During Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing, AG Bondi Refuses to Answer Durbin's Questions on Whether DOJ was Consulted by the White House Regarding Deploying the National Guard to Chicago
Durbin also requested Bondi respond to several questions to address DOJ’s fumbling of the Epstein list: Durbin: “Eventually you’ll have to answer to your conduct in this”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. Durbin’s questions focused on the weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Trump and AG Bondi, Bondi’s conflicts of interests as a former lobbyist for Qatar who signed off on accepting the gift of a Qatari plane, the Department’s role in the President’s surge of troops and federal agents to Chicago, and how she has failed to release the Epstein files.
Durbin first questioned AG Bondi about the Trump White House deploying the National Guard to Chicago and if she was consulted beforehand or had any knowledge. Despite repeatedly asking her, AG Bondi refused to answer.
“Were you consulted by the White House before they deployed National Guard troops to cities in the United States?” Durbin asked.
AG Bondi responded that “[she is] not going to discuss any internal conversation with the White House.”
Durbin replied, “you won’t even say whether you talked to the White House about this?”
AG Bondi responded, “I am not going to discuss any internal conversations with the White House with you, Ranking Member.”
“I noticed that. What’s the secret? Why do you want to keep the(se) secrets—the American people don’t know the rationale behind the deployment of National Guard troops in my state. The word has been confirmed by the White House [that] they will transfer Texas National Guard units to the state of Illinois. What is the rationale for that?” Durbin asked.
Instead of answering the question, AG Bondi deflected with personal attacks and pivoted to discuss the government shutdown—and blamed the Democrats.
In response to her refusal to answer the question, Durbin stated, “I’ve been on this Committee for more than 20 years, that’s the kind of testimony you expect from this Administration. A simple question as to whether or not they had a legal rationale for deploying National Guard troops becomes grounds for personal attack. I think it’s a legitimate question and it’s my responsibility. She refuses to answer [if] she had any conversation with the White House about deploying national troops in my state. That’s an indication, I’m afraid, of where we are politically.”
Durbin then asked about the Attorney General’s personal conflict of interest regarding the Qatari jet solicitation. In May, President Trump accepted a $400 million luxury jet from the royal family of Qatar for temporary use as Air Force One before it is permanently gifted to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation. The Constitution unequivocally bestows on Congress the power to control whether any officer of the United States, including the President, may accept a gift “from any King, Prince, or foreign State,” and this gift clearly violates the statutory regime enacted by Congress to govern such gifts. Yet, public reporting indicates that AG Bondi provided a legal memorandum to the White House Counsel’s Office, concluding that it would be “legally permissible” for this luxury jet to be gifted to the U.S. Department of Defense prior to ownership being transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation.
“You have refused to answer a letter I sent to you five months ago asking the legal rationale you relied on to advise President Trump to accept this gift from your former legal client. Can you make a promise today that you will disclose that [legal rationale]?” Durbin asked.
AG Bond responded that she disclosed her Qatari lobbying on her Senate Judiciary Questionnaire. Following that statement, she proceeded to deflect and instead talk about crime across America—again failing to answer the question.
Durbin responded to her deflection by stating “I believe cutting federal grant programs to law enforcement in my state and across the nation does not make us any safer. You have supplanted that decision by sending National Guard troops to California and other places. That’s a situation where the governors have not asked for their help. If you truly want to do this on a bipartisan basis, you wouldn’t defy a governor, you would work with them. I'm prepared to work with this Administration, but cutting these grants to law enforcement does not make us any stronger as a nation or give us the tools we need to reduce crime in Chicago.”
Durbin then again turned his questions to the Qatai jet.
“When it came to this Qatar situation, did you consult with the ethics office in the Department of Justice before making your decision on this gift of a jet?” Durbin asked.
AG Bondi responded, “I did not gift a jet to anyone.” She also proceeded to again deflect and state that FBI Director Patel and Deputy Attorney General Blanche are on their “way to Chicago.” She also asked why Durbin is sitting in the Committee, questioning AG Bondi instead of being in Chicago. As Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and as United States Senator, it is Durbin’s constitutional responsibility to be present in Committee hearings and also to be in Washington, D.C to vote.
“It is my job to grill you—investigation of your agency is part of my responsibility on this Committee. You may not like the experience, but others have weathered the storm and answered questions in a respectful manner. Take a look at the President’s budget on High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas [HIDTA] grants—it’s cut by one third— from $300 million to $196 [million]. That’s one example of a grant that works and your Administration suggests cutting it in the budget ahead,” Durbin said.
Durbin then asked about the Epstein client list. In February, AG Bondi made a public claim that the Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.” She then produced already public information and no client list at a major media event hosted at the White House.
“Attorney General Bondi, why did you publicly claim to have the Epstein client list waiting for your review and then produce nothing relevant to that claim?” Durbin asked.
She responded that her July 6 memo had “no client list.”
According to another whistleblower who made a protected disclosure to Durbin’s office, DOJ then pushed the FBI to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records on an arbitrarily short deadline in March, and the FBI was directed to flag any documents that mentioned President Trump. Nothing came of that review until July, when DOJ and FBI released an unsigned memorandum from the next day stating, “there is no incriminating client list.”
“Why was this July 7 memorandum unsigned?” Durbin asked.
AG Bondi replied that the July 7 memo came from the FBI and Department of Justice and then continued to deflect.
“So, who gave the order to flag records related to President Trump?” Durbin asked.
AG Bondi responded, “I’m not going to discuss anything about that with you.”
Durbin replied, “Eventually you’ll have to answer to your conduct in this. You won’t do it today, but eventually you will.”
Video of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.
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