One question for Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing: Will she stand up to Trump?

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s attorney general, declined to say whether she would oppose Mr. Trump’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday, but she gave a solemn promise that she would “not get involved in politics.” decide who to investigate.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee predicted Ms. Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, would be easily confirmed. Both sides expressed relief that Mr. Trump’s first choice, former representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, stepped down to make way for Ms. Bondi, who has prosecutorial experience and a more balanced personality. .

But the daylong hearings had contentious moments as Democrats repeatedly accused him of avoiding key yes-or-no questions about the reelection bid, the potential prosecution of Mr. the attitude of the department.

“Politics has to be taken out of this system,” said Ms. Bondi, who repeatedly turned to her contention that the Justice Department was misused and misdirected under the Biden administration. “This department has been used for years and years and it has to stop.”

Ms. Bondi, 59, has sought to project an image of a tough, independent, crime-fighting prosecutor, and has repeatedly expressed her loyalty to Mr. Trump and her belief that he has been impeached. He is a policy of the Biden administration.

He did not support Mr. Trump’s idea that the special counsel who brought two criminal cases against him, Jack Smith, should be thrown out of the country, but said what he “heard on the news” about his behavior. terrible”.

Asked whether he would investigate Mr. Smith, or anyone else, as ordered by Mr. Trump, he added that he would exercise an independent judiciary, in accordance with the law.

Perhaps because of the potential for her confirmation, Ms. Bondi has been open about sharing her views on the many controversial topics she will face in office.

He suggested that whatever amnesty Mr. Trump might consider for those convicted of the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, would be limited to those who did not violently attack law enforcement officers.

“I won’t speak for the president, but the president doesn’t like people who use violence against the police,” he said.

His answer was not a prediction or a promise, but he touched on one of the main questions about Mr. Trump’s intentions when he took the oath: Who exactly, among those accused or convicted on January 6, 2021, will receive a crime. forgiveness?

At times, the meeting, which lasted more than five hours, seemed to be a prelude to the pending confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, who was chosen by Mr. Trump to run the FBI, which is part of the Department of Justice. Ms. Bondi has resisted attempts to tie her to Mr. Patel, who has promoted a list of people she might interview, and is considered an ally by some members of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory movement QAnon.

Asked about Mr. Patel’s position on the group, he said, “I look forward to hearing his testimony about QAnon before this committee.”

Ms. Bondi also rejected suggestions that she supported investigative journalists as Mr. Patel suggested she would.

“Of course, it’s wrong to follow the media just because they are the media,” he said.

Ms Bondi said she had never heard of Mr Patel’s enemies list, despite the centrality of his appointment. It was one of several instances in which he used the tactic to avoid controversial statements — including Mr. Trump’s famous call to Georgia election officials about seeking more votes after the 2020 election.

Ms. Bondi drew heavily on her experience as a Florida prosecutor to explain how she would run the Justice Department. He has repeatedly stated that the department has lost its way and needs major correction.

He has repeatedly interacted with Democrats on the committee – notably with California senators Alex Padilla and Adam B. Schiff – and at times has appeared to return to his former role as a campaign representative. Trump, and pre-emptively beat his Democratic investigators.

Mr. Schiff asked him if he saw any real basis for investigating members of the congressional committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Ms. Bondi declined to answer, calling the question hypothetical, and when pressed, replied that she should be more concerned about California’s crime rate.

Mr. Padilla asked for a yes-or-no answer to his statement about the 2020 election. Instead of giving a single answer, Ms. Bondi gave a longer answer that Mr. Padilla cut short, prompting him to accuse her of trying to bully him. “I don’t think you want to hear my answer,” he said.

Ms. Bondi, who represented Mr. Trump during one of his impeachment cases, has faced deep skepticism from Democrats about whether she will be able to stand up to any efforts by Mr. Trump to prosecute political opponents. he is his. Republicans on the committee have positioned Ms. Bondi as a qualified choice who would prioritize border security — one of Mr. Trump’s favorite issues — and end political interference in the Department of Homeland Security. Court, which they have repeatedly confirmed is a tool of President Biden.

When Democrats asked Ms. Bondi about whether Mr. Trump might try to weaponize the department or drop a case that the White House has opposed, she declined to accept the idea. Ms Bondi told the committee that she would not have accepted the appointment if she had thought it would happen.

But it has happened before under Mr. Trump: During his first administration, he advised then-FBI director James B. Comey to drop an investigation into a national security adviser. national. Mr. Comey did not intervene in this matter and was subsequently fired.

He also refused to back down from his vow in a television interview that “the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad guys.” Pressed on this statement, Ms. Bondi replied: “we are not above the law.”

Ms. Bondi also faced questions about her role as a lobbyist when she joined Ballard Partners, a firm with close ties to Mr. Trump, in 2019. She registered as a lobbyist for He is from Qatar and has represented major companies, including Amazon, Uber and General Motors, according to records.

Ms. Bondi, a Democrat since 2000, emerged from the Republican primary to win the race for Florida attorney general in 2010. During her eight years in office, Ms. Bondi has not succeeded in overturning and weakening the Financial Services Act, opposing the expansion. legal protections for the LGBTQ community and cultivated a national reputation for supporting anti-trafficking efforts.

When the tug of war subsided, Mr. Schiff — his most aggressive questioner — offered a gentle warning about the challenges he would face.

“Our concern comes when that loyalty to the president conflicts with your duty,” Mr. Schiff said, insisting that such times will happen as they have happened to his predecessors. “It’s happened to everybody, it’s going to happen to you, and what you do in that moment will define who you are as a lawyer.”