Marco Rubio for State. Pam Bondi for AG. John Ratcliffe for the CIA. Wednesday was a marathon of confirmation hearings to ensure that Donald Trump's Cabinet is ready to go from Day 1. Charlie listens in to highlights like Bondi's showdown with Adam Schiff, and also reacts to the breaking important news of a peace deal in Israel, courtesy of the incoming Trump Administration.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
And also, in Israel, Gaza, peace deal, exclusively here on the Charlie Kirk Show.
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Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
I want you to know we are lucky.
To have Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
I want to thank Charlie.
He's an incredible guy.
His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
That's why we are here.
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We have a live analysis of all three hearings that are ongoing.
Looks like Senator Rubio is taking a break from them.
We have John Ratcliffe.
It looks like transportation going on as well.
This is your go-to news source for all confirmation process as the administration starts to take form.
But there is some major breaking news.
President Trump sent his envoy, Steve Witkoff.
On the other side of the planet, saying, get the hostages home.
Get the hostages home before the first day of my administration.
The world knows that President Trump is coming.
President Trump said if the hostages are not released, all hell will break loose.
And Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a ceasefire deal to end their 15-month war in Gaza.
Now, this is phenomenal news.
Whether it's going to last or not remains to be seen.
Under the deal, a ceasefire will last for at least six weeks.
Hamas will release dozens of hostages.
It is still holding from the 7th of October.
That terrible mini-holocaust that we saw.
An unspeakable tragedy that was performed against Israel.
That was unwarranted.
That was unprompted.
One of the most evil acts we've seen in the modern era.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will then be in exchange and allow large convoys of aid to enter Gaza.
Then after the initial exchanges, if the ceasefire holds, the second phase will be Israel withdrawing from the territory of Gaza.
Hamas releasing its remaining hostages and a permanent peace deal being settled.
Now the deal still has to be approved by Netanyahu's cabinet.
And his political coalition is not necessarily a big fan of this.
Now let me emphasize something.
Joe Biden had an opportunity to end this conflict.
In fact, you could make an argument that if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would have been able to end this war back last year, this would have helped them politically.
All of the kids who I told them, I said, vote for Trump.
Vote for Trump.
He will prevent World War III. Well, look, guess what?
President Trump is already delivering as the peace president before he takes office.
All the kids who voted for him, and on all of our TikTok videos that got billions of views, I said, vote for the president.
He'll prevent you from being drafted into a war.
It turns out that President Trump is the peace president.
This mandate is about peace through strength.
Diplomatic means first.
You can make an argument that we wouldn't have won the state of Michigan if it wasn't for President Trump.
Reaching out to the Arab Muslim community.
And Biden is just so useless.
Couldn't end Ukraine.
Can't end Gaza.
What it takes is for President Trump and Steve Witkoff to go right into the scenario before he's even president during a transition period.
President Donald Trump becomes president in four days and 23 hours.
Write it down.
He is president in four days and 23 hours.
And he's going to inherit What he has actually helped broker before he's even president.
Can you imagine what he's going to do with Russia-Ukraine?
I bet the Russia-Ukraine war will be over by the summer, which is a big deal, by the way.
Because during the winter, there's a fair amount of killing that happens.
The summer is exponentially higher.
There isn't the ice, things thaw, and it is killing season throughout the spring and summer.
Mud season, I think, ends in late March or early April.
Maybe May.
And as soon as the mud season is over, it is killing fields throughout Ukraine.
This is not because of Joe Biden.
It is despite Joe Biden that we are seeing peace in the Middle East.
Now, we say this as a show that is resolutely pro-America and pro-Israel.
But it's time for the killing to stop.
This is not good for Israel's PR. It's not good for their status in the international world to have an ongoing nonstop war.
Where they are being misrepresented as something that they are not.
It is time for us now to have an Abraham Accords 2.0.
Biden had to appease the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party, and he was unable to manage any of it.
And the stories, by the way, of how this deal was actually brokered are really interesting.
Steve Whitcock flies in and tells Netanyahu, we're going to strike a deal.
And Netanyahu didn't like it.
He said, oh no, I don't know about this.
He said, no, no, no.
We are not going to start day one of the Trump administration.
We're not going to have day one where President Trump has killing fields in unnecessary places.
We're not going to do that.
This is bad for Israel.
It's bad for America.
It's getting us closer to a war with Iran.
Let's calm down tensions and focus on our country first.
By the way, this deal is also very good for Israel.
They're getting their hostages back.
Some people are saying, oh, you know, we can't cut any deals.
Look, life is sometimes about bringing people to the table.
They get an end to the war.
Over a thousand Israeli troops have died.
It says so clearly in the scriptures, blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
And President Trump is the peacemaker in this situation.
And this is not, Joe Biden was not able to do any of this.
It just goes to show.
How we have been prisoners of the low energy, the bureaucracy, the administrative state.
If you can end the Israeli Hamas conflict before even becoming president, imagine what else is possible.
Imagine what else we could do.
As these hearings are ongoing, we are seeing the assembly of a superstar team.
We are seeing the Avengers squad that will be able to implement President Trump's agenda.
We're going to have a reset starting on Monday.
Peace, the Middle East, peace between Russia, Ukraine, a booming economy, a secure border, mass deportations.
You're seeing a little bit of a preview of what is to come.
And if you hear people complain about this peace deal, you should just take a step back and say, you don't want peace?
You don't want to stop to the killing?
What is in the best interest of America?
And the best interest of America is not get us closer to another quagmire in the Middle East.
While, of course, standing with our great ally Israel, both of which are simultaneously very important.
The hearings this morning, Pam Bondi was incredibly impressive.
And she had to endure this.
This guy targeted Turning Point USA before.
We're going to play this clip.
Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island has targeted me and Turning Point.
In fact, he wrote a letter.
Get this.
This is a real thing.
You can find the letter.
Blake can do it very quickly.
Sheldon Whitehouse wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service saying that Turning Point USA's 501c3 status should be revoked.
Why?
Because we hosted an event at Mar-a-Lago and the Palm Beach Convention Center without masks and social distancing.
I'm not kidding.
Sheldon Whitehouse said that our 501c3 tax deductibility...
Our ability to receive tax deductions and be a tax-free nonprofit, of which we have a five-star rating from Charity Navigator.
We do independent audits every single year.
We take it very seriously.
He said that it should be removed and revoked because we had an event where we did not require masks or social distancing.
So he was grilling Pan Bondi this morning.
Play Cut 69. Yes.
Would you have hired someone into the Florida Attorney General's office who you knew had an enemies list?
Senator, to cut to the chase, you're clearly talking about Cash Patel.
I don't believe he has an enemies list.
He made a quote on TV, which I have not heard.
I saw your sign or Senator Durbin's sign about Cash.
But I know that Cash Patel has had 60 jury trials.
As a public defender, as a prosecutor, he has great experience in the Intel Department, Department of Defense.
I have known Cash, and I believe that Cash is the right person at this time for this job.
Sheldon Whitehouse more interested in Cash Patel than in Pam Bondi.
By the way, we found the letter.
Documents reveal Senate Democrats pressured IRS Department of Justice.
To target conservative groups.
The tax-exempt status provides a substantial benefit to charitable organizations.
Organizations such as Turning Point USA, he urges the IRS to review whether it should be revoked.
That is the type of maniac who Pam Bondi had to endure today.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Peace has come to the Middle East thanks to President Trump.
There is a chance that President Trump has just threaded the needle in a historic way.
Yes, please keep that up, guys.
We won the youth vote in Michigan.
We won the youth vote.
We almost won it in Wisconsin, and we almost won it in Pennsylvania.
But why is it that we won it in Michigan, but not Wisconsin or Pennsylvania?
It's because in Michigan, there was a serious movement of young Arab men.
We saw it firsthand.
Not in Michigan, we saw it firsthand in downtown Atlanta.
It was at Georgia State University, and...
I'd say 20 or 30 young Arab Muslim men who are huge fans of the program, huge fans of us on Instagram, on TikTok, came up to us.
They don't like this radical feminism.
They don't believe in any of the trans stuff.
They're very pro-life.
The question they had, these young Arab Muslim men, as you can see how young men moved to the right, They said, what is President Trump going to do about the war in Gaza?
Is he going to end the war?
And I disclosed to them, I'm very pro-Israel, but I want to see the killing to stop, which of course is a very reasonable thing to say.
