Mazie Hirono: “in examining all of the President's Cabinet nominees, I am focused on two things: their fitness and their qualifications…”

“in examining all of the President's Cabinet nominees, I am focused on two things: their fitness and their qualifications for the positions to which they are nominated, including their ability and willingness to put loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to the President. This independence is critically important for the Attorney General, our Nation's highest law enforcement officer. The Attorney General oversees thousands of career prosecutors in all 50 States, trying cases based not on politics but on facts. However, Pam Bondi's record, her statements in her confirmation hearing, and her responses to questions for the record make clear she does not have the requisite independence to lead the Department of Justice. In her confirmation hearing, Ms. Bondi shows she had trouble differentiating fact from fiction where her loyalty to President Trump might come into question. Rather than attempting to assuage my concerns--concerns shared by many of my colleagues; you just heard from one of my colleagues just previous to myself--Ms. Bondi failed to provide clear and convincing answers to the following questions: whether President Biden won the 2020 election, whether she agreed with the President's characterization of January 6 felons as ``hostages'' and ``patriots,'' whether she would make good on her promise to ``prosecute the prosecutors'' and ``investigate the investigators'' by using the DOJ to go after the President's perceived political enemies.…”