >> They're out there working without pay.
[3:28:17]>> Mr. Chairman, I asked a simple yes or no question. Uh, attorney general Bondi 4500 kilos of 50 million fentanyl pills
[3:28:25]off the street under FBI 23,000 violent criminals. US Marshals Mr. Chairman,000 fugitives. I'm trying to get I'm not getting answer to my question. I'm
[3:28:37]trying to move on to the next question or the next topic. Mr. Chairman, order please. Thank you. Uh because uh under Attorney General Bond's watch career,
[3:28:47]prosecutors are being fired for telling agencies to follow the law and uphold the constitution. Meanwhile, there are instances of allies of the
[3:28:57]president who seem to be getting let off the hook. I won't reiterate what some of my colleagues have already brought up in terms of the uh uh dismissal of the investigation into Tom Holman and his
[3:29:08]alleged acceptance of $50,000 as payment by undercover FBI agents posing as business executives looking to secure contracts with a future Trump
[3:29:19]administration. Because if the reports are true, it's not just the underlying conduct of Mr. homeman, which would be absolutely unacceptable. But the
[3:29:29]dismissal of the investigation charges raises concerns about the influence of the White House on the Department of Justice. Again, a simple question, and I'd appreciate a simple and brief
[3:29:40]answer. Whose decision was it to end this investigation? >> I have answered that question multiple times, yet you didn't have the courtesy
[3:29:51]to be sitting in here for the hearing. I'm not going to answer it again. And I find it interesting that you want order in this in this proceeding now. Excuse me, Senator. You want in this proceeding
[3:30:01]now, you sure didn't have order when you stormed Secretary Gnome, Mr. Chairman, at a press conference in California, did you? >> I will ask a follow-up question. Would you commit to either releasing the tape
[3:30:13]or at least making it available for members of this committee to review? Yes or no? Senator, you have not been sitting in here this
[3:30:24]entire hearing. I've answered the question and I also want to tell you that our ATF question,000 illegal firearms.
[3:30:34]>> So, we will try again and we'll in your home state. We are prosecuting illegal aliens who have raped and murdered young girls.
[3:30:43]>> Thank you. So when I haven't been in this hearing, I've been watching from my office monitoring the entire hearing just so everybody is aware. But since I'm not getting answers to my questions,
[3:30:54]I'll try to ask one last uh subject area. Now again, there's uh been increasing concerns about the politicized decision-making and the erosion of
[3:31:05]internal safeguards that protect prosecutorial independence. Before we even get into the integrity and independence of
[3:31:16]prose uh prosecutions, we get into you have to ask the question about the independence and integrity of investigations themselves.
[3:31:26]The director of the FBI, Director Patel was here before us just a few weeks ago. Uh Attorney General Bondi, you are the attorney general of the United States.
[3:31:37]Director Patel reports to you. Do you believe he's doing a good job? Yes or no? >> I believe Director Patel is doing a great job. You know where he is right
[3:31:47]now. Senator Padilla right now. You asked me a question right now since you said it earlier in the hearing. >> Fighting to keep >> You said it earlier in the hearing. And yes, I have been paying attention.
[3:31:58]>> You want order in here now. Yet you stormed the director of Homeland Security, Christy Gnome. You sure didn't have order that day, did you, Senator? Attorney General, you are under oath. I
[3:32:07]did not storm the secretary the video. >> Oh, that was on video. That video has been released, I believe. Very well. >> Mr. Chairman, recent actions raised serious concerns about Director Patel's
[3:32:19]judgment and politicization, including lawsuits from former FBI officials, alleging retaliatory firings and his decision to cut off long-standing partnerships with civil rights
[3:32:30]organizations, and his decision to fire an FBI agent for refusing to engage in a quote perwok of James Comey. and on top
[3:32:40]of all that, his uh prematurely claiming that subjects were in custody after the shooting of Charlie Kirk. I take uh Attorney General Bond's endorsement today of his work as her support for
[3:32:52]those actions. Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> May I respond, Senator? >> Under Director Patel, 23,000
[3:33:02]violent criminals have been arrested, a 91% increase over last year. More than 1,500 child predators have been arrested. We
[3:33:13]are making cases in your jurisdiction constantly in California. And I wish you would care about those cases. We have disrupted 1,600 gangs and criminal
[3:33:25]enterprises. 1600 gangs within this country. Thanks to Director Patel and the great men and women of the FBI. >> Senator Schmidt. Thank you, Mr.
[3:33:36]Chairman. Uh, how are you today, Attorney General? It's good to see you. I >> have a rough voice. >> Um, I I have to say it is I am struck by um
[3:33:46]>> the the degree of of the cognitive dissonance that I hear on the other side. It really is. I mean, I'm used to sort of the political debates and arguing in court and all those sorts of
[3:33:57]things, but to hear the other side of the dis talk about weaponization is truly shocking given what we know now. And I thought what I might do is
[3:34:08]just tell a story and these are 100% facts. Hillary Clinton, concerned about her email scandal, works with a Soros
[3:34:19]organization to cook up this Russia gate nonsense. They feed it to the intelligence agencies and they spy under Barack Obama's presidency. They spy on the political
[3:34:30]opponent, the Republican running against Hillary Clinton. He gets elected. They continue the operation and they launder this intelligence into stuff
[3:34:42]that was meant to by the FBI and the CIA to sideline a presidency of a dulyeleed president of the United States of America. to sideline him. And that continued. You heard even some people on
[3:34:54]this committee further that nonsense for four years. And then the FBI is involved with >> pre-bunking the Hunter Biden laptop story because they couldn't. They they
[3:35:04]didn't want him to get elected again. So they pre-bunk the Hunter Biden laptops story. The American people should have been allowed to make their own judgments from that. They weren't because the FBI called it a Russian
[3:35:16]hackand leak operation. And they were meeting with social media companies every month and every week telling them that the laptop that they knew that they had verified in November of 2019 they knew was real and knew it was his said
[3:35:27]it was Russian disinformation. We've heard that before. And then after Joe Biden comes in three days in they start a censorship campaign against the country. anybody who's a
[3:35:38]conservative. And now we also know that the the FBI was weaponized in this Arctic Frost investigation that tapped the phones of sitting US senators and also the Republican
[3:35:49]attorneys general association. So let's pull in two more US senators, Ashley Moody and myself who were on the executive committee at that time. Charlie Kirk, political organizations they didn't agree with. This is not in
[3:36:00]the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This is in the United States of America in the last few years. And then when they thought President
[3:36:10]Trump was on the run and there's no way people would elect him and he announces he's running for president, three days later, Jack Smith's appointed to get Trump.
[3:36:21]Fanny Willis brings charges against President Trump and the assistant prosecutors meets with the White House council's office. Why would that happen? Then you have Alvin Bragg bring his charges. the number
[3:36:33]three person at DOJ goes to work for him to get Trump all in the United States of America. This continued and and Senator Holly
[3:36:43]asked the question wrote it down. What is happening in this country? And I hope that that MSNBC is still broadcasting this because I'm sure their
[3:36:53]viewership hasn't heard this story that's gone on for 10 years. The truth is they never forgave President Trump for coming down the escalator at all. They didn't like him. They didn't like
[3:37:05]the disruption. And they've spent the better part of a decade not just going after him, but demonizing half the country as fascists and Nazis and threats to democracy.