It's the most reasonable thing.
And they said, we're all going to vote for Trump.
Our whole community is going to vote for Trump.
And they said, if, they told me this, these young Arab Muslim men, they said, if President Trump delivers a peace deal, it will change the direction.
Of how Arab Muslims view politics for a generation.
They were telling me that amongst all of their friends and their family in Middle Eastern Arab Muslim communities in Michigan, in Pennsylvania, in Minnesota, they will be watching Trump very closely.
And that if Trump does deliver this victory, if Trump does deliver a peace deal, that they will leave the Democrat Party in major numbers.
According to CNN exit polls in Michigan, President Trump won the youth vote, R plus 3, a 27-point swing from 2020. In 2020, Biden won the youth vote by 24 points.
In 2024, Trump won the youth vote by 3 points.
Even amongst young, non-Arab kids on campuses, I would be asked about the Gaza-Israel conflict all the time.
Charlie, when is the killing going to stop?
When is the war going to be over?
I said, if you want a chance at a war to be over, put President Trump in charge.
And show 78. This is how young men moved.
Young men did not want to be drafted to another foreign war.
And young Arab men especially were giving Trump a shot.
In 2018, young men favored the Democrat Party by 19 points.
In 2020...
By 15 points.
In 2022, by one point, young men now vote Republican by 13 points.
By the way, that's the power of turning point action and the power of the social media canon that we have here.
All this to say that the breaking news of the Gaza-Israel-Hamas peace deal could recalibrate and change politics for a generation.
Could change the way that young Arab Muslims view politics.
And with it, we could turn Michigan into a solidly red state.
We could win back Minnesota with this.
Now, mind you, we should not pander.
If you are in support of radical Islamic terrorism, I got nothing for you.
If you're anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, we're not going to cut a deal with that.
However, spending time with some of these young Arab Muslim men, they don't see the Israel...
And they were right.
Turns out Joe Biden and the American war machine brought to you by Kamala Harris and Leon Panetta, they're the ones that wanted to see this conflict continuing.
And it's a pause in fighting, which is a phenomenal thing.
It is a ceasefire.
Now, a deeper peace agreement is going to come down the road.
But it goes to show the command that President Trump has and the Arabs who flipped to voting for Trump just learned something very quickly.
More than any other politician in America, Trump keeps his promises.
I want every Arab Muslim that is watching right now, and there's a lot of you, young Arabs.
And especially young men that watch us on social media, I want you to listen carefully.
Donald Trump kept his promise.
It's one of his greatest traits.
He believes in keeping his campaign promises.
That's why he nominated Bobby Kennedy to Health and Human Services.
It's so revealing that so many in Washington wanted Trump to just ignore his promises to Bobby Kennedy after the election.
In Washington, they lie casually.
President Trump is a man of his word.
Email us, freedom at charliekirk.com.
Marco Rubio is back.
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That it doesn't come at our expense, that we don't find ourselves in a world in which we are dependent on China or any foreign power for that matter.
For the raw materials that we need, for the ability to make medicine, for the ability to fuel our economy.
the ability to feed ourselves or our people.
We cannot be a country that becomes dependent on foreign powers.
And so much of that involves not simply how we engage in the world, but also what we do here domestically.
That is not the responsibility of the Department of State, but it is important for us to point to that much of what's happened with China, much of what's happening now, is what we are not doing.
Whether it's through our own industry and the development of our own industries, or access to raw minerals and raw resources that are critical to fueling and or building a modern economy.
You talk about China playing by a different set of rules, and they do the ones that we think of as traditional rules.
And I appreciate your comments to Senator Ricketts about China and even the definition of them as a developing nation.
I think it's a big problem.
They can't be allowed to...
Continue to play openly with a different set of rules.
In addition to the hidden rules, I oppose China exploiting its status as a quote developing nation within international organizations.
I think it helps them gain an additional unfair advantage in what you described as this unbalanced relationship.
China is not in any way a developing country.
You just mentioned they're a rich and powerful country.
That's not a developing country.
It's the second largest economy in the world.
Clearly has the financial resource, access to capital to meet its own needs.
So I think we need to end China's preferential treatment and hold it accountable on the global stage.
I mean, we see it in the World Bank.
We see it in other locations.
Are there things that we can do and you can do as Secretary of State to try to eliminate this unfair advantage that they have?
It's an open unfair advantage.
Absolutely.
I think we need to, first of all, and I mentioned this in my opening statement, we have to acknowledge that many of the global institutions that were created, not just in the post-war era, but the post-Cold War era, have been weaponized against this.
And I can use a number of examples.
The first is, you think about...
The Security Council of the United Nations, which was created ostensibly for two of the greatest drivers of instability in the world today, hold a veto vote at the Security Council.
It's basically rendered the Security Council almost irrelevant.
By the same token, I would say I am not against multilateral organizations.
As long as that or any foreign arrangement we have serves the national interest of the United States.
I do not believe, and the President has made this abundantly clear, President Trump, that under no circumstances should any foreign entity or multilateral international organization have veto power over the national security interests of the United States of America.
The second point that I would point to is that the Chinese have very aggressively played this.
They have figured out, and it isn't hard to figure out, that even the smallest nation-state has a vote at the United Nations General Assembly.
And they have worked hard to not just court, but entrap a handful of votes around the world, and including in our own hemisphere.
If you look at the Caribbean basin in Grenada and places like that, where they go into these countries and they don't just provide a million dollars, a billion dollars to build the stadium.
They also give you five or six million dollars under the table for your family and friends.
They do that in place after place.
We've seen that practice as well in Africa.
So we need to understand that there has to be in many of these parts of the world.
Look, we're not bribing anybody.
We're not going to do that.
And it's certainly illegal for American companies to do it.
But it's hard to engage these countries, who in many cases have legitimate needs, when they say the Chinese.
We prefer to have your stuff.
We prefer to have American investment, but you're not offering any.
And so we're left with the only alternative, and that is take the Chinese investment, even though it comes with strong strings attached that include things like debt diplomacy or debt traps.
And expectations of diplomatic cooperation at these international forums.
My final question has to do, because you used the phrase, we need to be able to fuel our economy, and I'll talk a little bit about energy.
People who live in foreign developing nations, they want to be able to fuel their economy as well.
They need a stable energy source to grow their economy, to improve lives.
Many of the countries you've traveled to and I have, we've seen what energy poverty can do to people to make it harder for them.
We have an ability to help these countries develop a stable energy supply.
But this current administration, the Biden administration, has put restrictions in place on funding of certain energy resources, such as coal, natural gas.
The United States should be working to promote an all-of-the-above energy strategy and help our friends and allies have affordable energy as opposed to what is the politically correct type of energy to be used.
I believe we should be helping these countries with energy.
And are you committed to ensuring the State Department is promoting all forms of energy projects across the globe, including oil, gas, coal, affordable energy that will help people raise their standards?
Yes.
In fact, there should be a centerpiece.
One of our centerpieces for economic diplomacy.
We talked earlier, I think it was Senator Coons, had mentioned the work on fragile states and the hope of preventing fragility so that states don't collapse into some of the havens that you now see where terrorism takes a hold and so forth.
One of the things you can do to help a country become more stable and then more prosperous...
We have, who's Cory Booker talking to?
Let's go to the Cory Booker and go full screen and see what he's yammering about, and we'll cut in and out.
I think he's talking to Marco Rubio right now.
...the whole planet.
We know in the days of infectious diseases, for example, an outbreak of an infectious disease anywhere is a threat to public health everywhere.
More than that, we see the climate challenges, migration patterns there, threaten to destabilize the Middle East and other areas.
Egypt, for example, literally is hosting millions, millions of refugees in Egypt right now.
Now, my frustrations in my 12 years here is that we as a nation have not really prioritized it.
We do not have ambassadors in some countries where China And Russia, who understand the African opportunities, are investing heavily.
I've gone around the world and in my times in African countries, I often encounter people that say, hey, the Chinese are here, where are you?
And it's not just ambassadorial placements.
Other critical positions in embassies just aren't being filled.
And therefore, we're being outplayed by the Chinese and the Russians.
African countries and leaders have told me time and time again, we prefer you.
We'd rather deal with you.
We'd rather work with you.
And we can see by legal immigration patterns that their people would rather our way of life than the Chinese or the Russians.
But we are simply being outplayed in ways that we can counter if we had a real focus and a real strategy for engaging Africa.
