Attorney General Bondi Testifies on 2026 Justice Dept. Budget Request
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
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glenn ivey
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pam bondi
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rosa delauro
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andrew clyde
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ben cline
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dale strong
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joseph morelle
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madeleine dean
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riley moore
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House Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing00:02:43
unidentified
Andrew Cuomo and Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani are currently the frontrunners in the race of more than a dozen candidates.
Watch live coverage at 9 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN 2.
And over on C-SPAN 3 at 10 a.m., Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies at a budget hearing, followed by live coverage at 3 of a hearing on digital assets and potential crypto market reform held by a Senate banking subcommittee.
These events also stream live on the free C-SPAN Now video app and online at c-SPAN.org.
Attorney General Pam Bondi was questioned on Capitol Hill about politics and corruption in the Trump administration, as well as cuts to various Justice Department programs.
She also addresses the recent U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and the President's 2026 budget request.
This House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing is about an hour and 40 minutes.
The committee will be in order.
Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time.
We'll begin by myself being recognized for an opening statement.
I'd like to welcome our witness, the Honorable Pam Bondi, Attorney General of the United States, to testify on the Department of Justice's fiscal year 2026 budget.
Cdc Reports Overdose Deaths Down 30%00:05:41
unidentified
To begin, I want to thank the Attorney General for speaking at the RX and Illicit Drug Summit this past April down in Nashville, Tennessee.
That's, I think, the third or fourth of those summits that you have been there to speak, and we appreciate that especially.
That summit gathers the best and brightest to discuss ways our nation can tackle the opioid and addiction crisis impacting every corner of our country.
At this year's summit, we received some encouraging news from the CDC that overdose deaths have decreased by nearly 30%.
Unfortunately, we still lost over 80,000 loved ones in 2004, 24, and recent provisional data from the CDC suggests that the progress that has been made might be coming to an end.
And indeed, 70% of those deaths were from Fentanyl.
Significant more work needs to be done to curb opioid addiction, including focusing on the precursor chemicals being produced in China and the manufacturing labs in Mexico, as well as tracking down the cartels and criminals that shop these drugs to our nation's children.
The Department of Justice must keep this at the top of their priority list.
Unfortunately, Madam General, your job at the top will not be easy, and the list of issues that the American people are counting on you to address is long and dangerous.
From fentanyl and immigration to violent crime and supporting local law enforcement, the Department of Justice needs to uphold the rule: law and equal justice while tackling the most dangerous situations confronting Americans.
To make matters even more difficult, this all must be accomplished within a budget that needs to be right-sized for efficiency and effectiveness.
The Department of Justice's fiscal year 2026 budget request totals just under $34 billion.
This represents a reduction of close to $3 billion from fiscal 25, and specifically, the request includes about $11 billion to target violent crime, $10 billion to tackle drug crimes, over $3 billion to defend the nation and our citizens against transnational organized crime,
and over $3.5 billion to address immigration.
These are the exact issues that hit home for many families, and these are the issues that are being discussed between neighbors in all of our states, including mine in Kentucky and across the nation.
After four years of politicization at the Biden's Department of Justice, these are the issues that the American people expect you to address.
They want a Department of Justice that protects American citizens from violent crime, not one that is weaponized against them for speaking their minds.
Thus far, we have seen much progress on many of these fronts, including an administration that's taking the nation's borders seriously.
Attorney General Bondi, I stand ready to support you in your efforts to ensure that the American public lives in a society that is free from crime and abuse.
I look forward to hearing from you today regarding the fiscal 26 budget and then we will go from there.
There are critically important funding decisions ahead of us, and I hope we can gain a better sense of your priorities today so that we can make the best decision on behalf of the American public.
Let me now recognize the ranking member of this subcommittee, Ms. Ming, for any remarks she cares to make.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, Attorney General Bondi.
Tens of thousands of public servants at the Department of Justice and its bureaus have historically worked very hard and continue to work hard to protect public safety and uphold the rule of law in our country.
Yet, I must take this opportunity to express my very strong concerns about this current administration's lack of respect for the rule of law.
New Pardon Attorney Controversy00:05:42
unidentified
Over the past five months, we have seen numerous examples of this administration outright breaking the law.
The administration continues to illegally withhold billions of dollars in funding that Congress appropriated, including hundreds of recently terminated justice grants that had been previously been awarded through open and competitive processes.
The administration is violating the federal law that mandates that the Office of Management and Budget publish apportionments and show the public how and when federal agencies are spending appropriated funds.