[3:37:16]And they have fueled this division in their their inability to accept the fact that half of the country isn't
[3:37:27]deplorables as Hillary Clinton called it, bitter clingers as Barack Obama called them, or trash as Joe Biden called them. That they rose up and they sat in their own jury box and they saw all this stuff play out over a decade
[3:37:39]and they rejected it. And now you have come in to clean that up and you are doing a great job in doing that. And let me make this clear. There is a
[3:37:50]big difference between what happened under the Biden regime and the weaponization and then holding those people accountable. That is not
[3:38:00]weaponization. If that doesn't happen, this will happen all over again. So your job, as you talked about in your confirmation hearing, is so important that this never happens again. and
[3:38:10]holding people account who are part of this conspiracy is absolutely your job. And I'm also taking, you don't have to comment on this, your um unwillingness to answer
[3:38:20]questions that have come up. I am led to believe as a former attorney general that that might mean there's an ongoing investigation. You don't have to talk about it. The statute of limitations may have run on some of this stuff, but not
[3:38:31]on a conspiracy. And if you're a co-conspirator in mile marker 1, even if you want to get on the exit ramp in mile marker 5, you are liable for the conspiracy in mile marker 10.
[3:38:43]And we are at mile marker 10. And I will also say what's happening in this country, what's happening with the assault on ICE officers is truly
[3:38:53]shocking. Deportations are nothing new. Bill Clinton deported 12 million people. 12 million people. You didn't see this. The radicalization that's happened on
[3:39:04]the left that plays out with political violence is real. And by the way, let me also point out that if we had a scenario where John Thoon was on the Supreme Court steps
[3:39:15]saying, "You've reaped a whirlwind Supreme Court justices and then a right-wing assassin tried to kill Ruth Bader Ginsburg and then a Republicanapp
[3:39:25]appointed judges judge only gave that person eight years, there would be riots on the streets. cities would be burning right now. So, let's just call it out.
[3:39:37]We need the cleansing here. Let's just be truthful about what's happening. This leftwing political alliance of violence is not a both sides thing. It's not. And so, um, Attorney General, I do want to
[3:39:48]ask you a couple questions about that because I I feel like, um, we have got to get a handle on this. Despite the overwhelming evidence that the political violence threat right now comes
[3:39:58]primarily from the left, the media just won't do it. They won't go along with it. They make they cite a few ridiculous studies to say that right-wing political violence is the main problem. For example, one of those studies was
[3:40:09]written by an Antifa affiliated professor and others count classes on prison gang got and and the others count classes on prison gang violence as
[3:40:20]right-wing political violence but refused to count anything from the 2020 summer of love. Antifa attacks like the no ones that set off um the explosive
[3:40:30]outside Michael No's campus speech. Um, we need good data. We need good data here. Um, will you commit to having the
[3:40:41]Department of Justice and the FBI research and release a public report on left-wing political violence? >> Yes, Senator Schmidt.
[3:40:50]>> Thank you. Um, I also want to um after Antifa has laid siege on federal buildings and officers in Portland during the 2020 riots, your predecessor,
[3:41:01]Merrick Garland, dropped virtually all the cases against these defendants. You recently issued a uh a new charging memo instructing federal prosecutors to
[3:41:11]aggressively pursue Antifa and other radical leftists wreaking havoc on our cities. What can you do to ensure that the various US attorneys offices follow
[3:41:22]through on your instructions? >> Hopefully, we will have our US attorneys confirmed soon. They've been held up. Now, our government is in a shutdown.
[3:41:33]Yet, our prosecutors are still working. Getting all of our US attorneys confirmed would be a huge step forward, Senator Schmidt. But yes, our our attorneys throughout this country will be focusing on that.
[3:41:44]>> And I want to thank you, too. So um I talked to you during your confirmation hearing and also with Cash Patel of sort of you you talked about your your two um pillars which is to end the weaponization and to get back to
[3:41:55]actually crime fighting. God bless like that is something that the American people support despite what you hear from the other side of the dis um today. And in those conversations we talked
[3:42:05]about you and and and Cash Patel getting field agents out on the field and doing the work of law enforcement. I said I've got just the place for you. St. Louis and St. Louis has now received the
[3:42:15]largest per capita infusion of FBI a permanent FBI agents anywhere in the country and they're working handinhand with local law enforcement. That's what happens when you have state leaders work with federal partners to crack down on
[3:42:27]something I hope we could all agree is a scourge for our communities which is violent crime. But that is not you know JB Pritsker I guess he wants his moment this Portland these Portland people want
[3:42:38]their moment of defying Trump. It's crazy to me. We should all be unified in this effort of take of of making sure our laws are enforced and taking on
[3:42:49]violent crime. But I will say in in closing with this, because you referenced the shutdown, it's the same motivation, the same thing that motivates JB Pritsker to stand in
[3:42:59]front of the podium and defy Trump is the same motivation I hear from my Democrat colleagues now in this shutdown. It's not about anything other than the fact, and there's this is a clean CR. This is what they have
[3:43:11]lectured us on making sure we do 13 times in the last four years. This is about appeasing an increasingly radical base to prove that they're willing to
[3:43:21]stand up to President Trump. And I don't know how we get through all this unless there's a real reckoning on the other side about that reality. But in the meantime, I'm glad you're doing what
[3:43:32]your job is, which is to be the chief law enforcement officer of this country, focusing on violent crime and keeping our communities safe. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Senator Schmidt. And despite
[3:43:44]what they're saying on the other side of the aisle, our agents are out there working tirelessly every day to make America safe. And that was Donald Trump's directive, and we will make it
[3:43:55]happen. >> Thank you, Senator Senator Schmidt. Senator Welch. Uh thank you. Thank you uh Attorney General Bondi. Um I have noticed that at various times when one
[3:44:06]of our my colleagues is pressing you, you come up with something in their background. Uh so I'll be waiting for my turn, but you don't have to do it right now.
[3:44:16]So let me get to my questions. Uh, one of the things that you mentioned and I agree with this that it's really tough on the various federal uh federal workforce including our law enforcement
[3:44:28]folks uh who are not getting paid because of the shutdown. >> I I agree with that. Um, but I also think that wasn't the whole story. There
[3:44:38]is an issue here that's going to affect Americans whether they voted for President Trump or voted for uh Vice President Harris and that is the loss of
[3:44:48]health care where on November 1st everyone who is getting affordable uh Care Act help to buy insurance uh is going to get the notice of premium
[3:44:58]increases. And I got a letter just today from a Vermont family, nuclear family of five, uh, husband and wife, 54 and 55
[3:45:08]with three kids, uh, one of whom has acute myoid leukemia. And the apprehension that they have is
[3:45:19]that if we don't solve this problem and November one is a urgent date, then their family premiums will triple. it'll
[3:45:30]be beyond their ability to pay. So, I'm assuming that with respect to the threat to health care for families
[3:45:40]in your state of Florida, in my state of Vermont, you would share that concern and hope that we would resolve that. Senator Senator Welsh, I would be happy
[3:45:50]to speak with that family, too, because there are many nonprofits that help with children with terminal illnesses and I'm involved in some in Florida. So, we would be happy to to talk to you about
[3:46:01]that. As to health care, the government is shut down. It's my understanding maybe you're not one of them, but because many Democrats want health care for illegal aliens, and that's what shut down the government.