And the impact of U.S. engagement is real.
And the backbone of our diplomacy is that diplomat abroad.
Is that Secretary of State on down people saying this is a priority?
I said this to you in our office and I want to make it plain now that we are at a point in this country that what we do in the Senate and in the White House and in the State Department are planting seeds for the future.
We could put a tremendous harvest in 10-20 years prioritizing and emphasizing our work in Africa.
Not to do so undermines the three points that you said at the beginning that I agree.
Our foreign policy should be guided by what makes us safe, strong, and prosperous.
And the future, in so many ways, is Africa.
Could you just talk to me a little bit about how you are prioritizing it, how you understand the critical opportunities and the dangers of not engaging at a higher level than either the Biden administration, Trump administration, Clinton administration, Bush administration have done?
Yeah, and I'll preface it by saying that, obviously, I'm not confirmed yet.
President's not in office yet.
There will be a national security strategy that will frame much of what we do in foreign policy.
So what I'm going to share with you basically here today is – As someone who will be at that table, some of the impressions that I would share with regards to our historic involvement in Africa and also some of our challenges moving forward.
And you've already highlighted all the things about the growth that's going to happen.
They'll double in population between now and 20, 20, 35, or what have you.
So it's extraordinary.
That isn't just an interesting number.
That's what markets.
Those are also consumers.
Those are also places that I think provide an extraordinary opportunity, properly positioned for America to become more prosperous.
Literally, more people that can afford to buy the things Americans provide, both in services and goods, and vice versa.
So I think there's an extraordinary opportunity.
Where I think some of our situation in Africa has fallen off, it's been, and rightfully so, heavily focused on counterterrorism and solely on counterterrorism in some places.
And that's valuable and important.
It is very difficult for a country to progress or move forward if they are, in fact, a haven that's open and that's open.
And so, you know, the freaks come out at night and you've got terrorist groups that are operating and undermining that country.
So it's not that it's unimportant.
I think we're also learning from the Sahel how quickly the situation changes.
Despite significant counterterrorism contributions, each of those countries have pivoted to their great mistake, grave error, towards the Africa core led by Russia.
These people are not any good at fighting counterterrorism and unreliable.
And I think the moment will come when they'll realize that and maybe there will be a new opportunity to engage.
On the flip side of it, if you look at littoral West Africa, there are real opportunities there.
And in fact, ongoing engagements, not just on counterterrorism, but on economic progress.
I look in the north to Morocco.
another place where we have already seen substantial improvements because of the The Accords, but also because phase two of that relationship that continues to build.
You also talk about one thing that I don't think has been talked about enough, and I think we hear the term as a 19th century term.
The impact that malaria has is not simply a health crisis, a humanitarian crisis.
It has deep economic implications.
It pulls kids out of school for long periods of time and not end their lives.
It literally sets people and communities back.
We're leveraging private partnerships to deal with things like malaria.
It pays extraordinary dividends if it's appropriately done and channeled.
And that is something that I think could, as part of an overall approach to Africa, include, be included in things that you could argue are improving our prosperity, our security.
Thank you, Senator Rubin.
You've affirmed a lot of this to me in our private talks.
I just want to make an emphasis publicly here.
That the disinformation in Africa, and I've mentioned disinformation writ large, but, you know, for example, the Washington Post published an article in October detailing how Russian propagandists targeted U.S. anti-malaria programs in Burkina Faso.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies report published in March 2024 highlighted how Russia and China are leading sponsors of disinformation campaigns in Africa that are showing incredible success because we aren't doing a coordinated campaign to counter their misinformation.
And so I'm looking forward to working with you.
I hope that you'll prioritize this for the sake of America's future, that you could be the Secretary of State that says we have a vision for Africa and we're backing it up, not just from the Secretary's office, but all the way down to making sure key resources are invested in countering disinformation as well as making sure...
That we have personnel in there.
It's not a popular post, as you know, for many State Department people.
We've got to make it that way and let people know that they're helping to define the future of not just the United States, but humanity by focusing on Africa.
I cannot let my time expire without talking about the biggest humanitarian crisis going on on the planet Earth right now, what is happening in Sudan.
It's been called by our country a genocide.
There's a famine being declared in areas where you're seeing unbelievable levels of systemic sexual violence going on.
I traveled to the Sudan border with Chad and saw humanitarian crises like I'd never seen before, and I've been around the world looking at humanitarian crises.
We have a great special envoy who you've already positively name-checked in this confirmation hearing.
It is so important and vital that that work continue and that we work for diplomatic solutions.
There are a lot of our allies who've been implicated in fueling this crisis.
This is an opportunity to end this crisis by diplomacy, to bring about one of the most important peace processes there are.
And I'm hoping that you and incoming President Trump will prioritize that.
In an era in which the term genocide has been misappropriated to almost a global slander, an international slander, this is a real genocide.
By its very definition, this is the ethnic targeting of specific groups for extermination, for elimination.
By groups, by the way, that are being funded by nations that we have alliances and partnerships with in other parts of the world.
And we should express that clearly.
I think part of our engagement with the UAE, and it'll have to be a pragmatic engagement.
I mean, they're important players in what we hope to resolve in the Middle East.
And I think as part of that engagement, we also need to raise the fact that they are openly supporting an entity that is carrying out a genocide.
And I think for those who are interested in going out and actually protesting a real genocide, this is to be the one.
And I just don't see it.
I don't see people mentioning it.
It is morally reprehensible that this crisis gets virtually no attention in our country, especially because of the role we should be playing today.
And my time is over, but I want to say this.
We need to respond.
But the other place on the planet that gets no attention, that we are responsible for in our hemisphere, is the crisis in Haiti as well.
I know that you know this intimately.
And again, I just want to keep calling out these moral omissions of our country, often at least in the press, of an inability to focus our compassion, empathy, and understanding of our interwoven destinies with places like Africa and places like Haiti. and understanding of our interwoven destinies with places like Africa Thank you, Senator.
Thank you, Senator Booker, for that.
Those are things that needed to be said.
Having said that, you have underlined probably the most difficult.
And I think everybody's ready to sign up on a path forward.
So far, nobody's laid out that path forward.
And you're right.
We have an obligation to at least try to design a path forward.
And when that happens, I have no doubt that we'll pull together Republicans and Democrats as Americans to do something about this.
But I'll tell you, identifying who are the people there that are the good guys that you can partner with.
Is very, very difficult, as you know.
Thank you.
Thank you, Senator Rubio, for your comments in that regard.
We will move now to Senator Paul.
Senator Rubio, congratulations on your nomination.
One of the questions that I've asked over time to secretaries of state, as well as ambassadors and others from the State Department, is can you name for me instances where sanctions have changed behavior for the better?
I'm not going to ask you that question now.
I'm going to wait until you come back to ask you.
There's a preview of what I'll ask you the next time.
But the reason I bring that up is that I think...
Hopefully, people think of sanctions as a way of trying to modulate behavior.
You want better behavior out of a country.
A country's doing something you don't like.
You'd like them to change their behavior for better through sanctions.
And I think it rarely works.
And I think we pile more on.
Now, some would say, well, sanctions are just to punish them.
And we just want to, you know, Russia invaded Ukraine.
We're just punishing them.
And so as punishment, they kind of work.
I don't think they're deterring Russia's behavior or changing it.
But really, sanctions can have effect in a couple of ways.
I think the threat of a sanction, the same way the threat of a tariff, can have an effect on behavior.
But once placed, I think a sanction or tariff only has effect on someone's behavior if you remove it.
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Dual use parts to Russia to use in the war against Ukraine.
A noble goal, I share the goal.
But they got to China and they shamed them in public and called them names and told them they're terrible people and they should quit doing it.
I would argue that there's another way to try to get behavioral changes.
I would argue that the opposite of sanctions is trade.
And so we have a lot of sanctions on China.
If I had been the one going to China with a mission, I would have said to China very quietly, We may not be able to undo everything, but perhaps we could undo one bit of sanctions that will enhance your economy by X amount if you'll agree to quit selling dual-use parts to Russia.
And I think that's just a different look on things, and I don't think we're getting it very often.
I guess my hope is that you will think about a different way of doing business other than just saying, let's sanction everybody and let's call people names we don't like, because I don't think it helps.
I think it actually makes the situation worse.
It doesn't mean we throw up in a ball and just say, do whatever you want.
But there has to be some give and take.
There has to be something we take back.
