Jan. 29 (UPI) — The Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday approved the nomination of Trump attorney Pam Bondi to be the next U.S. attorney general. The party-line 12-10 vote sends the nomination to the full Senate for a vote.
Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, defended Trump during his first impeachment trial in the Senate. She is expected to be confirmed by the Senate.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said during the Judiciary Committee meeting, “The president has repeatedly threatened to weaponize the justice system against those he feels have wronged him, and that’s a long list. It includes career prosecutors, military officials and his own former political appointees. Unfortunately, we are seeing these threats emerge in real time.”
Durbin is the ranking Democrat on committee.
On Trump’s orders, acting Attorney General James McHenry fired over a dozen Justice Department prosecutors for prosecuting Trump based on evidence collected by the Justice Department and FBI.
A Justice Department official wrote that the acting attorney general doesn’t trust the fired prosecutors “to assist in faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”
The official added, “This action is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government.”
Sen. Durbin said Bondi is one of four “personal lawyers President Trump has already selected for top positions at the Department of Justice” and she has echoed his calls for revenge on political opponents.