Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi said during her Senate confirmation hearing that she will put an end to the ‘weaponization’ of the federal government against Catholics and people of faith.
(LifeSiteNews) — Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, pledged Wednesday during her Senate confirmation hearing to put an end to the Department of Justice’s targeting of Catholics and of anyone for their “faith” or exercise of peaceful protest.
On the first day of the confirmation hearing for the former Florida attorney general, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah asked Bondi how she would “prevent the weaponization” of the DOJ against Americans, including the targeting of “Catholics attempting to practice their faith,” parents speaking out at school board meetings, and those peacefully protesting outside of abortion facilities.
“Going after parents at a school board meeting has got to stop,” Bondi said, adding that so must the targeting of Americans “for practicing your religion.”
“Sending informants into Catholic churches must stop,” she told Lee.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also highlighted the “unprecedented attack and campaign against people of faith” that has occurred under President Joe Biden’s DOJ, citing the “over 100 pregnancy care centers and over 300 churches that were attacked, vandalized, (and) firebombed” during Biden’s term.
“We’ve never seen anything like it before in American history. It has been one of the most disgraceful chapters in American history,” remarked Hawley, according to whom only two of these crimes were prosecuted under Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Hawley pointed out that, meanwhile, Garland’s DOJ targeted Christians, including Catholics, as shown by the FBI’s infamous memo issued from its Richmond, Virginia office declaring that so-called “Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology” is a magnet for “violent extremists,” and expressing interest in recruiting Catholics to spy on fellow churchgoers who attend the Traditional Latin Mass.
Asked by Hawley whether she would put an end to “abuses” like this memo, Bondi replied, “Of course,” adding, “I think what you’re talking about is the ultimate weaponization (of government),” Catholic News Agency reported.
Hawley also asked Bondi whether she would investigate the federal agents involved in the memo. She assured him she “will personally read that memo” and discuss it with Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI.
Bondi was Florida’s Attorney General from 2011 until 2019, serving under then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who is now a U.S. senator. In 2014, she took a strong public stance in defense of marriage. She has also targeted child trafficking and was floated as a possible replacement for Jeff Sessions during Trump’s first term.
In 2012, Bondi sued the Obama administration to overturn its mandate that religious employers provide contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients to their employees as part of their health care plans. She also defended Florida’s pro-life protections.
Her selection as Attorney General nominee came after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration when it was clear that GOP Senators Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins and Senator-elect John Curtis of Utah would not vote to confirm him.