And so I guess my general question to you would be, we know a lot to stick.
We know about sanctions and this and that.
Do you see any possibility of any carrot with China to make relations better with China?
Well, let me first say, indeed, I've been strongly worded in my views of China.
Let me just point out, they've said mean things about me, too.
I'm not sure that they're fans of mine in that regard here.
My role now as the Secretary of State is to lead the diplomatic wing of the country, and that will involve engaging them.
The fact of the matter is, in a mature and prudent conversation, and I would expect that they, at the end of the day, are also mature and prudent practitioners of foreign policy.
They've got a billion people and nuclear weapons and a large economy.
We have 400 million people, the largest economy in the world, and nuclear weapons.
And it is in their interest, our interest, and the interest of the world for two great powers to be...
In fact, despite everything I have said, I have consistently throughout my career said that it is that geopolitical balance between our countries, or imbalance, developing imbalance, that is the greatest risk to global security and prosperity, because that could quickly trigger not just a trade and economic conflict, but an armed one, which could be catastrophic.
Never in the history of mankind have two powers like the United States and China.
Ever faced off in a global conflict, and the outcome would be catastrophic, and we should want to avoid it, and so should they.
So the bottom line is this.
Yes, we are going to have to deal with China.
They're too big and too important in the world, and they're going to have to deal with us.
And my goal is that it is dealt with in a way that furthers our national interest.
What cannot continue to happen is that China continues to assume all of the benefits of the international system and none of its obligations.
All the benefits of global trade and commerce and none of its obligations.
Your point on sanctions are important.
I think that one of the things that's happened over time is we have adopted this view that we're going to be involved in less armed conflicts, which I think is a positive, generally speaking, right?
Most people would agree.
The only other alternative left in the toolbox, then, is economic sanctions.
And while I do think that you can question whether it has an impact over changing the behavior of a country, it can achieve two things.
The first is it can deny a nation state the resources they could use to fund more of that activity.
We have live coverage.
It's almost like a March Madness game.
Where you got three or four games coming up at once.
Senator Ted Cruz, I believe, is chairing the Transportation Committee.
I don't know the exact name.
I think it's Transportation and Security.
Let's listen in on Senator Cruz and his new chairmanship and Mr. Duffy, who is going to replace Pete Buttigieg.
By the way, this doesn't get enough coverage.
The Transportation Department is very important.
Looks like Senator Schmidt, who's now going to be asking a question of Mr. Duffy, let's throw it there.
...of kids with special needs.
My Steven's 20 now, but it's the reason I do this.
And the perspective, as you know, that you gain is life-changing, and I'm very grateful.
So thanks for sharing that.
Even though I didn't get to hear that public portion we talked about at my office.
I want to just start by saying...
I extend my congratulations to you and your family.
You're going to do a great job.
I thought our conversation in my office was great.
We talked about a bunch of different things.
And I think the American people deserve new leadership in this position and be focused on the right things.
So I just want to rifle through a couple of questions.
One of the things I think in refocusing the attention of the office and one of the real challenges I think we've dealt with the last four years.
Is this obsession that the Biden administration has had with DEI. And Pete Buttigieg, for example, implemented this and was focused on this.
And a month before the first national ground stop of our national airspace since 9-11, he was busy renaming the air notice system to be more inclusive.
I just think it's a...
It's such a priority problem that we've had the last four years.
I really welcome your leadership.
And so how do you intend to tackle that, to sort of refocus the department on building big, beautiful roads, as President Trump says?
I appreciate the question.
When we talk about safety, we're talking about getting on airplanes and flying through the airspace, so air traffic controllers and pilots and the mechanics and the machinists that build the planes.
We want the hiring decisions to be based on merit.
We want excellence.
We want the best people in these jobs.
Now, we can have a conversation and should have a conversation about what communities are we drawing from?
Are we accessing the right communities saying, hey, there's great opportunities at Boeing or one of the airlines or at air traffic control, accessing a lot of communities with the information about opportunities in these fields?
Is something that I would commit to doing.
But we can only hire the best and the brightest because everyone's safety is at stake.
It's on the line.
I talked the last time we met, under the FAA, there's the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, or AST, and it's responsible for licensing and regulating all the commercial space.
The commercial rocket launch and reentry activities in the United States, it's a little-known agency.
The only reason, quite frankly, that I'm aware of it is because I was the ranking member of the Space and Science Subcommittee the last two years and learned more than I ever thought I would ever learn coming into the Senate about how important and how critical.
So let me explain the profundity of what's happening here.
Senator Schmidt is going back and forth in between committees, typically under the Mitch McConnell rules.
You have one hearing, and you're not allowed to bounce back and forth.
But the new energy of people like Jim Banks, previously J.D. Vance, of Eric Schmidt, of this new generation of senators that say, wait a second, I sit around and do nothing half the time in one of these committee hearings.
Why don't we have two or three of those going on at once?
And I'll ask my question, exit, go back to the next one, and I can have a staffer sitting there.
Taking notes, hearing what people are saying.
This allows you to do concurrent nominations.
It's very unappreciated.
The young guns in the Senate demanded to fast-track this whole process.
Typically, it would be just one a day.
So on Tuesday, you have Pete Hegson.
And on Wednesday, you have Marco Rubio.
And then you end up in late March, and you might have a cabinet by Easter.
No, no, no.
We're not doing it that way anymore.
We are now going to do simultaneous concurrent nominations.
If we have to bounce around, that's fine.
Ask your question.
Go to the next committee.
We are going to try to have the fullest cabinet possible for President Trump on day one.
Far ahead of what we saw in 2017. Way, way, way, way ahead.
This is a new philosophy in the U.S. Senate.
I'd love to see it.
It's Congress, most recently the Foreign Service Families Act.
As you know, and we discussed yesterday, you know the importance of supporting the men and women at the State Department, including the Foreign Service.
And I appreciate your willingness to work with us in the caucus to continue to make sure that they have what they need to do their jobs effectively.
We also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine and the importance of supporting the Ukrainian people.
Against Putin's aggression.
And I just want to say for the record, I support and endorse everything that Senator Shaheen said on that score, so I don't have to go into great detail.
I will say that we know what happens in Ukraine does not stay in Ukraine.
And it's not just me saying that.
That is what we've heard repeatedly from leaders in Japan, leaders in South Korea, and other partners of ours in the Indo.
I hope that we will continue to focus on that because what we do know is that President Xi has one eye on what's happening in Ukraine and another eye on what's happening in Taiwan and measuring everybody's response.
Like you, and we've worked on a bipartisan basis to try to make sure that we meet the challenge of China.
Lots of important pieces of legislation that have passed, but none yet to really rise to meeting those challenges.
I do support the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to restrict the flow of very high-end technologies, the highest-end ships, to China that can be used in their military.
We need to do that successfully with our allies to do that, just like the Trump administration back in the day worked on the Huawei issue.
So my view is that we need to expand that effort.
We also discussed the volatile situation in the Middle East.
You know we often talk about the importance of shifting our focus to China.
China and the Indo-Pacific, but we always seem to get dragged back into conflicts in the Middle East.
I want to start with Syria.
Good riddance to the murderous Assad regime.
Obviously, we have a stake in what comes next in Syria, given the fact that it's a very volatile part of the world.
I support the very cautious engagement of the Biden administration with HTS, but we should acknowledge their very poisonous genealogy, beginning with al-Qaeda morphing into al-Nusra.
The other issue, of course, in Syria is that when you've got a situation Like we see today, there are opportunities for ISIS to get further back on its feet, to provide it more oxygen.
And as you know, the tip of the spear in our fight against ISIS has been our Syrian Kurdish partners, the SDF. But at this moment, President Erdogan of Turkey has been backing attacks of the so-called Syrian National Army.
Which Turkey largely controls against our partners, the Syrian Kurds, which opens the door to a revival of ISIS. Because of the actions of the United States government, Turkey has so far paused that effort.
Senator Graham and I have introduced legislation to impose sanctions on Turkey.
Should they renew those attacks in an aggressive way?
We talked about this.
I know that you recognize the importance of that partnership with the Syrian Kurds, but just a very straightforward question.
Do you agree that we should continue to support our partners, the SDF, in the fight against ISIS?
Not only that, but I think we also need to recognize that there are implications to abandoning partners who have a great sacrifice and threat actually to the ISIS. Fighters.
