‘You are under oath!’ Senator puts Pam Bondi on notice over misleading claim

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) put Attorney General Pam Bondi on notice Tuesday after she made the misleading claim that the senator “stormed” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a news conference in June, a stunning incident captured on video where Padilla was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

Bondi was testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol when Padilla asked her whether she believed FBI Director Kash Patel was “doing a good job, yes or no?”

Bondi said Patel was doing a “great” job and went on to describe what he is doing in Chicago — an explanation that Padilla, with his limited speaking time, tried to shut down.

“I've heard,” Padilla said. “I know where he is because you said it earlier in the hearing.”

Bondi, visibly annoyed with Padilla’s attempts to dismiss her lengthy explanation of what Patel was doing, fired back at the senator with a quip related to the June incident with Noem.

“You know, you want order in here now, yet you stormed the director of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem!” Bondi said. “You sure didn't have order that day, did you, Senator?”

“Attorney general, you are under oath!” Padilla fired back. “I did not storm the secretary.”

The incident in question occurred in Los Angeles, California, when Padilla interrupted a press conference hosted by Noem with a question. He was immediately shoved out of the room by men dressed in plainclothes and later forced face-first to the ground, where he was placed in handcuffs.

While Padilla told reporters at the time that he was “there peacefully,” Noem’s account of the incident varied greatly from Padilla’s, telling Fox News that Padilla had “burst into the room” and “started lunging towards the podium.”

“Oh, that was on video, that video's been released, I believe,” Bondi said.