[3:46:12]>> Let me let me be clear. >> That's one of the sticking points, and I I don't know if you voted. >> All right. Well, let me this this actually is important to all of us and the lament I have is that if this health
[3:46:22]care goes away, this premium support, it is really going to hurt families in red states and blue states. And in
[3:46:33]Vermont, I mean, we voted u Democratic, but we have a lot of good folks who voted for President Trump and their healthcare is jeopardized. And there's a
[3:46:42]November one deadline that is coming up. And the reason I'm saying this is that I think it's important for us to try to work out together a resolution that's going to be beneficial to people you
[3:46:53]care about in Florida and voted for President Trump and people I care about in Vermont who voted in some cases for Vice President Harris and some for uh
[3:47:03]for President Trump. So, it's not just Democrats not wanting to negotiate. And in fact, we do want to negotiate. And that's why I'd encourage the president
[3:47:14]to encourage our my colleagues on the Republican side to sit down with us and try to see if we can make some progress.
[3:47:22]Another topic um with the respective voting rights in the letter that your voting rights uh chief sent out. We got one in Vermont and it's a demand to get
[3:47:34]uh all the information on the voting file and in that letter the uh or in the announcement of that letter uh the chief
[3:47:45]indicated an apprehension about the voting process being taken over by quote the left. Now, do you have any information with respect to Vermont
[3:47:57]about a takeover of the voting process by quote the left? >> Senator, I'm not familiar with what you're referring to. We are currently
[3:48:08]involved in voter role lawsuits in six states. Is that what you're referring to? >> No, you there's a letter that went out demanding that states, including
[3:48:17]Vermont, provide all the voting file information, includes personal information. But when that letter was sent out, >> that's perfectly legal. >> But there was an assertion by the chief
[3:48:29]in this division that this was to deal with the fact that the voting process has been taken over by the left. So we got one of those letters in Vermont. And
[3:48:40]my question to you is, what do you mean by the left? And do you have any evidence that the so-called system has been overtaken by the left? We must have
[3:48:52]fair and free elections. >> No, no, I know that, but I'm asking for the specific basis >> and we will have fair and free elections in this country. Okay, >> Senator, I'd be happy to talk to my
[3:49:04]chief. Who who was it who said that? >> It was it was your chief, which I assume you would know who's who that is. >> Here's the question here. Okay, there is
[3:49:14]a point of view that is in dispute here about the fairness of elections and but you have the power as the US at
[3:49:25]as the attorney general to use the authority of your office to make demands on states and you did that with Vermont. That's within your right to do it. I'm
[3:49:35]not disputing your legal authority to do it. >> Is Vermont disputing turning over the information to our office? Vermont is, the Secretary of State is, and you can resolve that with her. But,
[3:49:46]>> and we have every right to have that information. Here's where I'm going. Why wouldn't they want to turn it over? >> You're a prosecutor with the awesome authority to make the decision that you're going to start an investigation
[3:49:57]against the state or against an individual. And I know from your experience as a county prosecutor and as the attorney general in Florida, you
[3:50:08]took seriously that obligation to have a factual basis before you'd proceed. Right, >> Senator? I take that
[3:50:16]role. I take my oath very seriously. So, and I take fair and free elections in this country very seriously. And that information, our office is entitled to
[3:50:26]have that information. And we are involved in litigation on that. And I think we're involved in litigation with Vermont. >> We have a Republican governor in Vermont.
[3:50:36]>> We had our former Republican governor uh was secretary was was the treasurer for many years and also the secretary of state with with election responsibility.
[3:50:48]What I'm asking is, do you or does your uh head of this voting section have any factual basis that you can point to that
[3:50:58]justifies your demand that Vermont turn over all this confidential voting rights information? >> Well, it would remain confidential with
[3:51:08]my office and you just said that you have a Republican governor. So, you're it doesn't make sense what you just said. We've asked that of every state, Senator.
[3:51:18]>> Right. And I'm I'm asking about Vermont, what the factual basis is, but we we can move on. the uh you know you've mentioned that you can't discuss pending
[3:51:29]litigation and I think the committee by and large accepted that answer but I did notice that you spoke at great length about pending litigation specifically
[3:51:39]with respect to the questions Senator Cruz asked you about the sentencing of the Kavanaaugh defendant that's pending right >> he was sentenced to eight years
[3:51:50]>> I understand that but that's on appeal right >> we will appealing, >> right? So that makes it pending litigation. So you made an exception with respect to the Cruz questions, but
[3:52:01]you didn't answer any of the questions that you said were pending litigation from any of my colleagues. >> Those were facts that came out at the sentencing hearing. You're welcome to
[3:52:12]see the transcript of the sentencing hearing with all the gruesome details of what they threatened to do to >> Justice Kavanaaugh and other justices. >> I I condemn what that person did. That was a sentencing.
[3:52:23]>> But the point here is that that's pending litigation. You indicated you're going to be appealing. It's your right to do that. And you would not you you
[3:52:35]use that justification to not answer many other questions. >> Justification. You're an attorney, Senator. >> Okay. >> You realize that. >> I do want to go back to Homeman. You
[3:52:46]know, there's a tape right with Mr. Hman. I mean, first of all, is there a tape and that has audio and video of the transfer of the 50,000?
[3:52:57]>> You would have to talk to Director Patel about that. >> No, I'm I I'm talking to you. >> I don't know the answer, Senator. >> You do know the answer to that. >> Don't call me a liar. >> I didn't call you a liar.
[3:53:07]>> You just said I know the answer. I said I don't know the answer. You have to talk to Director Patel. What I said is that investigosed. If you don't know, why don't you know
[3:53:17]whether there was a tape and video? >> Senator, I believe that was resolved prior to my confirmation as attorney general.
[3:53:28]>> Do you think that it is of public interest for the people to know what happened to the 50 grand that the FBI turned over to Homeman? >> Did you hear what I just said? That was
[3:53:37]resolved prior to my confirmation as attorney general. That's why I said I would not go first. >> It's not resolved. There's $50,000.