One of the reasons why we were able to dismantle ICE is because they were willing to host them in jails.
A great personal threat to them.
And obviously that situation is very tenuous.
I don't want to take up a lot of your time, but I do think it's important to respond to this opportunity in Syria.
Because it could be an opportunity.
Look, the new people that are in charge there are not going to pass an FBI background check.
We recognize that.
These are not people we know it all about, and their history, as you said, is not one that gives us comfort.
That said...
It is in the national interest of the United States, if possible, to have a Syria that's no longer a playground for ISIS, that respects religious minorities, ranging from Alawis all the way to Christians, that protects the Kurds, and at the same time is not a vehicle through which Iran can spread its terrorism to Hezbollah and destabilize Lebanon, not to mention what's happened in other parts.
Not only is it in the national interest of the United States, it's in the national interest of virtually every nation state in the Middle East to see that come about.
That is worth exploring.
There is an interesting dynamic at play.
And Senator Post a moment ago about the impact of sanctions.
I would argue that the Caesar sanctions directly contributed to the downfall of the Assad regime in many ways.
We find ourselves in this interesting situation now where because it, I think, is reauthorized as part of NDAA, we now have these sanctions in place against the government that no longer exists.
But nonetheless, it's an opportunity for us to explore how we could use that tool, the removal of it, and others, if in fact the territory is fertile for these outcomes.
There are impediments to this that go beyond simply the new people in charge.
And one of them, as you pointed out, is Erdogan and what his intentions are.
Right now, there's a very tenuous ceasefire with regards to the Kurds.
It's important for that to be maintained.
I think it's important to signal to Erdogan early, including through this hearing, that they should not view a transition in power in the U.S. as a window in which they could take advantage of to sort of violate whatever agreements were in place.
Right now, what we want in Syria is stability so that we can explore what opportunities exist to bring I agree with everything you just said.
I look forward to working with you on that.
Let me turn to the Israeli-Palestinian.
We've also witnessed the devastation and human rights catastrophe in Gaza.
Like you, I've met Israeli families who lost loved ones on October 7th.
I've met with hostage families.
I've also met with Palestinian families who lost kids and other innocents in this war.
So I'm very pleased to see the announcement.
Today of the ceasefire and the return of hostages.
Let us pray that it holds and that it is implemented.
But of course, as we discussed yesterday, the question is what happens next.
And we all agree that Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza or any other place.
We also know that for all its flaws and faults, the Palestinian Authority has recognized Israel's right to exist for the last 30 years since the Oslo Accords.
Their security forces are trained by U.S. forces.
They today are fighting Palestinian militants in certain parts of the West Bank.
But at the same time, their funds have been restricted by Gaza.
The Netanyahu government today, these are the funds that belong to the PA. We've seen a record increase in the number of settlements in the West Bank.
And so the PA is not able to deliver on what had been the hope of Oslo, which is self-determination, security, and dignity for both Israelis.
Will you commit?
Senator, I will do everything in my power to prevent illegal gunrunners in our country.
When I left being a state prosecutor to run for attorney general, I almost didn't run because I was working on a wire case involving illegal gunrunners.
The DOJ issued in 2022 a use of force policy for its federal law enforcement officers.
It was approved by the heads of the DEA, FBI, U.S. Marshals, and ATF, and many of them said it is actually a use-of-force policy that actually protects law enforcement officers as well as protects others from having their rights violated.
It was also endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police and NAPO, the National Association of Police Organizations.
This policy is considered best practices in law enforcement.
Will you commit to continuing this policy?
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The 2021 DOJ policy on these issues.
I'm familiar with the policy.
I have not read it.
I'm committed to reading it and studying it and reporting back.
To you on that policy once again.
Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
Senator Hawley.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Bondi, welcome.
Congratulations on your nomination.
I'm so glad that you've been nominated, as we discussed when we had the chance to meet.
Thank you.
It was a pleasure to work with you as a state attorney general for a number of years, and I'm delighted to see you here today before the committee.
I look forward to your confirmation.
You will be confirmed.
I, too, have taken note of the number of times you have been asked about weaponization of the Department of Justice as if it was a theoretical possibility that might happen in the future.
One of my colleagues on the other side said, weaponization may well occur under your tenure.
We all know that weaponization has occurred like we've never seen before in American history under this administration.
And I want to get even more specific.
In the last four years, this administration has carried out an unprecedented attack and campaign against people of faith.
I hope that you will reverse this and do right by every American citizen, including especially people of faith.
Let me give you some specifics.
After the Dobbs case was decided by the Supreme Court, over 100 pregnancy care centers, And over 300 churches in this country were attacked, vandalized, firebombed.
Do you happen to know off the top of your head how many prosecutions Merrick Garland's Justice Department brought in those cases?
It's a stunning number.
It's two.
Hundreds of churches.
Hundreds of pregnancy care centers.
And I might just add, these pregnancy care centers, the attacks on them, which were violent, which were gruesome, were egged on and encouraged by rhetoric from members of Congress, including members of this body, who have said that pregnancy care centers aren't real medicine, that they're not real doctors.
They have legitimized these attacks.
And the same thing was true of churches.
And this Justice Department couldn't lift a finger to defend these Americans.
But at the same time...
They use legislation, a law known as the FACE Act, to prosecute at least 53 different pro-life demonstrators, including people like Mark Hauk from Pennsylvania, whom this Justice Department sent a SWAT team to his door in the early morning hours.
He has, I think, seven children.
In the early morning hours, an FBI SWAT team shows up at his door to take him into custody and prosecute him.
By the way, he was acquitted.
This kind of outrageous disparate treatment has to end.
So here's my question to you.
Will you protect churches and pregnancy care centers when they are targeted for violence, when they are targeted for intimidation, when their members or parishioners are threatened with violence or other acts of illegal behavior?
Yes, Senator.
Will you stop the disparate treatment of Americans on the basis of religious faith?
Yes, Senator.
Will you stop the deliberate persecution of pro-life Americans for nothing more than their pro-life beliefs?
Yes, Senator.
Will you ensure that nothing like the Mark Houck case happens again, that Americans do not have SWAT teams arriving on their front doors with armed weapons to terrorize their children and their spouses?
Only in the end, of course, to have the case lost because there was nothing to it.
Will you put an end to that kind of deliberate intimidation of the good American citizens on the basis of their religious beliefs?
Yes, Senator.
I'm glad to hear you say that because we need it.
We need it.
Ms. Bondi, we need a new chapter at the Justice Department and we need it quickly.
And I'm glad you're committed to it.
I also have heard you've been asked about your comment that you thought that in some cases we need to investigate the investigators, the ones who were bad.
You know, I have to say I'm glad to hear you stand by that.
We need to do that.
You need to do that.
And I'll give you another example.
I'm sure you've read about this memo, which I now hold in my hands.
This memo that was...
Developed by the FBI field office in Richmond, Virginia, 23rd January, 2023, targeting Catholic parishes for spying, for recruitment of infiltrators.
I mean, the memo goes on and on and on about the FBI's plans to put assets into Catholic parishes, into choirs.
This is an unbelievable, unbelievable assault on Americans' First Amendment rights, and we only know of it because of a brave whistleblower who came forward and released it to us.
And I will tell you, I have never been misled and lied to like I was by the current Attorney General and the now former FBI Director when they sat right where you're sitting now and told this committee, oh, we don't know anything about it.
Oh, only one field office was involved.
It was the single work of a single field office and very few individuals.
As it turns out, that's not true.
Multiple field offices were involved.
Multiple individuals were involved.
Under your leadership, will you put a stop to the use of FBI or Department of Justice resources to try and recruit informants and spies into Christian churches or any church or house of worship in this country on the basis of nothing more than faith?
Of course, Senator.
Let me just say this.
To our knowledge, no one who is involved in the writing and performance execution of this memo has been disciplined or fired.
Will you conduct an investigation?
Like you talked about, Ms. Bondi, that will get to the bottom of abuses like this.
And to be clear, this is an outrageous abuse.
It is an outrageous abuse.
One of the worst abuses of Department of Justice and FBI authority in our history.
Will you conduct an investigation to find out who signed off on this, who approved it, who advocated for it within the Department of Justice?
Will you open the books?
On these abuses, so that the American people can have confidence in their DOJ. Senator, and I think what you're talking about is the ultimate weaponization, what we've been discussing all day.
