A legal expert called Attorney General Pam Bondi's reaction to questions from members of Congress on Tuesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing "remarkably, completely antagonistic."
Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman told CNN that Bondi "refused to give answers at every turn."
"She gave no answers, really," Litman said. "Anything she could deflect, she did, but was really remarkable. You've seen fiery moments with AGs at other hearings. She came in guns a blazing with pre-drafted soundbites, and just whenever there was something she needed to answer, she substituted instead the sort of 'when did you stop beating your wife' kind of slurs."
He pointed to Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and his fiery interaction with Bondi after he asked her about a reported 2024 bribery scheme involving White House Border Czar Tom Homan receiving a bag of cash with $50,000. It led to an FBI probe, though Homan has not been charged, and senators pressed Bondi about what happened to the money.
She deflected "from some really basic questions" during the hearing, Litman said. "Ask the FBI, she said."
Litman called Bondi's reactions "a concerted strategy, both not to give any responses, but also to have a sort of, you know, outrage, bombastic kind of presentation that she was even there and that I, I assume she hopes, observers who aren't paying a lot of attention just take away from it."
He said it was unusual.
"But it was remarkably unresponsive," Litman added. "And remarkably like I've never seen anything like it. Completely antagonistic and contemptuous to the senators"
At some points, Bondi said she would not say anything, then "proceeded to give details, self-serving details, and then and only then shut things down."
"In any event, the notion I think it's just puzzling," he said. "But what really was salient to me is she'll talk a little bit — she'll talk a little bit about Epstein and then shut things down again with personal insults. You know, Schiff was making a real point. It's an oversight hearing. This is where you give us answers. And with this sort of calculated bombast, she refused to give answers at every turn."