[3:53:47]H Homeman has it or somebody has it. Do you have no interest in knowing where it is? >> You're not going to sit here and slander Tom Hman. Um the FBI and Deputy Director
[3:53:59]Blanch said there was nothing. >> I'm not slamming Tom Hman. He got to 50. Tom Hman is doing how do you know that Tom Hman is doing a great job as our borders are keeping your border state
[3:54:10]safe. You're a border state. >> Thank you, Senator Welch. We're going to Madam President. Can I have one minute? >> Not right now. At the end, if you wait before personal privilege,
[3:54:20]>> not right now there Senator Tis and many others have been waiting your turn. >> I know, but this is one minute and it relates to testimony that she gave about me. >> Senator Tillis, go ahead.
[3:54:31]>> Thank you, Madam Chair. General Bondi, thank you for being here. I'm I'm gonna get parochial for a bit of time. Maybe I have some time for some of the other questions, but
[3:54:41]>> um the Easter B of the Cherokee is this island that's at the very end of western North Carolina. You got convergence of Tennessee and and
[3:54:53]Georgia, South Carolina nearby, but they're an island and they sell pot and I got no problem with that.
[3:55:00]Um, what I have a problem with is some of their actions or activities that are I think concerning me that that actually speak to the broader issue here about
[3:55:11]marijuana and what we ultimately do with it with nearly three dozen states having it either medical, recreational or or
[3:55:19]hybrid. Um, but this this kind of feels like to me the way the the tobacco industry got attacked for advertising to
[3:55:30]young people. We already know, incidentally, that we got a vape problem around here, particularly among young people. Madam Chair, if I may, I'd like
[3:55:39]to uh seek unanimous consent for letters from the Sheriff's Association and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation citing the
[3:55:49]serious problem we have here with vape illegal vapes in this country. >> Without objection. >> Thank you. Um but you know, this is just this worries me because it's a money-making enterprise. It kind of
[3:56:01]seems like it's preying on younger people. But then uh want to talk about this handy app you can get now. Now it's illegal in North Carolina
[3:56:11]and Tennessee and Georgia and South Carolina uh to buy a pot, but apparently you can go order it on an app and ride over there to the boundary and get it. I
[3:56:23]assume I assume that they're not delivering it outside of the boundary because I think that would be illegal. Would that be illegal? Senator, thank you for pointing that
[3:56:34]out. I was not familiar with that app, but we will certainly look at that. >> Yeah. Do you uh I if if I get let's say I get an illegal uh let's get a vape
[3:56:45]from China. A lot of them are manufactured in China. Not >> to anywhere near the sort of scrutiny that we have here in the United States. If that illegal vape get let's say it's
[3:56:57]I I don't know what it's loaded with but it gets load if it's illegal in the state of North Carolina and let's say it comes in I'm using hypothetical example into the port of Wilmington uh and then
[3:57:08]finds its way to New York or some other state that has legalized marijuana is that anal illegal transportation of a controlled substance in other unless it
[3:57:19]unless it teleports into a legal jurisdiction Wouldn't it have been illegally transported at some point >> based on federal law, Senator?
[3:57:28]>> Based on federal law. Okay. Now, do you uh are you familiar with the uh the science of teleportation? >> No, Senator,
[3:57:39]>> I don't think it's been perfected yet. Um and so it it requires a physical movement from one place to the other. I've asked a number of people when they've come before this committee and hopefully I can get your attention on
[3:57:50]this too, General Bondi. There's a growing operation in western North Carolina that is a part of the tribal
[3:57:59]lands. They uh the problem is I can't find any legal way to get this pot that has
[3:58:11]grown here to the dispensary that's in another non-ontiguous area of the boundary. So you see what I mean? I I'm just trying to figure out how the
[3:58:21]Eastern Band of the Cherokee are legally transporting what they're growing at scale here to what they're advertising in Charlotte on the billboards as one of
[3:58:32]the country's largest dispensaries and apparently also offering to let you buy it online. So, can I get your commitment within the DOJ, not you personally, but
[3:58:44]that can can I just get a definitive answer that there's no there there that they are legally transporting it or that we do have something here that doesn't seem to comport with federal law?
[3:58:55]>> Yes, Senator, I will absolutely have my team look at that issue and I'm not familiar with that establishment. >> Yeah. Well, it's uh you know, like I said, it's an island. I I don't I I
[3:59:07]really think the federal government needs to step up. We need to get rid of this neither fish nor foul sort of status that marijuana has in this country. Now, I think the people have
[3:59:17]spoken. Many red states uh even your home state, my home state um uh has uh I think probably many states, I should say, not just the
[3:59:29]state of Florida, are trending towards legalizing it. We've got to get it solved at the federal level. We've got to capture revenue. That revenue needs to go back to federal law enforcement. And we need to have a lot more focus on
[3:59:40]what I think are unsafe and inconsistent practices across the state. So, if I could get that, I would appreciate it. I um General Bondi, I'm a I'm kind of a
[3:59:50]boring management consultant uh nerd that believes in best practices as a way to to kind of uh move forward
[4:00:00]and and and create consistent outcomes. I'm having a real struggle right now with the National Guard being deployed
[4:00:09]and masking the abject failure of leaders at the state and local level. So give me some sense of if if we if if the
[4:00:20]deployment of the National Guard to Chicago or Portland is necessary to kind of create a shock to the system, do you believe that that's a best practice or
[4:00:30]just a necessary evil until we regen the extraordinary work I've seen on joint task forces every day in North Carolina with absolute cooperation between state,
[4:00:42]federal, and uh local officials. Is that is that the best practice that we should get to or is this deployment of the National Guard a part of an emerging
[4:00:51]best practice that I just don't get yet? >> Senator Tillis, seeing what's happening in Chicago, they need the National Guard. Our ICE members need the National
[4:01:02]Guard to protect the National buildings. >> Oh, 100%. I I'm talking about when you when it wads into the local law enforcement. So, I felt like deployment in in uh in DC made sense because of the
[4:01:13]hybrid nature of DC. What I'm saying is outside of that defending federal buildings and federal law enforcement, addressing I think you mentioned over 500 murders in Chicago. It would just
[4:01:24]seem to me that all those bums should be thrown out in an election. And are we masking an underlying problem that will come back the minute we leave? That's what I'm talking about. not not the protection of federal buildings and
[4:01:35]federal law enforcement officers, but almost the sense of they become an arm of local law enforcement. I don't I don't consider that a best practice. It doesn't sound like you do either. >> Well, I don't believe our National Guard
[4:01:46]want to be doing that, but they're going to be where they have to be to keep Americans safe. In Memphis right now, the highest violent crime rate in the country, I was on the ground with
[4:01:56]Secretary Hegsth there and our guard was there and they were thrilled. They're ready to help and we used all Tennessee Guard there. Secretary Hud Seth used all Tennessee Guard. They're working hand
[4:02:07]inand with the Memphis Police Department who I believe were very happy to have them there helping them to keep Memphis safe. C can I go back to the the vaping
[4:02:17]again that you brought up, please, Senator? So, I went to um I went to Chicago actually with Secretary Kennedy and we it was just outside of Chicago in
[4:02:29]a suburb and we were there talking about the illegal vapes and what parents need to know, this is a bipartisan issue. What people need to know, these illegal vapes, they're all over this country.