The Justice Department has begun illegally restoring the gun possession rights of convicted felons and domestic abusers.
It's allowing the sale of forced reset trigger devices without a background check.
These are devices that effectively convert regular firearms into machine guns, which I fear will only make mass shootings in the United States more numerous and deadly.
More than 1,500 individuals involved in the January 6th attack on the Capitol were pardoned or granted commutations of sentences.
The President's new appointee as pardon attorney, Ed Martin, previously raised money to help defend some of the most violent of these individuals, people who assaulted police officers.
Some of the pardoned January 6th defendants have subsequently been arrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes.
Under this president, the U.S. has accepted a luxury jetliner from Qatar, very likely in violation of the emoluments cause of the Constitution.
This president has also issued a series of illegal and unconstitutional executive orders, several of which are being challenged in courts right now.
Presidential actions in recent months have also directed highly political and targeted investigations against law firms and individuals, including Miles Taylor, a former staffer for the House Appropriation Committee's Republican majority.
Meanwhile, the administration has weakened law enforcement against political corruption by gutting the department's public integrity section, which fairly investigates and prosecutes corruption by government officials.
It has dismantled Task Force KleptoCapture, which was started after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to enforce sanctions and target oligarchs close to the Kremlin.
It has also ended the FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force, which was created to defend against foreign influence operations targeting U.S. institutions.
Furthermore, dozens of experienced career federal prosecutors, litigators, and FBI leaders have been fired or forced out since the start of this administration, including James Denahy, the highly respected leader of the FBI's New York field office.
I'm really concerned about what is happening in the Department of Justice, especially based on the Department's fiscal year 2026 budget request.
The proposed budget weakens the country's efforts to fight crime and keep Americans safe.
The proposal reduces funding for the FBI despite the heroism of agents like those in Minnesota who aided in the recent capture of the deranged man accused of killing a state representative and nearly killing another.
It slashes funding to fight the trafficking of fentanyl and other dangerous illegal drugs by reducing the budget of the DEA, cutting the high-intensity drug trafficking areas program by more than a third, and by completely eliminating the dedicated funding for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force's program.
The administration also proposes a cut of more than 25% to the ATF, which will further weaken the government's ability to fight illegal gun trafficking.
This budget proposal also puts further pressure on state and local budgets at a time of great economic uncertainty.
The proposal cuts by more than $800 million funding to grants to local and state law enforcement for fighting and reducing crime, including a cut of more than $37 million to burn justice assistance formula grants that help our local law enforcement in every single state.
I'm also concerned about the huge cuts to grants aimed at preventing and prosecuting violence against women, such as stop grants and sexual assault services grants.
The administration also proposes eliminating three valuable programs aimed at fighting and preventing hate crimes at the same time that the FBI is reporting that hate crimes are at historic highs.
The administration's budget would completely eliminate the Community Relations Service, which was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prevent and resolve conflicts in American communities.
These actions and this budget proposal simply don't demonstrate a commitment to the rule of law and equal rights for all Americans.
Budget Cuts and Law Enforcement00:15:53
unidentified
I look forward to discussing these important issues at today's hearing.
Thank you for being here and thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
We have in attendance the ranking member of the full committee, Ms. DeLaurel, whom I now recognize.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to thank you and Ranking Member Meng for holding this budget hearing.
And I also want to say a thank you to our witness, Attorney General Bondi, for appearing before the subcommittee today.
Welcome to the House of Representatives.
A well-functioning, well-funded, well-led Department of Justice is critical to the safety and the security of the American people.
And the Department of Justice's employees are dedicated public servants who work diligently and often in dangerous settings to keep criminals off the streets.
But unfortunately, the Department of Justice under your leadership has become a tool of political retaliation and the front door for criminals seeking to curry favors and pardons.
As I told Director Patel last month, pressure from the White House to investigate the President's opponents or to quash investigations of his allies threaten the Department's credibility and the very foundations and the foundation on which this nation stands, and that is the rule of law.
The Attorney General must shield the rule of law from political pressure, not act as an instrument for implementing the President's political hit list.
Attorney General Bondi, the Department of Justice, is not the President's personal law firm.
Loyalty or disloyalty toward the president or even the president's agenda is not a valid measure of the performance of your employees nor of the appropriateness of a particular criminal investigation.
President Trump is more focused on revenge, retaliation, and retribution rather than lowering high price for everyday essentials.