If I am confirmed as Attorney General, one of the first things I will do, there'll be many, but I will personally read that memo, and if Mr. Patel is confirmed, discuss it with him right away.
Fantastic.
And will you work with this committee?
And our relevant subcommittees, I'm going to chair a subcommittee called the Crime and Terrorism Committee.
We're going to do our own investigation into what happened here at the FBI and the DOJ. Will you work with us as you discover?
Senator, yes, I look forward to working with you and the Democrats.
I would think this is something that we can all agree on, on both sides, that this should not be happening in the United States of America and work together on it.
That's fantastic.
Let me ask you one other question here in my just few seconds that are remaining.
This memo, this memo targeting Catholic parishes, repeatedly refers to as an expert source a group called the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Now, the Southern Poverty Law Center has a long history as an anti-religious group that has repeatedly gone after.
Conservative and religious organizations called them hate groups, called them sometimes terrorist groups.
They're cited in this memo.
They once infamously, the SPLC, called the Family Research Council a terrorist hate group and an armed gunman came into their lobby and opened fire.
Will you put a stop to the use of the SPLC as an official source for any Department of Justice memorandum or finding?
That will be one of the first things we will look at as well, Senator, and report back to you and the committee.
Thank you very much.
Congratulations.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Is that Adam Schiff as a senator?
That ruined my day.
I'm sorry, I just have to say it.
That's disgusting.
That should not be allowed on TV. That should be censored.
It's disgusting.
The president has said Jack Smith should go to jail.
Will you investigate Jack Smith?
Senator, I haven't seen the file.
I haven't seen the investigation.
I haven't looked at anything.
It would be irresponsible of me to make a commitment regarding anything.
You're a long-practicing attorney without looking at a file.
So you would need a factual predicate.
To open an investigation of Jack Smith, is that right?
Not a summary by you sitting here.
Yes, sir.
And not a summary by the president either, right?
Absolutely.
So a summary by the president or his desire to investigate Jack Smith would not be enough for you sitting here today.
Are you aware of any factual predicate to investigate Jack Smith sitting here today?
Yes or no?
Senator, I will look at the facts and the circumstances of anything brought to me.
You're not a part of the department yet.
There's no worry about divulging law enforcement-sensitive information.
So just tell us, are you aware of a factual predicate to investigate Jack Smith?
Yes or no?
Senator, what I'm hearing on the news is horrible.
Do I know if he committed a crime?
I have not looked at it.
You seem reluctant to answer a simple question.
Let me ask you a different simple question.
The president also wants to jail Liz Cheney.
Sitting here today, are you aware of any factual basis to investigate Liz Cheney?
Yes or no?
Senator, that's a hypothetical, and I'm not going to answer that question.
No, no, it's not a hypothetical.
I'm asking you, sitting here today, whether you are aware of a factual predicate to investigate Liz Cheney.
Senator, no one has asked me to investigate Liz Cheney.
That is a hypothetical.
The president has called for it publicly.
You are aware of that, aren't you?
No one has asked me to investigate.
We're also worried about Liz Cheney, Senator.
You know what we should be worried about?
The crime rate in California right now is the way of the roof.
Your robberies are 87% higher than the national average.
That's what I want to be focused on, Senator, if I'm confirmed as Attorney General.
And what you're suggesting today by your non-answer is you don't have the independence to say no to the president.
So let me ask you a different question.
It also requires you, if you're going to be a good attorney general, to be able to tell hard truths to the president.
So my questions now are, can you tell hard truths to the president?
So let me start with an easy truth that you could speak to the president.
Can you tell us?
Can you tell him?
That Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
Can you say that?
Do you have the independence to say that?
Do you have the gravitas, the stature, the intestinal fortitude to say, Donald Trump, you lost the 2020 election?
Can you tell us that here today?
Senator, what I can tell you is I will never play politics.
You're trying to engage me in a gotcha.
I won't play politics with any ongoing investigation, like you did leaking your colleague Devin Nunes' memo.
If you can't answer the question, let me ask you a different, what should be a simple truth, not a hard one.
Was there massive fraud affecting the result of the 2020 election, yes or no?
Senator.
I'm glad you asked that question, if you'll let me answer what I saw in Pennsylvania.
No, I asked a simple question about massive fraud.
I can only tell you what I saw in Pennsylvania.
I know you want to answer a different question, but my question is, can you tell us whether there was massive fraud affecting the results of the 2020 election?
Yes or no?
Was there or was there not?
I can tell you what I saw when I went as an advocate to the campaign.
That's not my question.
So you can't answer that question.
You can't speak that.
Even easy truth to us, let alone to the president.
So let me ask you a different question.
It will also be important that you give good advice to the president.
Are you prepared to advise the president not to pardon people who beat police officers?
Senator, as I said, the pardons are at the direction of the president.
We will look and we will advise.
I will look at every case on a case-by-case basis.
And I abhor violence to police officers.
Follow up with that.
So will it be your advice to the President?
Mr. President, I know you said you want to issue hundreds of pardons on day one.
Will it be your advice to the President?
No, Mr. President, I need to go over them on a case-by-case basis.
Do not issue blanket pardons.
Will that be your advice to the President?
Senator, I have not looked at any of those files.
If confirmed, I will look at the files for the parties as well as the ongoing investigation.
And will you be able to review hundreds of cases on day one?
I will look at every file I am asked to look at.
Of course you won't.
So will you advise the president?
Can I answer the question?
I would have plenty of staff.
You said, of course you want?
You'll be able to review hundreds of cases on day one?
I'm not going to mislead this body, nor you.
All right, let me ask another question.
You don't want to answer that.
Let me ask another question.
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Let's go more with Pam Bondi and Mr. Schiff.
...ethical basis to destroy evidence in the January 6th investigation?
Then why can't you answer the question?
Why can't you say, I commit to this committee, we will never destroy the evidence in the January 6th investigation.
Why can't you give this committee and the American people that assurance?
Are you frightened because evidence was destroyed against President Trump that was false?
Is that why you're frightened now?
Why do you have difficulty answering that question?
I can't believe they're asking such a question.
Why do you have difficulty promising to preserve...
Evidence at the Department of Justice.
Why is that a difficult question?
I will follow the law.
It shouldn't be a difficult question.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Bundy, I know that you are pleased that we are moving to the end of round one.
And we appreciate your being here.
And I appreciate that you told my California colleagues you were willing to work with them.
Now, one thing I think we need to have everybody understand that is watching this hearing today and everyone sitting in here, what we have witnessed over the last four years with a weaponized DOJ. My colleagues have talked about this.
And the American people know this.
No.
What was carried out against President Trump in his administration?
And in November, they voted to see an end to two tiers of justice, two tiers of treatment, two tiers of access, because they have absolutely had it with the lies, with the accusations.
And with the attacks that have come against so many people who were just seeking to live their lives, and then all of a sudden found the FBI or another federal agency or the DOJ knocking at their door.
You know, Ms. Bondi, it would make you believe that my colleagues have learned nothing, nothing, They don't see this as a movie script that someone may have liked to write.
What they see is this is real life.
And they want a restoration to equal justice, equal access, equal treatment, abiding by the rule of law.
Many of us have talked today about making America safe again.
And in Tennessee, I hear a good bit about this.
And as we've discussed your nomination, one of the things I've mentioned to people is your career as a prosecutor.
And you have touched on that some today.
And you are bringing that insight of being a prosecutor to bear.
And I do appreciate that.
Now one thing that I think is noteworthy, and in preparation for the hearing I looked some of these numbers up.
During President Trump's first term, violent crime in this country actually failed.
It fell by 17 percent.
And in the first two years of the Biden administration, it soared by 43 percent.
This is crime that is taking place in all of our communities.
We've seen a rise, whether it's California or Tennessee, we have seen a rise.
So I want you to talk.
To Tennesseans, to Californians, to all Americans about what you're going to do to get this crime rate down in this country.
Senator, thank you for that question.
And despite the questions from Senator Schiff...
I look forward to working with you and the state of California to do everything we can to fight violent crime in California.
And you know as well as I, that crime is only going to go through the roof now after these forest fires.
You're going to have looting.
You're going to have price gouging.
You're going to have so many things that I have dealt with in the state of Florida, and I am committed to working with California just as much as I am committed to working with you, Senator Kennedy, in the tragedy that just took place in Louisiana, given all the human beings that were murdered in your state.
And we have the Super Bowl coming up in less than three weeks now, I believe, Senator.
I've been a little busy.