[4:02:40]You can buy them in convenience stores. You can buy them in grocery stores. One vape is the equivalent of, I believe, 20 cigarettes. The flavored ones are
[4:02:51]illegal and they're targeting children. What you said earlier, some of these vapes, and I had never seen this until we were there, even have video games attached to them. That's not targeting
[4:03:01]an adult. It's targeting a child. And they're also the majority are coming in from China, which is illegal, and they're lacing them with THC. Now, right
[4:03:12]now, I can't say that I have seen deaths with fentanyl laced, but we want to get on the front end of this because that's what's next. >> If we don't control this in every single
[4:03:24]one of our states, >> that's what's next. And for the first time, we're getting on the front end of a very serious problem around our country. And and Senator Moody, you fought this as well. So, thank you for
[4:03:36]letting me address that, Senator. I >> And parents need to know that >> uh we do. we we need to focus on it and uh and and all I'm saying from a political standpoint
[4:03:47]is that if we're only well let's President Trump is termed out he'll only be able to serve us uh serve out his second term and I believe the president is
[4:03:59]absolutely focused on making these dangerous cities safer. Um I reject any notion that Charlotte's on that list by the way. So whether you're a Democrat or Republican, bring it on.
[4:04:11]But I see three and a half years from now if we don't address the systemic problems that what we've basically done is given a governor and mayor and city councilman a pass on failing to protect
[4:04:22]their people. I was formerly speaker of the house of North Carolina. If I thought I had to have the president deploy troops to keep North Carolina safe, I would have considered myself a
[4:04:32]failure as a state leader. And so I just hope we strike the balance so that we're not we're not fixing a problem temporarily only to to come back maybe
[4:04:44]even worse than the problem we're fixing the moment this president who's committed to local safety leaves. And that's something that we have to talk about. So we're leaving something behind and I'm going to yield back. Thank you.
[4:04:55]>> You Senator Tillis. Senator Schiff. >> Uh thank you Madam Chair. Attorney General Bondi, at your confirmation hearing in January, made a clear commitment you would not politicize your position. We are here today at your
[4:05:07]first oversight hearing nine months into your tenure at a time when hundreds of career prosecutors have quit because they were required to take unethical actions at odds with that promise or
[4:05:18]feared that they would have to take such actions if they remained on the job. when over a thousand former federal prosecutors have sounded the alarm about the unprecedented degree to which the
[4:05:30]powers of DOJ are being abused to go after the president's enemies. I approached this hearing with a heavy heart. As a former federal prosecutor myself, I served in a department that
[4:05:41]whether it was under a Democratic or Republican president, would never use the office to go after the president's enemies or to hide the corruption of his friends. But today, the Justice
[4:05:52]Department has been used to cover up the possible corruption of the mayor of New York or of a high level administration official taking $50,000 reportedly in
[4:06:01]cash in a bag or a child sex predator who befriended the president and some of his cabinet members. And instead of preventing partisan weaponization, your
[4:06:11]department has engaged in a brazenly political prosecution at the president's explicit direction. The department has become President
[4:06:20]Trump's personal sword and shield to go after his ever growing list of political enemies and to protect himself, his allies and associates.
[4:06:31]My questions therefore focus on these two themes, hiding the corrupt acts of his friends and prioritizing the political prosecution of his enemies. So, let me start with the shocking
[4:06:42]allegations of bribery and paytoplay. Two weeks ago, four major media outlets reported that Tom Holman, the president's top deportation official
[4:06:52]working in the White House, took 50,000 in cash in a bag from undercover FBI agents in September 2024, just over a
[4:07:02]year ago. According to these reports, Hman indicated he would facilitate securing contracts in exchange for money once he was in office in a future Trump administration.
[4:07:13]Reportedly, this exchange was caught on tape. Rather than pursue this investigation without fear or favor, the department and the FBI under your leadership or that of your predecessor before you confirmed, quietly shut it
[4:07:25]down. Once news broke, your deputy and FBI director issued a joint public statement confirming that the Trump administration closed the investigation. White House press secretary Caroline
[4:07:36]Levitt denied Homeman took the 50,000, telling a reporter, quote, "Mr. Hman never took the $50,000 that you're referring to, so you should get your
[4:07:46]facts straight. So today, I hope you can help us get our facts straight. Was that true what the White House press secretary said when she denied home and
[4:07:57]took the money? Did he take the money? >> Senator Schiff, as I stated earlier, I was not in office. I was not confirmed
[4:08:08]when that was handled. So, does that mean >> Deputy Attorney General Blanch and Director Patel said that there was no
[4:08:17]evidence that Tom Hman committed a crime, yet now you're putting his picture up to slander him? >> No, I'm putting I'm putting his picture up showing an interview he gave with I
[4:08:29]think Fox >> in which he was act explicitly about these allegations that he took a $50,000 bribe and he refused to answer. He said
[4:08:40]he didn't answer the question whether he took the money. So I'm asking you the question, did he take the money? >> Senator Schiff, I answered that question multiple times. And frankly, you know,
[4:08:50]>> well, I I I don't think with respect, I don't think you did, but in case I just didn't hear you, >> what is the answer? Did he take the money?
[4:08:59]>> Senator Schiff, that happened prior to my confirmation as I said that. Do you know sitting here where we >> all I know is that deputy attorney
[4:09:10]general Todd Blanch and FBI Director Patel said there was no case and Caroline Levit is one of the most
[4:09:19]trustworthy human beings I know you know if you work for me you would have been fired because you were c censured by Congress for lying with your
[4:09:29]>> We can stipulate to you can stipulate to all your personal attacks on the Democratic members of the committee >> personal attacks you've been attacking my FBI director. You've been attacking my office because you've been attacked. But what we're interested in are what
[4:09:41]we're interested in is the answer to these oversight questions. >> Your colleague you were asked by attacking good people. >> A regular order, Madam Chair, so I can ask a question. You were asked by my
[4:09:53]colleague from Vermont whether you will support providing a video or audio tape if it exists of Mr. Mr. Holman taking 50,000 in bribe money from the FBI. Will
[4:10:04]you support a request by this committee to provide that taper tapes to the committee? Yes or no? >> Senator Schiff, you can talk to Director Patel about that. >> Well, I'm talking to you about it.
