Attorney General Pam Bondi became angry and refused to answer questions from Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) when it came to whether foreign influence is affecting decisions being made by President Donald Trump.
His questioning stemmed from the dinner Trump had for the top holders of the Trump coin.
“I know you avoided the same question on the house side,” Merkley pressed, “but what we know is that many folks who attended this dinner were buying those claims because they wanted to influence policy.”
The senator went on to list suspicious foreign characters who were at the dinner. “This solicitation of investments in his personal product led to many people from foreign countries attending the dinner. Don't you think the American people have a right to know? You said yourself you're very concerned about foreign influence on our government?”
“Senator, it's wildly offensive that you would accuse President Trump of not protecting American interests in our country,” Bondi deflected later, adding the topic is not what she is there to talk about, “we are here to talk about the budget.”
“Will you appoint a special investigator to make sure that foreign influence does not affect the policies of the United States of America?” Merkley asked.
“I'm not going to tell you what I will or will not do,” Bondi said, appearing offended, “other than I will do everything to keep the people of your state safe even though you don't want to talk about anything to do with your state because of the crime in your state.”
Bondi then attacked the senator for the crime happening in his home state.
Merkley kept his cool and continued to press Bondi on Trump's Crypto dealings. Bondi responded in a shrieking tone as she deflected to the crime in Oregon again.
Bondi also called Merkley’s line of questioning “gotcha questions.”
“The attorney general certainly has made the point that she's very concerned about issues I'm concerned about as well regarding the security of the country,” Merkley said. “But let the record know in terms of foreign influence of the sale of foreign influence she absolutely refuses to respond and instead turns to a whole list of different topics.”
Watch the full interaction below or here.