Bondi testifies at congressional hearing on DOJ

Bondi and Durbin go back and forth over Epstein files

Sen. Dick Durbin questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday about an alleged ?client list? of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifyed at a congressional hearing on Tuesday.

Bondi defended herself against Democratic criticism that she had weaponized the Justice Department.

During her opening remarks, the attorney general mentioned conservative assertions that President Joe Biden's Justice Department, which brought two criminal cases against President Trump, was the one that weaponized the law enforcement agency even though some of its most high-profile investigations concerned the Democratic president and his son, according to the Associated Press. 

RELATED: Former FBI Director James Comey charged with making false statements, obstruction

FILE-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on June 25, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somod

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Bondi also addressed revelations from a day earlier that the FBI had analyzed phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of a probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.

"They were playing politics with law enforcement powers and will go down as a historic betrayal of public trust," Bondi said of the Biden Justice Department, the Associated Press noted. "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."

RELATED: Trump defends AG Pam Bondi amid Epstein file backlash: 'Let her do her job'

According to the AP, Bondi apparently bristled at questions about her tenure as attorney general, refusing to answer as Democrats pressed her on politically charged investigations, the firings of career prosecutors and other matters.

Democrats also accused Bondi of damaging the Justice Department's credibility and affecting its independence from the White House as President Donald Trump has publicly called for the prosecution of his political foes.

Bondi’s appearance is her first before the Senate Judiciary Committee since her confirmation hearing in January. 

Bondi’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee comes ahead of former FBI Director James Comey’s first court appearance after an indictment and a federal law enforcement surge into several cities nationwide to manage crime and impose immigration laws. 

Bondi refuses to answer questions about Comey and other topics

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Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to discuss matters, including a bribery investigation into Trump border czar Tom Homan that was shuttered under the Trump administration. 

Bondi also would not discuss whether she spoke to President Donald Trump about the case against former FBI Director James Comey, who was charged in September with lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee when Comey said he had not authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about a particular investigation.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia that introduced the Comey case expressed concerns regarding the strength of evidence, and the Trump administration had to quickly enlist a new prosecutor to secure the charges after the leader of that office resigned. 

Comey is set to make his first court appearance on Wednesday in the case.

Separately, the Justice Department under Bondi has opened criminal investigations into other critics of Trump, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California on accusations of mortgage fraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor and current mayoral candidate.

The Associated Press noted that they have all denied wrongdoing, as has Comey, and have criticized the investigations as politically motivated.