And the American people are bearing those costs.
The American people expected President Trump to address the high cost of living, but the President is not laser focused on the cost of living crisis.
He is actually making it worse.
Instead, he put billionaires like Elon Musk in charge of our government.
And they are attacking civil servants who are not loyal to him, but to the Constitution and to the rule of law, and they are stealing programs, the funding for the programs that keep America's communities safe.
This administration is deliberately undermining agencies that protect the American people.
Over $4.5 billion in the Department of Justice grant, those funds, including COPS grants, the Office of Violence Against Women grants, that's been unlawfully frozen, stolen from the communities that are counting on this funding to improve their own law enforcement capabilities.
This funding supports re-entry initiatives, violence prevention.
It helps prevent hate crimes, provides services for crime victims, and supports underserved communities.
Stealing this funding makes the American people less safe, more likely to become victims of crime.
Freezing this money is an illegal impoundment.
There is no lawful authority to unilaterally impound, or in my words, steals.
You can continue to say there is inherent authority.
You can say it over and over and over again, but it is not true.
And we are going to correct it over and over and over again.
And how many times can the courts and the government accountability office tell you so?
Your department is responsible for up the law.
You must unfreeze grant money appropriated by the Congress or be in violation of the law.
Moving to the next fiscal year, I'm eager to learn about how the Department of Justice will continue to fulfill its mission with a proposed budget that significantly cuts our nation's law enforcement agencies, key offices, and grant programs.
The President's proposed budget would impair and defund the core law enforcement agencies that keep our communities safe.
In essence, you are defunding law enforcement.
It slashes funding for the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, limiting federal efforts to help our state and our local enforcement combat gun violence, drug trafficking, and organized crime.
The budget also targets DOJ's foundational legal divisions, cutting funding for civil rights enforcement, environmental protection, and even, yes, national security.
It takes an axe to grant programs and other programs that support domestic violence survivors and local police departments.
It dismantles DOJ's tax division, which will only make it easier for prominent tax cheats to avoid prosecution, further increasing the burden on honest taxpayers who pay what they owe.
They pay what they owe.
Our largest corporations do not.
And why on earth does your budget slash the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General by 30%?
Does this administration want to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse or not?
Our government's Inspector General are absolutely critical, nonpartisan offices that help Congress and the American people eliminate and prevent and that prevent fraud and corruption.
This administration has directly undermined and even removed over a dozen of these offices across our government.
Waste, fraud, and abuse are not the targets of President Trump's White House.
They are the primary objectives.
This budget does not put the safety and security of the American people first.
It puts white-collar criminals, drug traffickers, and violent offenders first, while eviscerating your department's ability to stop them.
The Department of Justice exists to uphold the rule of law.
The American people deserve assurance that everyone will be treated equally under the law.
Instead, this administration breaks the law with reckless abandon.
President Trump, like every other American, must follow the law.
Russ Vogt must follow the law.
Secretaries Noam and Kennedy and McMahon must follow the law.
And we must understand why your department is complicit in lawbreaking from the highest office.
I yield back.
unidentified
We want to say congratulations to the Attorney General on her selection to this very important post.
But she brings a great record from her home state of Florida in her earlier part of her life.
So we're proud of you and we're welcome you to the subcommittee.
And you're now recognized for an opening statement, which will be entered into the record.
Good afternoon, Chairman Rogers, Member DeLauro, and Ranking Member Meng, and distinguished members of the subcommittee.
I'm honored to appear before you today to present the President's fiscal year 2026 budget for the Department of Justice.
I look forward to working with all of you to ensure continued support for the Department and our many critical missions.
President Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal totals $34 billion for the Department of Justice.
That money will support federal law enforcement as well as our state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners.
My primary objective as Attorney General is to return the department to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously enforcing the law.
This budget will allow us to continue doing just that.
Since January 20th, we have dismantled deadly fentanyl networks across our country.
We prosecuted MS-13 and TDA members using terrorism and RICO charges.
We've seized thousands of illegal guns from cartels and extradited key cartel leaders into U.S. prisons.
Last month, the FBI arrested 205 child predators in a single operation, and the DEA executed the largest fentanyl bust in the history across four states.
We have also surged FBI resources to investigate thousands of violent crimes committed against American Indian and Alaskan Native people.
These are just a few examples of what we've achieved thus far.
The budget will allow us to continue doing our crucial work.
We've also led the charge to enforce our immigration laws, rebuild our immigration system after four years of chaos, help secure our nation's borders, moreover.
