Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Justice, echoed attacks on the agency she would lead if confirmed, but demurred on how she might handle tests of its independence.

Bondi is a more traditional pick to lead the department than Trump’s initial choice, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). She’s a longtime prosecutor and spent two terms as the Florida attorney general, where she focused in particular on battling drugs.

But she’s a controversial pick for Democrats as someone who worked on Trump’s 2020 election challenges and has been highly critical of the investigations, even calling for “prosecutors to be prosecuted.”

Fears over Trump’s influence on DOJ

Democrats hammered Bondi over what they see as the greatest issue facing her in the role: her ability to push back against a president who has repeatedly said he would go after his enemies and said he has the “absolute right” to do what he wants with the Justice Department.

Bondi repeatedly referenced the multiple investigations into Trump as evidence that the Department of Justice has been weaponized, vowing to end politicization at the department.

“If confirmed, I will work to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice — and each of its components. Under my watch, the partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice will end,” she said in her opening statement.

But that was alarming to Democrats, who pointed to numerous statements from Trump calling for revenge against a long list of his adversaries.

“I need to know that you would tell the president no if you're asked to do something that is wrong, illegal or unconstitutional,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the panel.

He described Bondi as someone who “has passed Donald Trump’s attorney general loyalty lest with flying colors, whether by peddling election lies or saying she will prosecute perceived enemies, and her unflinching loyalty to the President-elect raises serious concerns about the future of an independent Justice Department.”

She also faced questions about actions she would take against Trump’s critics. She dismissed many of them as hypotheticals, irking Democrats who noted many of their questions were drawn from Trump’s own comments.

“I will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying that the president would do something........

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