But we've got to ensure, if I'm confirmed, that everyone in this country is safe.
And I will work with you.
I will work with you, Senator.
I will work with all of you in this country for everything that Senator Blackburn said.
We have got to reduce violent crime and we have got to restore integrity to our law enforcement officers.
Donald Trump.
Amazing.
She's doing wonderfully.
10 out of 10, Pam Bondi.
But if we're not safe, none of that works.
We have got to come together.
We have got to work together to make America safe again.
And that in turn will make America great again.
And I don't know where that phrase has become a bad word because I think that's a great one.
Making America great again.
Let me move on with you to something else that's about law and order.
And that is Section 1507. Because making certain that our justices are protected is important, and we also, with our judges, Section 1507 makes illegal any protest.
Outside of a judge's residence, if the intent is to influence the judge's decision-making.
And we have heard about the protests outside of justices' homes, where they were shouting loud and clear things like, and I'm quoting some of that, if you take away our choices, we will riot, end quote.
Another one, no privacy for us, no peace for you, end quote.
In other words, if the justices did not vote to uphold Roe and Casey, the protesters would continue to harass them.
Despite this clear violation of the law, Merrick Garland did not bring a single charge.
Not one single charge.
Under Section 1507, will you commit to faithfully enforcing Section 1507 as Attorney General?
I will faithfully enforce that law and all laws that I am asked to review.
And Senator, I watched that on TV and it horrified me, the protesters outside their houses.
You can't do that for a reason.
Because our justices have to remain safe and unbiased and protected from threats, as do we all.
But they do enjoy a special protection, and yes, that should be enforced.
Thank you, Ms. Fondy.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
We'll now have our second round that I announced earlier.
We'll each have four minutes.
When we...
We're talking in my office.
I brought up the importance of your listening to whistleblowers.
And about 30 or 35 investigations I've got underway of the executive branch, and not just because of a Democrat president.
Some of them are probably carryovers from Republican presidents.
It's very important that the executive branch understand the cooperation that you must have with us.
To carry out our responsibilities to see that the president faithfully executes the laws.
And I think that too often, whistleblowers, being patriotic people they are, wanting government to do what government's just supposed to do, and find something wrong, they want to report it, and they want to report it within the agency.
They don't come to Congress unless they don't get any help.
In the executive branch, it seems to me that it's very important that you respect whistleblowers, but I've seen them treated like a skunk at a picnic by the agency they're in.
I've seen them ruin themselves professionally.
I see themselves, one time an FBI agent came to me, was escorted out of headquarters with his gun and badge taken away from him.
Just because the laboratory there was not using science to make sure that crime was actually committed.
So now we have a new $40 million science lab so that people are protected and get their constitutional rights.
So will you protect whistleblowers from retaliation and promote a culture?
And I think that last thing, promote a culture, is more important.
That value is the important contribution of whistleblowers.
Yes, and Senator, I think so people fully understand the importance of whistleblowers.
They have to be able to tell the truth and come forward without fear of retaliation.
And that's the purpose of the whistleblower statute.
When there's retaliation, the taxpayers' money is paying for that retaliation in most cases.
The Biden Justice Department issued guidance telling prosecutors to stop charging mandatory minimums and ignore laws setting penalties on drug type.
It also allowed folks to pay civil and criminal fines to politicize non-government organizations instead of the government treasury.
I put together a list of their guidance.
I find it very concerning and unfair to the taxpaying public.
And I'd like to have you review those policies very soon.
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Okay, let's zoom back in right now.
Oh, you can't miss Dick Durbin from Illinois.
Let's listen to this good-for-nothing pile of stuff.
Listen to him.
That's a pretty amazing achievement in his life.
But he also has said and done some things which are impossible to understand and justify.
For example, are you familiar with something called the QAnon conspiracy?
I have heard of it, but I do not know what it is, but I've heard of it many times, Senator.
So let me tell you what I've learned about it.
Its core belief is that a cabal of satanic, cannibalistic child molesters are embedded within our government and are conspiring against President-elect Trump.
They asked Mr. Patel about it, and he said, quote, I agree with a lot.
End of quote.
Does that sound like a good preparation to run the FBI? Senator, I don't know anything about...
I actually...
I had heard of QAnon, but I've never heard that definition attached to it at all.
You're going to have to ask Mr. Patel about those statements.
We will.
And I'll tell you, until we get answers to those questions, I... Don't know many people on this side of the table will give him an unequivocal endorsement.
This and his enemies list, what he calls his government gangsters.
This is what you expect of Stassi.
This is what you expect of secret police.
It is not what you expect of justice in America, as you've even described it at the table today.
So I would say this unequivocal support of Mr. Patel should at least have some reservation until he explains some of these outrageous positions he has taken.
I look forward to hearing his testimony about QAnon in front of this committee.
You will.
Let me say another word about January 6th and what happened.
We lived through it, many of us.
We'll never forget it.
To think that the United States of America's Capitol building was desecrated by an insurrectionist mob that came in and did horrible things, particularly to our police force.
It keeps you safe as you sit there and keeps us safe every single day.
Over a hundred of them were attacked by these demonstrators.
One, Kenneth Bonowitz, a member of the so-called Proud Boys, another alt-right group, assaulted at least six officers, placed one in a chokehold and lifted him up in the neck.
Bonowitz injured one officer so severely he had to retire.
Kyle Fitzsimmons.
Convicted for five separate assaults against law enforcement, including one that caused a career-ending and life-altering injury to U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Akilino Gunnell.
Can you understand why when Donald Trump says, the day I am inaugurated as president, I will issue a blanket pardon to these, quote, political prisoners?
We view this with an outrage on our side.
These men and women risked their lives for us every day, and they almost died.
Some of them did die in the course of this attack.
Why aren't we treating them as such, and why do you have to reserve judgment?
Vice President Vance didn't when he was asked this week.
He said that pardon should not be extended to those who are guilty of violence against policemen.
And, Senator, I do not agree with violence against anyone.
But especially police officers.
And every time I've been walking through these halls meeting with all of you, the men and women of the Capitol Police Department are incredible.
They do a great job.
They deserve to be safe.
And I do not agree with violence against any police officer.
I would hope.
I never have, Senator.
You weren't able to answer my question affirmatively earlier, but I would hope that if this moves forward in a positive way on your nomination.
You will speak up at some point on behalf of these police officers who are keeping you safe today and your family safe.
I yield.
Okay.
Before Senator Graham, I want to enter into the record without objection from the members of this committee letters from law enforcement groups who support Ms. Bondi's nomination.
These groups include the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriff's Association.
The National Association of Police Organizations.
They praise her, quote, support for law enforcement, crime prevention, and public safety, end quote, without objection.
So ordered.
Senator Graham.
Thank you.
Well, I've been gone for a while, so they're asking you about Cash Patel.
It must be going pretty well.
You didn't miss anything, Senator.
That's just an observation.
So, anyway, thanks to my colleagues on the Democratic side.
It's been a good hearing.
And a couple things.
Pardons.
If somebody applies for a pardon, you'll give the president legal advice as to whether or not he should grant it.
Is that the way the system works?
Yes, Senator.
Okay.
So rather than prejudging what you do, you would look at the application and give him your best advice, and you don't like people who beat up cops?
Correct.
I hope no one does.
Yeah, okay.
Fair enough.
So let's just get back to the process.
I'm not going to speak for the president, but the president does not like people that abuse police officers either.
Yeah, well, the hope is that through this pardon process, you'll make a rational decision.
Based on the applicant, rather than deciding the outcome in a Senate hearing.
That's all I'm asking.
That's what I would want if I represented somebody.
I'd want to at least be heard.
Now, Section 230, are you familiar with it?
Yes, Senator.
One thing that unites this committee is protecting children and society at large from social media abuse.
We passed online privacy legislation.
Senator Durbin's been great to work with.
Everybody, Klobuchar, we're all trying to find out how to empower people who may be victims of social media.
Woody, to empower a parent whose child's been bullied, when you call the social media platform and they blow you off, you go to court.
And they kick you out of court because of Section 230. Sexual exploitation of children on the Internet, we've heard stories that make us just break our hearts.
We're united of trying to give people a say.
If they take your content down, you're appealing to the people who've made the decision to take your content down.
So what I want to do, along with Senator Holley, everybody, is repeal Section 230 or replace it with a system that empowers consumers who may have been hurt.
