'Incredible, but not surprising' CNN's Anderson Cooper floored by Trump AG's remarks

Primetime CNN anchor Anderson Cooper expressed disbelief that Attorney General Pam Bondi is refusing to have the Justice Department investigate the Signal group chat thread in which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed imminent attack orders with other high-level officials and a journalist.

Hegseth and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz drew fierce criticism over their involvement in the Signal group chat, in which Hegseth shared live updates about a U.S. airstrike on Yemen's Houthi militants, including disclosing sensitive details such as launch timings. Waltz initiated the group chat and inadvertently included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, in the conversation.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) joined "Anderson Cooper 360" on Thursday night to discuss Bondi's remarks, in which she indicated there would not be a Justice Department investigation into the chat, even as both the top Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Armed Services committee requested a probe from the Pentagon's inspector general.

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Goldman said he doesn't expect the inspector general will launch an investigation, though, in theory, it could.

"The fact is Donald Trump fired the inspector general of the Department of Defense just for this reason," said Goldman. "So there is no accountability for his unqualified political appointees who he had to know were going to make significant mistakes."

The fact that Bondi is refusing to investigate the Signal chat "which clearly warrants an investigation," he said, "just goes to show how much she is actually politicizing the Department of Justice, despite her promises repeatedly at her confirmation hearing that she would not do that."

The only reason an attorney general wouldn't launch an investigation, said Goldman, is due to "political favor" and "partisan reasons."

"And it is clear that is driving Pam Bondi," he concluded.

Cooper was astounded by Bondi's decision.

"Yeah, I mean, any recent administration, the Department of Justice would investigate this," he said. "Republicans or Democrats, it would be investigated at the very least. It is incredible — not surprising — but incredible that the attorney general, Pam Bondi, is not going to do this and to tell reporters they should be talking about Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden's handling of classified information, both of whom were investigated and reported on, and no charges were ever filed!"

Goldman agreed, and noted former FBI Director James Comey made it "very clear it was reckless but it was not criminal after an exhaustive investigation."

Watch the clip below or at this link.