CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

The Attorney General Who Mocked Congress and the Rule of Law

Photograph Source: Nvss132 – CC BY 0

Pam Bondi’s combative exchanges and derisive comments before the House Judiciary Committee revealed a contempt for democratic procedure. This was not mere incivility; it was a warning that the separation of powers is being undermined from the top of the Justice Department. One critic called her testimony “wild entertainment.” Another journalist said she looked like “a raving lunatic.” Rep. Ted Lieu accused her of giving misleading testimony: “If you had any decency, you would resign right after this hearing,” he said. What should have been a solemn oversight hearing devolved into theater, with insults, theatrics, and partisan grandstanding. Bondi’s performance exemplified how political allegiance has overshadowed the impartial enforcement of law.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and its head are supposed to be concerned with justice. Yet during the February 11 hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi startled Democratic members of the Committee by asking, “Have you apologized to President Trump?” Her unsolicited question to Representatives Jamie Raskin and Jerry Nadler illustrated her contempt – and by extension, the executive branch – holds for Democratic members of Congress. “All of you who participated in those impeachment hearings against Donald Trump, you all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it,” she declared, further proof, if any were needed, that any meaningful separation of powers between the president, the DOJ, and the legislature has disappeared.

(Her demeaning remarks to Republican........

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