On his first day as the newly sworn-in director of the FBI, Kash Patel wrote via social media, “The politicalization of our justice system has eroded public trust — but that ends today.” At the root of the message, of course, was a baseless Republican conspiracy theory that’s become one of the animating myths in contemporary GOP politics.
But complicating matters was Patel’s unfortunate timing. Right around the time that the new FBI director tried to assure the American public that our justice system wouldn’t be politicized, Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared a few miles away at a far-right political conference, where she recorded a live podcast interview with one of Congress’ most reflexive Republican partisans. The New York Times reported:
Attorney General Pam Bondi derided the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams of New York as “incredibly weak” on Thursday, as the Trump administration waits to hear if a judge will grant its request to dismiss the case. The remarks came in an interview with Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, at the Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington.
By any fair measure, it was quite a CPAC appearance for the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. During her one-on-one interview with Cruz, Bondi peddled strange and conspiratorial ideas about the Adams case, lied about crime rates in New York, gushed about her close relationship with Donald Trump, mocked Hunter Biden, downplayed the significance of Trump’s alleged felonies in the classified documents scandal, and claimed she issued a series of executive orders — which is impossible because attorneys general can’t issue executive orders.
Earlier in the day, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee pressed Bondi for answers after she allegedly transferred the Justice Department’s decision-making power over ethics matters to politically appointed newcomers, away from senior career officials.
This came on the heels of Bondi falsely telling the public that she’d brought “charges” against Democratic officials in New York.
Which came on the heels of Bondi shuttering the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, despite ongoing threats from abroad.
Which came on the heels of Bondi creating a ridiculous “weaponization” panel, which will apparently be responsible for, among other things, investigating former special counsel Jack Smith and his criminal cases against Trump. During his tenure as attorney general, Merrick Garland went to extraordinary lengths to avoid appearing partisan or political in any way, often to the frustration of Democratic lawmakers and the party’s base. Garland had seen what had transpired during Trump’s first term, and by all accounts, he was determined to restore integrity to his office. The idea that he’d take any of the steps Bondi has taken during her two weeks on the job is plainly absurd. I don’t imagine there’s much of a public appetite for an attorney general’s office infused with partisan politics, but that’s precisely what Bondi is delivering.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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