At her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Pam Bondi probably made sure she will become attorney general. She did that, however, by pretending to be an idiot.
The former Florida attorney general and lobbyist refused to confirm that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, declined to oppose pardons for violent January 6 attackers, would not say if she would carry out an illegal order from Trump, and professed ignorance of a wide array of controversial statements by the incoming president.
Such answers reflect the reality that Bondi depends on Trump’s continued support; already has the backing of GOP senators; and simply doesn’t need any Democratic votes to secure the job.
Bondi acknowledged Wednesday that Biden is, in fact, president. But she wouldn’t challenge Trump’s continued false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That has emerged as a standard formulation for Republicans who want to avoid sounding crazy without annoying Trump.
But Bondi—who in late 2020 worked as one of the Trump campaign’s lawyers challenging his loss in Pennsylvania—went a bit further, asserting vaguely that she does believe significant election fraud occurred, despite courts’ uniform rejection of such claims. “I saw many things there,” Bondi said.
Bondi also repeatedly dodged Democrats’ questions by asserting she was “not familiar” with highly publicized events and statements made by Trump. Bondi, that is, testified that she is exceptionally poorly informed.
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