California Rep. Ro Khanna (D) said President-elect Trump’s new attorney general pick, Pam Bondi, has said some “concerning” things about investigating the people who investigated Trump’s various legal battles.
Khanna on Monday joined CNN’s Jim Acosta, who asked about Bondi’s comments and the concern that Trump’s attorney general pick might use the department to go after his enemies.
“Well, they’re concerning,” Khanna said about Bondi’s remarks. “And I think that she should be asked these questions at a hearing.”
All of Trump’s nominees still need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Bondi served as a senior adviser on Trump’s first impeachment defense team and is now an attorney for Ballard Partners, a group founded by Florida lobbyist Brian Ballard, the former 2016 chair of Trump Victory. Bondi served as attorney general of Florida from 2011 to 2019.
Bondi was Trump’s second choice for attorney general.
In a 2023 appearance on Fox News, Bondi called for an investigation of prosecutors who “weaponized” the legal system against Trump.
“The Department of Justice — the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated because the deep state, last term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows,” she said. “But now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated.”
She’s also called special counsel Jack Smith and other prosecutors who have charged Trump “horrible” people who were just trying to make a name for themselves by “weaponizing our legal system.”
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was Trump’s first nominee to be attorney general, but a sexual misconduct allegation and House Ethics Committee report tanked his chances. He withdrew his name from the nomination last week, and Bondi was named shortly after.
Khanna argued he hopes the results of the election show the American people “want to turn the page.”
“They want to focus on solving their problems on inflation, on the cost of groceries and rent, on a secure border with a humane immigration policy,” Khanna said. “That’s why they elected President Trump.”
Other lawmakers have expressed concern about Bondi’s past remarks. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Sunday that it concerns her that revenge could be part of Bondi’s mission, but she added she looks forward to meeting with Bondi ahead of her Senate confirmation hearing.