[4:10:14]You're you're the you're the attorney general. This will be your decision. >> Will you support? >> You have to tell me what is my decision, what is not my decision. I said, "You don't have to try to
[4:10:25]>> You can You think you got a gotcha with Tom Hol and our borders who's been out there fighting for our country since Donald Trump took office?" >> I'm trying to ask a question. Regular
[4:10:35]order, please. Uh, and you don't have to defer to the FBI director to pass the buck. So, I'm asking you, will you support a request so that the committee or indeed I believe the American people
[4:10:47]should be able to see that video or audio tape. Will you support that request? Will you apologize to Donald Trump? >> I guess the answer is you won't support the >> after you now know that Joe Biden tried
[4:10:58]to cover up Hunter Biden's involvement with you. >> Excuse me. Let me let me do this because I think it's it's valuable that the American people get a sense of
[4:11:09]of what you've refused to answer today. So these are just some of the questions you refused to answer but or have answered with personal attacks on members of this committee. You were asked whether you consulted with career
[4:11:21]ethics lawyers as you promised you would do during your nomination hearing when you approved the president receiving a 400 million dollar gift from the Qataris. You refused to answer that
[4:11:31]question. You were asked what who or what role you may have played or who played the role in asking that Trump's name be flagged in any of the Epstein
[4:11:41]documents gathered by the FBI. You refused to answer that question. You were asked whether H Homeman kept the $50,000 bribe money. You refused to answer that question. You were asked
[4:11:52]whether Homeman paid taxes on the $50,000 bribe money. You refused to answer that question. You were asked, "Did career prosecutors find insufficient evidence to charge
[4:12:03]James Comey." You refused to answer that question. You were asked, "How are military strikes on these boats in the Caribbean legal?" And you refused to even ask
[4:12:14]answer that question. You were asked, excuse me, excuse me. >> Um, you were asked, did you discuss indicting James Comey with the president? You refused to answer that question. You were asked, "Did you
[4:12:26]approve the firing of antitrust lawyers who disagreed with the Hila Packard merger?" You refused to answer that question. You were asked whether you support a restoration fund
[4:12:37]for violent insurrections. Insurrections to attack the capital on January 6. You refused to answer that question. You were asked whether you were firing career professionals, career prosecutors, just because they worked on
[4:12:48]January 6 question, the January 6th investigations. You refused to answer that question. You were asked by my California colleague whether you believe government officials like immigration
[4:12:58]officials have to abide by court orders. You wouldn't even answer that question. This is supposed to be an oversight hearing. >> Oversight.
[4:13:08]>> These Excuse me. You can attack me after my time is over. >> You've attacked all of us, including first. >> You can attack me later. And I I know you've got plenty of candid attacks.
[4:13:18]We've heard them all day today. >> This is This is supposed to regular order. Madam Chair, I'm trying to speak. >> This is supposed to be an oversight
[4:13:28]hearing of the Justice Department, and it comes in the wake of an indictment called for by the president of one of his enemies. This is supposed to be an oversight
[4:13:38]hearing and it comes in the wake of revelations that a top administration official took $50,000 in a bag and this department made that investigation go away.
[4:13:50]This is supposed to be an oversight hearing when dozens of prosecutors have been fired simply because they worked on cases investigating the former president. This is and now the current president
[4:14:01]>> buyers in California and this is supposed to be this is excuse me this is supposed to be an oversight hearing in which members of Congress can get
[4:14:11]serious answers to serious questions about the riots in LA about the cover up of corruption about the prosecution of the president's
[4:14:22]enemies >> and I think you when will it be when will it be when will it be that the members of this committee on a bipartisan basis demand answers to those
[4:14:34]questions and and refuse to accept lawyers accept someone can and cannot refuse to accept personal slander as an answer to those questions.
[4:14:45]>> Personal slander apologize to Donald Trump for slandering him. Personal slander. Senator. Um, >> may I ask unanimous consent, Madam Chair, uh, to introduce in the record
[4:14:57]the statement of a thousand former Justice Department officials who warned that the Comey indictment is a democracy threatening abuse of power. May I also request unanimous consent for the
[4:15:08]introduction to the record of 282 former career officials at the Justice Department raising the alarm who were voluntarily or involuntarily forced to
[4:15:19]leave the department because of improper actions taken by the Department of Justice. May I introduce with unanimous consent the Justice Department manual that talks about when initiating and
[4:15:30]declining charges are subject to impermissible considerations. And finally, Madam Chair, may I introduce the letter from Michael Ben Ary, a
[4:15:40]career counterterrorism prosecutor, DOJ, a letter he nailed to his door, uh, which concludes by urging officials
[4:15:51]to do the right thing for the right reasons, to follow the facts on the law, and raises the alarm that the decision to remove experienced career officials from US attorneys offices, the FBI, and
[4:16:02]critical parts of DOJ J undermines our country's abilities to counter terrorist organizations, malign nation state actors, and countless others that seek to harm our nation and its citizens.
[4:16:14]>> And he believes that the the priority is prosecuting the president or are you in rather than protecting the country? >> May I have unanimous consent to enter these into the record?
[4:16:25]>> Without objection. >> Thank you. I yield back. >> Senator Brown Senator Moody, may I clarify one thing he entered in the record? I I just want to say that I believe he he entered a letter by
[4:16:36]200 and something former employees. Well, I believe the spokesperson for that letter was also the spokesperson for Jack Smith. Senator Britt. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. General Bondi, I
[4:16:48]want to talk to you about the next generation. I want to talk to you about our kids, people who don't have a seat at the table, but need us to fight for them tirelessly. When you look at this, I see a couple of different buckets of
[4:17:00]ways that bad actors are taking advantage of our children and in some of the most extreme situations uh we lose that child. Uh whether to death or to to self harm and um I think we owe it to
[4:17:11]them to do something about it. So first is social media. Um tell me what are you doing? I have I have said across from a number of parents who have talked to me
[4:17:22]about their child either falling victim to sexion um different schemes that are online. We also know that there is an element of human trafficking that comes here. I'd love let's start with social
[4:17:34]media. What are you doing to hold bad actors accountable to track them down and to keep our kids safe? >> Senator, first thank you for for
[4:17:44]bringing that up. This, I believe, is what an oversight hearing should be about. Thank you. >> Not yell. Oh, he's gone already. He comes in and leaves. Um, that this is what an oversight hearing should be
[4:17:55]about. Trying to help parents and children online. Yes, Director Patel has been doing a great job, the FBI, we have an entire unit. Not
[4:18:06]only that, our national security division is working internationally. Well, and I I want to talk about that too because I think a lot of this comes from overseas and so whether it's these
[4:18:18]schemes, the extortion schemes, etc., it's happening off our shorts. H how are you connecting the dots there? And then additionally, let's look at human trafficking and you find a number of times people are lured into this from
[4:18:29]post on social media. I believe that that is a global uh trafficking ring. I I would like to speak too to what are you doing to make sure that you're holding those people accountable and getting to the bottom of it, finding bad
[4:18:41]actors and making sure that we're keeping these children safe. >> Senator Britt, we have made countless cases around this country and many of them have involved global
[4:18:52]international defendants. In fact, we've been extraditing some of them back. As many as we can get, we're bringing them back to this country. That's how we're holding them accountable and locking them up for as long as we humanly can
[4:19:03]lock them up. And Director Patel, our national security division have been working tirelessly on that. We have entire units working on that. I think the most >> You feel like you've made uh better
[4:19:14]strides than we saw over the last four years. >> We have made incredible strides. I'm sorry I don't have the statistics in front of me, but yes, we have made I will I'll get those from you. I want to make sure that we are doing that. I also
[4:19:25]obviously have worked um diligently alongside Senator Blackburn and so many others to put the proper guardrails in place when it comes to social media to prevent these things from happening to
[4:19:36]our children, allowing them to still thrive online, but knowing the threats that are out there. It is encumbered upon us um to actually do something about it. So, I hope that those uh different pieces of legislation that
[4:19:47]would help keep kids safe, help give you additional tools. I hope that this body uh and ultimately Congress will take those up. C can can I add something to that? Sure. >> That parents also I always say your
[4:19:58]child has no right to privacy on the internet and parents need to monitor what their kids are doing. Now we we all know that even elementary kids, school
[4:20:08]kids, so many of them have cell phones >> because they're at school. They're lashkkey kids. They're coming riding the bus home. So many children have cell phones. But parents, you have to monitor. There are safeguards you can
[4:20:19]put on the phone, but you have to monitor what kids are doing on the internet. >> I do think that there is some accountability that needs to be held even with social media providers because I I know that for instance, we had a uh
[4:20:30]judiciary subcommittee hearing where we heard from parent after parent whose child had, you know, bought something online that they thought to be maybe a different type of drug. It was laced
[4:20:41]with fentanyl and they died. that was happening on a storefront and a small business in America, we would shut that storefront down. We must do more to hold not only the bad actors online, but also the people who allow it to happen
[4:20:53]accountable. And I hope that you'll commit to work with me on that. >> I wholeheartedly agree. Thank you so much. >> Staying in that vein on on parents, looking at illegal gaming across um
[4:21:04]again, this is a a global thing, offshore illegal gaming. We have found that young men in particular have been targeted uh when it comes to betting and
[4:21:15]being involved in this legal gaming. We're finding that through uh whether it be advertisements or or um things that are directly targeted to get them addicted and get get them pulled in and
[4:21:25]addicted on that. when it comes to illegal gaming, will you commit to me to taking a look at what is exactly happening offshore and also um how they
[4:21:35]are utilizing different spaces to actually go after our children, getting them addicted and ultimately pulling them in. >> Certainly. And I'm also sure the FBI would would welcome working with you.