Do you agree with that?
Senator, I would love to look at that with you.
I'm not familiar with what you want to do on the issue.
I've talked to Senator Klobuchar.
I think Senator Durbin and I may have even discussed it.
But I'm committed to looking at that with you.
There are so many issues online.
That's one of the things.
We have to find things that can bring us together now.
And this has to be one of them.
Well, just protecting our children.
Here's what FBI Director said, Ray, where you agree with him or not, I agree with this.
I see blinking lights everywhere I turn regarding the national security threats.
Does that make sense to you?
Yes, Senator.
I was looking at the date of that.
That was a year ago.
Yes, Senator.
I also heard about, I haven't seen it yet, his 60 Minutes interview that was very troubling to me for our country.
Right.
We know we found eight guys from Tajikistan that were at least caught again because we were tied to ISIS. So the point I'm trying to make is January 20th, we own this.
I just urge you, to the extent you can, to urge the president to secure that border.
We need money.
The idea of moving money around from defense is not going to cut it.
We need a lot of money for bed space to finish the wall, do technology, hire ICE agents to accelerate deportation of people who are criminals and gang members.
We don't have time to waste.
I hope you'll make that an urgency because the threat is real.
Are you worried about an attack on our homeland being generated from ICE? Isis or their affiliates, and what should we do about it?
Senator, I don't have a security clearance yet, but only from the public reporting that I've seen, I'm terrified.
Senator Whitehouse.
Thank you, Chairman.
I'm going to try to fit in two questions in my four minutes.
Lindsay, stick around because I'm going to say something nice about you.
First...
Yes to 230. We've got to really work on that.
There's a lot of support for fixing 230. In fact, outright repealing 230 in this committee.
First question.
Presumably, your commitment to fairly enforcing the law based on facts and evidence would also apply to environmental cases.
Yes, Senator.
I'm concerned because, you know, under Trump...
Criminal prosecutions for pollution dropped sharply in his first term.
And you will be running an Environment and Natural Resources division that has things like, for instance, a methane task force that big polluters who spent big money to get President Trump re-elected don't like.
And they're going to be coming to you to say, hey...
We don't want a whole lot of enforcement on this.
Methane leaks, carbon dioxide leaks, it's a pollutant, polluting our water, polluting our air.
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There was a committee investigation into Crossfire Hurricane.
During that...
Crossfire Hurricane investigation box loads of material was provided by the department and the bureau to Senate Republicans.
They got files.
They got investigative reports.
They got internal memos.
They got stuff that would not be FOIA-able.
They really were able to do a deep dive because they got everything they asked for, even stuff that the FBI would ordinarily not produce.
That was happening.
For me, I had questions about Justice Kavanaugh's supplemental background investigation.
And I asked for things like, what is the Department of Justice policy for how tip lines work?
That's a FOIA-able question.
I didn't get a single piece of paper.
I asked for things like, what are the ground rules?
For investigations of supplemental background investigations.
I didn't get a single piece of paper.
Senator Graham called the Deputy Attorney General up into his office to say, will you guys please knock it off and give this guy some information?
So, you know, I have lived the example of, if you're a Republican on this committee, in a Republican administration, You get everything you ask for and more.
And if you're a Democrat, you get zero.
That was not a great moment for me and not a great moment for the department.
And so I will take the chairman at his word that he wants the department to be responsive to requests from all of us.
And I would ask you...
Will you be responsive to all of us, irrespective of our party affiliation, if we are asking legitimate questions that you have the power to answer?
From the beginning, yes, especially on Freedom of Information Act.
I will follow the laws that apply to the Freedom of Information Act.
I believe in that.
I actually dealt with the public records when I was a state prosecutor.
It's been so long ago I'd forgotten about that.
So I handled all the public records.
One sort of point of order here.
The Freedom of Information Act process is one thing.
Anybody can get information under the Freedom of Information Act process.
As senators, we should be able to do better than that.
When we're doing worse than that...
That's a sign that somebody's hiding something.
When we're doing better than that, that's a good thing for congressional oversight.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you.
Senator Tillis.
Can we take a minute off Senator Schiff since I'm joking, since he took an extra minute?
I'm joking.
Yes, you can.
You wanted to say something to Senator Schiff?
No, sir.
I asked if we could take a minute off Senator Schiff since Senator Whitehouse took an extra minute.
I was teasing.
Okay.
Senator Tillis.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Bondi, I wanted to come back.
I'm glad I did, because I got another mark on my bingo card.
QAnon came up.
It's a little-known fact, but the so-called...
Let's zoom a little on Senator Rubio, who's receiving a question from...
I can't see who he's getting a question from there.
I think it's a Democrat, just based on the camera angle.
So let's listen.
...on some of your work supporting Taiwan and protecting Hong Kong dissidents as we work together on some legislation.
Now, in a twist of events, I sit not far from where you once sat, and there's another symbolic 600 feet between us, between the State Department and the Senate.
And I'm excited to work with you in your new role.
And I would like to continue to be wind at your back on a lot of issues and none more important to me than China.
And if you remember really nothing else about our short interchange today, please know that that's very important to me.
And I hope to work with you on what I do with the aggression of China.
And in many ways, their global push for military and economic supremacy, I think, is a threat in many ways.
China is imposing, it's what they call China one principle on the world, which is very different than our China policy.
Can you kind of describe how we can push back on that and how we need to make sure we're shaping that conversation?
Yeah, and well, the first is to understand that the one China policy is, and the U.S. policy towards the issue of Taiwan has been consistent.
and reaffirmed by every administration since 1979 and it is the combination of the Taiwan Relations Act We're the six assurances that make clear that the United States, we're not going to pressure Taiwan in any arrangement.
We're not going to tell you when we're going to stop, if ever.
We make no commitment to not helping them in their national defense.
We're not going to force any outcomes.
And frankly, we are going to do everything.
And we reject any effort to coerce, intimidate, and or forcibly drive Taiwan to do whatever China wants them to do.
And that's been our position.
That will continue.
That was the position under President Trump's first administration.
I anticipate it will continue to be in the second administration.
I think within that context, it's important for us to find every opportunity possible to allow Taiwan to engage in international forums where important issues are discussed.
And they're not represented.
Irrespective of what China claims about one China principle, they're not represented.
And so the view there needs to be...
They need to have an opportunity in these forums to be made clear.
But I think stability is critically important.
Here's the one thing I would point to here with regards to stability.
If the Chinese are in fact serious about stabilizing U.S.-China relations and finding avenues of which we can cooperate and avoid conflict, then they will not do anything rash or irrational when it comes to Taiwan or the Philippines for that matter.
The actions they are taking now are deeply destabilizing.
They are forcing us to take counteractions because we have commitments to the Philippines and we have commitments to Taiwan that we intend to keep.
And so if they want to destabilize the relationship or they want to at least create some pathway for stabilization of our relationship with them, even as we remain engaged in global competition and in some cases more adversarial than others.
They really need to stop messing around with Taiwan and with the Philippines because it's forcing us to focus our attention in ways we prefer not to have.
As a matter of interest, I actually lived in Taiwan in August of 1979, three months after that act that you referred to, and I think you're very accurate.
I think for a minute about Europe and there's some countries it feels like in Europe because of their presence, Poland, Czech Republic and Baltics that are more in tune with this issue.
But as a whole, it feels like some European nations are in denial of some of the things you've just said.
You talk a little bit about how we work with our NATO friends over there and how we get them to appreciate this and actually play a part in this.
Well, I think in the case of NATO, I think I would expand it to really talk about the European Union and the EU, which I think is increasingly every single day coming to the realization of the threat that China's policies and unfair trade policies.
What an amazing series of hearings.
And President Trump's nominees just did a phenomenal job enduring some complete nonsense from the Democrats.
As you can start to see, the team that will be running your government is assembled.
Secretary of State, yesterday Department of Defense, we have Great Energy Secretary, Drill Baby Drill.
We are putting the team together across the board in a very powerful and significant way.
An underappreciated fact of all this is how the Senate is doing concurrent, simultaneous nominations.
President Trump is going to have a staffed, full cabinet right out of the gate.
They are working for Trump, the Senate is, and they are ready to rock and they're ready to roll.
By the way, how impressive was Pam Bondi today?
There's just so much more alignment now.
The party is ready to go.
Eight years ago, they were at war with President Donald Trump.
Now everyone is in lockstep to fulfill his agenda.