We must guarantee that our laws allow us to process, hold, and remove those who enter our country illegally.
Our U.S. attorneys continue to effectively work with law enforcement at all levels to investigate and prosecute the increasing volume of immigrated-related criminal offenses.
Additionally, the President and I have established and reinvigorated three task forces to enforce the administration's priorities.
The Homeland Security Task Force is enhancing federal and state law enforcement cooperation to destroy criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations throughout our country.
Joint Task Force Alpha will continue to specifically target the human trafficking and human smuggling networks that took root while our border was wide open.
And Joint Task Force Vulcan will continue successful efforts to arrest and prosecute members of TDA and MS-13.
We are also committed to making America safe again by reducing recidivism.
The Bureau of Prisons has suffered mismanagement, lack of funding, and low morale.
Throughout my confirmation process, BOP came up in every single meeting, regardless of the senator's party.
President, the President's budget proposal will address critical staffing shortages, enhance staff retention, and deliver positive changes to a system that has long needed improvements.
The resources made available through President Trump's proposal will also empower the Department to continue fighting our war on fentanyl.
Since January 2025, the DEA has already seized 41.5 million fentanyl pills and 4,470 kilos of fentanyl powder.
It's a historic rate, but it's not enough.
We won't rest until this poison is off our streets.
And finally, the 2026 budget continues my commitment to find savings in the department, reduce inefficiencies, and deliver value to the American taxpayer.
In fiscal year 2026, the department will merge components that will work in overlapping areas and make our law enforcement and grant-making efforts more effective.
We will emerge from this work as a leaner organization better equipped to keep the American people safe.
Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member DeLora, Ranking Member Meng, it is my pleasure to highlight our efforts to be good stewards of these resources.
I am working diligently to restore confidence and integrity to the Department and each of these components.
Thank you for your continued support of the Department's financial needs and for the opportunity to present our budget request.
I also would ask all of us now to pray for our troops in Qatar.
I look forward to working with you, and I'm now happy to take any questions you might have.
unidentified
We will proceed under the five-minute rule, and I will yield myself the first five minutes.
As you know, Madam Attorney General, rural America, many parts of the country, including my district, continue to suffer from the lethal effects of illicit drug use and overdose deaths.
How does your 26 budget proposed to address drug crimes such as trafficking and the influx.
Chairman, what we are doing, we are focusing all of our law enforcement agencies on getting these drugs off of our streets.
Since I was a state AG, I focused on the opioid crisis.
I focused with all of our agencies, all of our agencies, working hand in hand on the drug crisis.
Securing our borders, I believe, was the first step.
We will continue to do that.
On May 22nd, I believe, Chairman, we announced the operation success of Operation Raptor, the FBI-led DOJ operation that targeted fentanyl trafficking on the dark web.
That's become a huge problem.
You know, with added technology now, we have seen drug trafficking increased not only across our borders, not only through the mail, but also on the web.
And that's something I believe that we can all work together on.
I believe that crosses party lines.
That's something that we all need to work together on.
We've seized 144 kilos of fentanyl, 180 firearms, and over $200 million in currency and digital assets, working with nine international partners and arresting 270 drug traffickers across four continents.
And that was all because of Operation Raptor.
On May 6th, we executed the biggest fentanyl bust in DEA's history.
We dismantled a Sinaloa cartel that trafficked across five states, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, and Nevada.
We seized 412 kilos of fentanyl pills, 11.5 kilos of fentanyl powder, and 49 illegal firearms.
We arrested 16 accused drug traffickers.
These cartels, these gangs, are so organized that they insulate their leaders.
The leader of this particular cartel was living in Oregon, yet none of the drugs were with him.
This was incredible police work by all of our agencies, federal agencies, working hand in hand to track them down.
I met in conference rooms.
We had charts, and I would invite any of you members on both sides of the aisle to come in and see these investigations of what we are trying to do to get these drugs off our streets.
They are so complex.
They are so complicated.
And what our law enforcement have been doing is really second to none.
And I am so proud.
They are some of the bravest in the world.
And I am so proud of what they have been doing, working with all of our state and local partners to eradicate these drugs.
My point of that was in Oregon was the leader of this particular Sinaloa gang.
And again, he insulated himself.
But we were able to catch him thanks to great police work, and we will continue to do that.
During his hearing before us, FBI Director Patel indicated a lot of precursor chemicals that originated in China are now being going to terrorist organizations that reroute the precursors into our country through the northern border.
