VIDEO: Hirono Presses Attorney General Bondi on Rampant Corruption at Trump DOJ

Sen. Hirono: "What was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption. Rather than pursuing cases without fear or favor, this DOJ seeks to favor the President's friends and instill fear in his alleged enemies."

~ Video of Sen. Hirono's question line can be found here ~

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, confronted Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi about corruption at the Department of Justice (DOJ), as President Trump abuses the DOJ to intimidate his perceived enemies and help his friends. During her line of questioning, Senator Hirono pressed Bondi on the DOJ's decisions to indict James Comey, shut down the bribery investigation into Trump 'Border Czar' Tom Homan, and more.

"It's very clear to me that when the President posts something like that, that he considers the DOJ to be his law firm and you his lawyer, and in fact, very shortly after the post to you, Comey gets indicted," said Senator Hirono in reference to a social media post from Trump directed at Bondi, pressuring the AG to punish several of the President's perceived political enemies, including James Comey, Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Senator Hirono also questioned Bondi about whether the DOJ would support setting up a compensation fund for convicted January 6^th rioters, which Bondi refused to answer. The Senator then pressed the AG about the DOJ's decision to fire dozens of career prosecutors who worked on cases involving President Trump or January 6^th rioters. When asked whether the DOJ was firing these prosecutors solely because of the cases they worked on, Bondi again refused to answer.

"What was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption," said Senator Hirono in her closing remarks. "Rather than pursuing cases without fear or favor, this DOJ seeks to favor the President's friends and instill fear in his alleged enemies."

"The double standard is clear and the American people are waking up to the corruption and favoritism and the lawlessness at the DOJ," concluded the Senator.

The full transcript of Senator Hirono's exchange with Ms. Bondi is available below. Video of Senator Hirono's question line can be found here.

Sen. Hirono: At your confirmation hearing, you assured me that it is the Department of Justice's decision to determine what cases will be prosecuted. Last month, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was forced out. President Trump then posted the message behind me, asking about prosecuting James Comey. You then appointed a new U.S. Attorney who, within days, secured an indictment against James Comey. That social media post behind me saying 'What about Comey,' was directed to 'Pam.' Are you the 'Pam' that the President was referring to?

A.G. Bondi: I'm sure I was.

Sen. Hirono: So, it's very clear to me that when the President posts something like that, that he considers the DOJ to be his law firm and you his lawyer, and in fact, very shortly after the post to you, Comey gets indicted.

Last year, President Trump's new border czar-now border czar-Tom Homan was videotaped taking a bag with $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents after suggesting he could help with government contracts-sounds like a bribe. Two weeks ago, DOJ officials reportedly shut down the bribery investigation into Mr. Homan. Ms. Bondi, did you approve closing the Homan bribery investigation?

A.G. Bondi: As I stated earlier, the Department of Justice and the FBI conducted a thorough review and they found no credible

evidence of any wrongdoing. You were also on video outside the White House protesting with a group called CASA, where anti-fa members were. Does that mean you are a member of anti-fa?

Sen. Hirono: I simply asked a question as to whether or not you approved the shutting down of the investigation of Mr. Homan. I have to assume that you did because the FBI reports to you, but the American people would look at the situation where this person is taking $50,000 in cash, no less, and you testify today that a thorough investigation was done. Now, I have to assume and conclude that since no wrongdoing was determined-that in answer to Senator Whitehouse's question-he kept the money. He kept the money and I hope that he will put that on his tax returns as income.

Next question, over 1,200 rioters were convicted of charges related to January 6th. President Trump has since pardoned nearly all of them. As if that weren't enough, last month there were reports that a lawyer for the January 6th rioters met with senior DOJ officials about setting up a compensation fund-like the one that Congress set up after 9/11-to compensate these rioters. Ms. Bondi, is anyone at DOJ considering setting up a compensation fund for January 6th rioters? Yes or No?

A.G. Bondi: I have had no meetings or discussions about a fund.

Sen. Hirono: So would you support such a fund? Would you okay such a fund?

A.G. Bondi: You can send me the information on the fund and I would be happy to look at it.

Sen. Hirono: But do you think it's a good idea to-this is what I'm getting at, because to actually set up a fund and to have people talking with your senior people at DOJ-political people-about creating a fund, and you won't let us know what you think about that, that's pretty unbelievable.

On January 30th of this year, the Trump DOJ's Antitrust Division sued to block the merger of two tech companies. Then, well-connected lobbyists met with your political deputies, who overruled the career staff and approved the merger. So, there's a settlement from that. Separately, DOJ sued Ticketmaster last year for monopolizing concert tickets and forcing consumers to pay outrageous fees. Ticketmaster has hired the exact same lobbyist who met with senior DOJ political people regarding the merger of the two tech companies. So, my question is Ms. Bondi, have lobbyists met with your political deputies about the Ticketmaster case?

A.G. Bondi: As I stated earlier, I am not going to discuss anything that is ongoing. Gail Slater runs the antitrust office and, if I can finish, Gail Slater is doing an incredible job running my antitrust unit.

Sen. Hirono: It is highly likely, Ms. Bondi, that the same lobbyist who met with your people and basically got rid of the antitrust case.

[A.G. Bondi interrupts]

Next question, you have fired dozens of career prosecutors because they worked on cases involving President Trump or January 6 rioters. For example, one career federal prosecutor who secured over 100 convictions in Florida. He also spent time in DC prosecuting January 6 cases. He received an outstanding review only two days before you signed a memo firing him. The memo cited no reason for his firing. Are you firing career prosecutors solely because they worked on cases like January 6, that the President doesn't like?

A.G. Bondi: I am not going to talk about personnel matters with you.

Sen. Hirono: Well we all know that hundreds of career prosecutors have left the DOJ, literally hundreds we're told.

[A.G. Bondi interrupts]

Sen. Hirono: Would you say that DOJ losing these career prosecutors and the thousands of hours of experience they have prosecuting criminals, that is not a reassuring situation?

A.G. Bondi: Many employees took the fork in the road and resigned. DOJ is hiring committed prosecutors who will actually come into the office and work, and not work remotely, and prosecute violent criminals around the country and terrorists. And I am very proud of the work all of our prosecutors are doing.

Sen. Hirono: I'm running out of time so I think you should stop your continuous interruptions, in my opinion.

Mr. Chairman, I just want to close by saying that what was once the Department of Justice has become the Department of Revenge and Corruption. Rather than pursuing cases without fear or favor, this DOJ seeks to favor the President's friends and instill fear in his alleged enemies.

If you're a friend of the President, this corrupt DOJ will bend over backwards to help you-just like it dropped the bribery investigation of Tom Homan; like it's considering paying money to January 6th rioters; and like it has put antitrust enforcement decisions in the hands of well-connected lobbyists.

But if you're on the wrong side of this President, you will face the wrath of DOJ, no matter what the facts, law, or justice support-James Comey is indicted days after the President's social media directive; experienced, career prosecutors are fired just because they were assigned to work on January 6th cases; Blue states are sued to get highly sensitive private voter data, whereas Red states are left alone. The double standard is clear and the American people are waking up to the corruption and favoritism and the lawlessness at the DOJ.

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