Nearly five months into her tenure, Attorney General Pam Bondi made her first appearance before a U.S. House committee this week, ostensibly to talk to an appropriations subcommittee about the Justice Department’s proposed budget. Some members, however, wanted to take advantage of their first opportunity to explore some other lines of inquiry.

To be sure, there was some discussion along predictable lines — exchanges, for example, over proposed FBI cuts and Bondi’s intention to eliminate the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) — but as NBC News noted, there were also some unexpected fireworks.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s remarks about Rep. Madeleine Dean and former President Joe Biden at a House hearing today prompted Dean, D-Pa., to call Bondi ‘very strange and very unprofessional.’ The exchange included Dean asking Bondi if she had ever been registered as an agent of a foreign principal — referring to when Bondi lobbied for the government of Qatar — to which the attorney general referenced a 2024 interview in which Dean said Biden should remain the Democratic candidate in the 2024 election.

The underlying issue is of some significance. Bondi used to work as a registered lobbyist for foreign clients, including the government of Qatar — the same government that recently gave Donald Trump a jet. The Republican lawyer — the first attorney general in U.S. history ever to have served as a foreign lobbyist — was directly involved in the arrangement, signing off on the legality of the Qatari “gift.”

When Dean asked Bondi about her professional background, the attorney general responded by complaining about the former president and the Democratic congresswoman’s pre-election defense of Biden.

What did Biden have to do with Bondi’s work as a lobbyist for a foreign government? Nothing. What did Dean’s comments about the former president have to do with the underlying question? Nothing. But the attorney general, confronted with a question about her own background that she apparently didn’t want to talk about, decided to ignore the question and peddle cheap and partisan nonsense.

“This is so discourteous,” Dean responded. “This is so outside the committee’s guidelines. Taking a personal shot at me while swiping at Biden. Very strange and very unprofessional of you. The answer is yes or no, and the answer is yes, you were registered as a lobbyist for Qatar.”

When Dean went on to ask about potential conflicts of interest within the administration, Bondi responded by referring to sex crimes in the congresswoman’s home state of Pennsylvania. It led Dean to understandably ask, “Did you hear my question?”

Recommended

Maddowblog

AG Pam Bondi refused to answer key questions, and Adam Schiff kept the receipts

Steve Benen

Maddowblog

Pam Bondi is the attorney general, but is she calling the shots at the Justice Department?

Steve Benen

At the same hearing, Democratic Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York asked about the scope of the president’s pardons for Jan. 6 rioters. Bondi responded by talking about Biden pardoning his son.

Morelle’s question was substantive and of ongoing legal significance. The attorney general could’ve answered it, but she instead acted as if she hadn’t even heard the question, preferring instead to whine again about the former president.

It’s easy to forget, but Bondi is the nation’s chief law enforcement official, not some pundit trying to score points on social media. When she engages in performative partisanship, acting more like a (terrible) political operative than an attorney general, she doesn’t just damage her own reputation — she undermines her office.