[4:21:46]>> Wonderful. And then last but not least on that same vein, and you touched on it earlier when one of my colleagues asked you about this, but vaping. So, if you're a parent and you're sitting here
[4:21:55]looking, Chinese vapes have um this is a real issue. You spoke a little bit about what you are worried will come next in this space. What are you doing to get to
[4:22:07]the bottom of that and how are we going to make sure that these don't infiltrate our markets and ultimately don't end up in the hands of our children? What we've been doing is we have been going around
[4:22:17]this country and we have been raiding these vape shops that are carrying these illegal drugs and shutting them down. And that's what Senator Kennedy and I were in Illinois doing. We were
[4:22:28]announcing that arrest. It was a massive arrest of illegal vapes from around from China, mainly coming in through China laced with THC. Back to the I I was just
[4:22:38]handed that back to the um back to the child predators. Since January 20th, we have made 2580
[4:22:48]child exploitation cases. Senator Brit, that was the number I was trying to get my hands on. >> Wow. >> And that's 250 more than last year. >> Will you commit to continuing um to go
[4:23:00]after these unregulated products and and particularly make sure that they are not in the hands of our children? Yeah, and Senator Brit, we need to do that because it's targeting our children. Yes, absolutely.
[4:23:10]>> Thank you very much. Um, today is obviously the uh second anniversary of the horrific horrific attacks um on
[4:23:19]October 7th. And this morning I had an opportunity to listen to stories of some individuals that had been held hostage. Some of the families that will never get
[4:23:30]their loved ones back and some that are hoping that there is a resolution soon and they once again get to embrace their family member that they have not seen in
[4:23:39]over 700 days. It was a reminder of um one of them said, you know, I can live. I can breathe, but I I can't live
[4:23:49]until this is resolved. And we know in addition to this horror and nightmare that they have been living for the past two years, we have seen a rise in
[4:23:58]anti-semitism here on our our soil. Um we whenever when we said never again, never again actually has to mean never again. And I know that you and I spoke
[4:24:09]about this briefly when you were in front of this committee, but can you talk to me about the work that DOJ is doing to combat that rise in
[4:24:18]anti-semitism and to hold offenders of that um to to hold them accountable. >> And Senator Brit, thank you for for again bringing up that today is the
[4:24:28]second anniversary of that horrific attack on Israel. Donald Trump is the greatest peace president of our lifetime, probably in our history. And
[4:24:39]if anyone can resolve this, it will be Donald Trump. I've also met with many of the families um of the hostages and of
[4:24:49]those who have lost loved ones. We are combating anti-semitism throughout this country, not only through my civil rights division. And we haven't really talked about Harit Dylan a lot today,
[4:25:01]but Har Dylan runs our civil rights division and she is working with Leo Terrell and they are combating anti-semitism around this country. We have an anti-semitism task force that we're forming.
[4:25:12]>> Do you mind getting me an update on the progress that that task force has made, please? Sure. >> Okay. Thank you. And um last in in my last remaining minute um certainly appreciate the work that you're doing. I
[4:25:24]know my my colleague Senator Lee already asked you about the attacks on ICE off. Thank you for working to keep our federal agents safe, federal law enforcement safe. So thank you for the
[4:25:35]work that you're doing there. Um I do want to just talk a little bit about crime in American cities. We had a um horrific event occur in Montgomery,
[4:25:45]Alabama over uh the weekend and 14 people, two people are no longer with us and 12 people injured. My heart breaks for every one of the victims and their
[4:25:56]families and the community at large. I'd like to know a little bit about your inter agency work and talk to me about things that you find because we have to find solutions in this space. um this
[4:26:07]cannot keep happening. And what are you seeing that is, you know, your biggest success stories and your biggest challenges you have to working to try to resolve crime um throughout the country?
[4:26:19]>> Well, right now the the biggest challenge is that the federal government is shut down, but we're not letting that become a challenge because all of our agents are working tirelessly. And I get almost real time updates from my
[4:26:30]agencies, Rob Sakata, who's the deputy director of ATF, Cash Battel, and Dan Bonino at FBI, Terry Cole, excuse me, at DEA, Gaddy Serala with our US marshals,
[4:26:42]and all of our great team of lawyers. And we are working non-stop to combat crime. That's Donald Trump's only directive to me is to make America safe again. And that's what we're going to do in this country. Senator Britt,
[4:26:54]>> well, thank you for your commitment and any best practices you have or ways that you have found to tackle challenges that are effective. Um, you know, please let us know. We certainly want to see every community across our state and our
[4:27:06]country safe and we appreciate yours and President Trump's commitment to doing that. >> Thank you, Senator. >> Thank you, Senator Britt. And I will just uh say thank you to our witness who
[4:27:16]has been sitting here for now four and a half hours without a break. I think maybe a little bit under the weather. Uh and you have outlasted pretty much everyone here but Senator
[4:27:28]Britain myself. So uh thank you for being here today. >> I'm in good company. >> Well, certainly uh coming in behind someone as strong and as passionate uh
[4:27:39]and as committed to doing the right thing and to justice. uh when you served as attorney general in Florida, that was certainly a high bar um that you set and
[4:27:49]I was honored to come in after you as the attorney general. You've touched on so many of the issues uh that you fought for in Florida that you are still fighting for now here in Washington. Whether that is protecting our children,
[4:28:01]protecting our law enforcement officers, protecting the rule of law, all of these things, your experiences, both personal and professional, are playing into how
[4:28:10]you are um standing strong for what this country was built on in this role. And I for one am proud not only to be here as a United States senator uh the most
[4:28:21]junior member of this committee um but to be here and and working in Washington right now with the honor of serving as a senator and watching this administration
[4:28:30]and certainly you uh bring this country back to its uh bearing that we are a nation that is a government for the
[4:28:40]people with the consent of the governed. uh and if we are going to protect life, liberty and their opportunity to pursue happiness, we happiness, we have to guarantee safety. It has to be a
[4:28:51]mission. And that starts in our communities and our states. And I think what people are missing is the federal government has a
[4:29:01]set of laws that it is working within federal jurisdiction that it is incumbent upon them to execute and enforce within the states. And I'm
[4:29:12]watching what has happened around this nation as a result of what has happened under the Biden administration and what they allowed to happen purposefully.
