Pam Bondi is daring the Democrats to impeach her

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From where I was sitting Wednesday, it looked like the attorney general pretty much dared the House Democrats to impeach her. Here’s how the New York Daily News put it, summarizing the AP’s coverage of her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee:

Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a passionate defense of President Donald Trump Wednesday as she tried to turn the page from relentless criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, repeatedly shouting at Democrats during a combative hearing in which she postured herself as the Republican president’s chief protector.

I put that last bit in italics not only to emphasize the key fact of the news, but also to suggest it’s all the reason you need to impeach. The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, not the president’s defense counsel. Anything short of that standard is dereliction of duty and betrayal of the oath, high crimes demanding removal.

I mean, ranking member Jamie Raskin’s opening statement could be used later in drawing up articles of impeachment against Bondi. The Maryland congressman enumerated all the ways the attorney general “ignored the law” passed by the Congress to release the Epstein files.

Watching clips of her testimony, I was struck by her unbecoming behavior. She screamed, she pouted, and she insulted the Democrats, all without concern that doing so revealed her intent – that Donald Trump’s interests are her interests, those of the people be damned. 

It just raised more questions, said New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

She was screaming and thrashing ... because she knows that she is implicated in a massive coverup to protect a powerful ring of pedophiles through the redaction of the names of perpetrators, the holding of 3 million files, the unexplained moving of Ghislaine Maxwell into a new cushy facility – all of these things are what she personally oversaw. That’s before even digging into whatever questions may arise from her history in Florida, and I think that her thrashing and her very erratic performance today pointed to the fact that there are real questions that point to the DOJ under her leadership specifically.

Clearly, her performance was strategic. It was part of her goal of deflecting attention away from Trump and the fact that his name appears more than a million times in files related to Jeffrey Epstein that were released by the Department of Justice, according to Raskin.

She beclowned herself and perhaps it worked. Most headlines were a variation of the Daily News’: “Bondi shouts down Democrats in hearing on Epstein files release delays.” 

At one point, the attorney general said instead of criticizing Trump, we should be glorifying him, as the Dow Jones Industrial broke a new record this week. She spoke as if she were a fan girl. “They said it couldn’t be done in four years, yet President Trump has done it in one!”

At another, instead of answering Jerry Nadler’s question about how many of Epstein’s co-conspirators she has indicted, she all but knocked the pitcher over to avoid saying none. 

Bondi even allowed herself to be seen thumbing through “flash cards with individualized insults,” said Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, a Republican.

Bondi humiliated herself for Trump’s sake, but we shouldn’t just move on. We should dwell on that choice. As Raskin said, in response to another instance of Bondi's petulance, she was trying to “filibuster” the Congress to prevent it from manifesting its will, in this case, getting answers from the attorney general about delays in releasing the rest of the Epstein files. 

That is contempt. Contempt of Congress is a crime. When you show contempt for Congress to the Congress – under oath, to the faces of elected members – the Congress cannot overlook it without expecting such crimes to continue. Nip it in the bud. Impeach Bondi.

It’s important to say that plainly. Too often, liberals get bogged down in debates over intent. Why did Bondi play the fool? Ron Filipkowski, at Meidasnews.com, said her “reprehensible performance was to please an audience of one who expects reprehensible performances.”

I have no doubt that’s true, but I also think the reasons are secondary to the behavior itself. It doesn’t really matter that her clown act was intended to protect Donald Trump. More important is holding her accountable so future officials know clown acts come with a price. 

Impeachment isn’t possible now. Even if the Democrats had the numbers, there’s no guarantee a House indictment would lead to conviction by two-thirds of the Senate. 

But that, too, is beside the point. Fortunately, some Democrats appear to understand the goal should be saying she’s unfit, right now, to build momentum toward retaking the House, and once achieved, using majority power to advance the cause of justice. As Raskin said:

“If [the Democrats] had the power, we would subpoena [Bondi], and we would require her to answer our questions.” Raskin went on to say: “So that is the importance of who’s going to be in control in Congress after the 2026 elections because we would like the subpoena power, so we don’t see this kind of phenomenal disrespect of Congress.”

The Democrats seem to be building up to a position from which they can send a message to future toadies: Bondi might be spared in the end, but not before we make her life hell.