[4:29:20]Whether that was um rogue prosecutors, defunding police, decriminalizing crime, allowing juveniles to run rampant with no accountability, revolving jailhouse
[4:29:32]door, no respect for the rule of law. It goes on and on and on. And you're seeing that now playing out in the cities around this country.
[4:29:42]And what is very terrifying, and I think you would agree, um, is this is not your Democratic Party of yester year where we might have said
[4:29:53]they're soft on crime. This is now a Democratic party who is offering support for and encouraging
[4:30:03]obstructionist behavior. threats of violence against law enforcement. And as the wife of a law enforcement
[4:30:14]officer, uh, as someone who's committed my own life as a federal prosecutor, attorney general, now as a US senator, it is hor and a judge. Thank you. I think I had to demonstrate that a little
[4:30:26]bit earlier. Um, it is horrifying to me that where we used to talk about differences differences in policies where one party was thought to be tough
[4:30:37]on crime and one party was thought to be soft on crime, we're not talking about the fundamental ideals and structure on which this country was built. And I have
[4:30:48]been horrified watching the partnership between a governor in Illinois and a mayor in Chicago
[4:30:58]and the collaboration. Some might say the corruption and the rhetoric they are using. And I just I have to I have to say this because I think for somebody like you and somebody like me, it makes
[4:31:09]you extraordinarily concerned for the success and future of this country. Pritsker. He uses words like, "This is an
[4:31:19]unconstitutional invasion of Illinois. Militarized CBP and ICE agents to the street of Chicago to cause violence and chaos in the city."
[4:31:31]And I quote, "Pritsker, people are getting detained. They're getting arrested. US citizens making it a war zone.
[4:31:40]Pritsker, it's a war zone and they are using tear gas and chemical agents at peaceful protesters. Pritsker, they are waging war on our
[4:31:53]people. Pritsker, we must now start calling this what it is, Trump's invasion. Not to be outdone though by Johnson
[4:32:06]who says that, and I quote, "Law enforcement is a sickness. We have a rogue, reckless group of heavily armed mass individuals roaming
[4:32:17]throughout our city." Johnson, I slice and people die.
[4:32:27]Johnson, the Trump administration must end the war on Chicago. Johnson, in the coming weeks, we will
[4:32:37]use this as an opportunity to build greater resistance. I am wondering
[4:32:50]if Pritsker and Johnston Johnson understand that there are federal laws that criminalize inciting violence against law
[4:33:02]enforcement and federal agents. I am wondering if they are concerned at
[4:33:11]all about what their speech is doing. and the danger it's putting not only federal agents in that, by the way, swore an oath to protect other people,
[4:33:23]but the danger it's putting the citizens of their community in. Anytime you start pitting your own
[4:33:32]people against their own government, a government is only there at its core to protect rights and the safety of its people.
[4:33:43]That is incredibly dangerous. And I hear this rhetoric and I think to myself, every foreign adversary of the United States of America in this
[4:33:54]country is saying thank you to the governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago. Thank you for doing
[4:34:04]their jobs for them, for undermining the strength and safety of this country and for gaslighting the American people
[4:34:15]as we are trying to shore up the stability of our communities. And that puts you in such a remarkable
[4:34:26]important position right now. You are the top law enforcement official in this country and you have a responsibility to call
[4:34:36]out this rhetoric and when it violates and crosses over from free speech into inciting violence, we have to call that out.
[4:34:47]We have to remind the American people that we are dealing with the aftermath
[4:34:56]of millions of undocumented allowed to flood into this country. I know because I litigated it and I fought against it. And when I had to get through litigation
[4:35:06]documents that showed their plan was to step back and let the border be overrun when nobody believed that was happening. It was people like us that said, "This
[4:35:16]is happening. They're allowing our country to be overrun. They're allowing through rogue prosecutors and a and an undermining and
[4:35:27]demoralization of law enforcement for our cities to fall prey to criminals. They are allowing this to happen and they are doing so, trust me, cheered on
[4:35:38]by our adversaries. And it takes someone with strength and the ability to take the criticism for four hours and 40 minutes and sit here
[4:35:48]resolute and your commitment to uphold the rule of law. And I know the only reason that you can do that is because you what you went through in your prior life. Working handinhand with law
[4:35:58]enforcement, seeing what their families went through, holding the hands of victims, not letting these people turn our heroes into villains,
[4:36:09]and certainly not letting these people make the United States of America appear anything other than what it is.
[4:36:21]It is a country that protects first and foremost our people's rights. And we do so by also guaranteeing with the consent of our government that we'll focus on
[4:36:31]their safety. And that is why I was so glad you started out this hearing with my mission is to protect the people and prosecute violent crime
[4:36:42]and to make sure the corruption that happened again under the last administration can never happen again. And as you sat here today and you heard the affect of the people whose friends
[4:36:54]and colleagues and indeed even members of the judiciary whose phones were analyzed and traced from grand jury subpoena and they're just finding out last night,
[4:37:05]assuring them that you understand what that feels like and that you will not let it happen again, no matter how much they want to disguise accountability as
[4:37:15]weaponization. Thank you for being you, Pam, the prosecutor. Pam, the person that cares about this country and its people and
[4:37:25]the future of America. Thank you for being here today. Would you like to end with any comments? >> Thank you, Senator Moody. And you know, they may try to destroy our country, but
[4:37:36]they won't. They won't be successful, nor will our foreign adversaries because we have the greatest president in Donald Trump, and he will make America safe again, and he will keep us safe. Thank
[4:37:47]you, Senator, and thank you for all you do. >> And we will keep the record open for a week. Uh I know Senator White House wanted to offer some comments for the record and any other additional questions, and we'd ask that you respond to those.
[4:37:58]>> I'm sure he did. >> Thank you so much. >> And with that, the hearing is adjourned.