You know, I've been fighting this fentanyl since I was a state AG when it really first came on the market.
You know, ironically, I was recently in Poland at a security conference with all of my counterparts around the world, and I will never forget something they said to me.
My counterpart in Poland said, fentanyl isn't here yet.
Yet.
Because they protect their borders.
And yes, the northern border is now a great concern to all of us.
I would think to everyone on this committee.
And yeah, that's a great concern, but we will continue to do that.
We are fighting to protect those precursors from coming in, as we know.
And, you know, what they keep doing is they're changing the precursors.
And they continue to change them.
And they continue to send them through Mexico, through Canada, on ships, through our ports of entry, into our country.
But that's something we have to all work together on to stop.
I went to our DEA lab.
I met with our DEA.
It only takes, it looks like almost two grains of salt.
I had them put sodium chloride in a little bottle so I could show people.
That's what it takes to kill you.
And that's what our kids are taking.
They don't realize that it is mixed.
And they think they're buying a Xanax, an Adderall.
I can't say this enough, an oxycodone pill.
They think they are buying something else and this junk is being laced, this poison, into these pills throughout our country.
And that's something I feel like we can all work together on to try to stop.
But yes, sorry, a very long answer to yes, it's coming in through our northern border, but we are doing everything we can to secure that.
We are working with Homeland Security very closely, and they're doing an incredible job on that as well, Chairman.
unidentified
Ms. May.
Madam Attorney General, I wanted to ask about a topic that's of great importance to many Americans and especially my constituents, which is about hate crimes.
I'm really troubled that your budget proposes to end the grant programs that may help prevent some of these hate crimes.
As you may know, I was the author of one of these programs, the Community-Based Approaches to Advancing Justice program, which was created in fiscal year 2022.
This program supported local groups working to increase hate crimes reporting, give community members resources in languages other than English, and to improve relationships between local law enforcement and the community.
It was a direct response to the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You may recall in March 2021, six women of Asian descent were tragically murdered in Atlanta, Georgia.
My Hate Crimes Act passed through Congress in May of that year with bipartisan support, including from several of my colleagues on the other side of the dais.
For years, I've been hearing from constituents about how scared they felt and have been hearing from members of these communities as well as experts who've told me that one of the best ways to combat hate in this country is to fund prevention programs.
So not just prosecution, but also prevention.
I have a letter here that hate crime survivors and family members wrote to you in May expressing their strongest concerns about the termination of these grants, signed by people like family members of Emmett Till, James Byrd Jr., Matthew Shepard, and survivors of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
I ask unanimous consent to enter into the hearing record this letter from these survivors and family members to Attorney General Bondi regarding the termination of hate crimes-related grant programs.
Without objection.
Oh, yes, without objection.
Thank you, Chairman.
Attorney General Bondi, I absolutely share your support for our law enforcement and for the prosecution of hate crimes in a just way, but we must combat all forms of hate on all fronts, bringing together law enforcement and community leaders and members of the public.
And these grant programs have helped many communities do exactly this.
So I just wanted to ask and hear from you why there is a proposal to eliminate the three largest sources of DOJ funding for hate crime prevention programs.
Yeah, and Ranking Member, can you list those three for me again?
And I'm sorry, I have not received your letter yet, but I would welcome working with you on any issue regarding hate crimes in the Asian American community in any community.
I welcome working with you on that.
unidentified
Okay, yeah, I would love to.
And this letter was sent May 15th, and we'll make sure that you and your team have received it.
So the programs, one of them, for example, is named the Community-Based Approaches to Advancing Justice.
Three programs have been cut, and one of these programs literally helps support our law enforcement departments locally, like our NYPD, to train and respond to hate crimes.
We have 5,800 grants, Chairman, that come, ranking member, excuse me, that come through my office.
365 have been cut so far.
That's approximately 6%.
What I will tell you is we have turned back on 13 of those so far because people have reached out to me.
If you want to reach out and talk to me directly, I will give you my cell phone.
I would love to sit down with you and see if we can work that out.
I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with those three directly, but again, we will, if you have on either side of the aisle, any grants that you believe should be back on, I would love to meet with you and work with you on that.
We're doing that on a case-by-case basis, and law enforcement is my top priority, especially hate crimes, violence against women, everything I've done my entire career as a prosecutor.
I think we have a former prosecutor in the room too.
And I look forward to working with you on this and seeing what we can do to help you.
unidentified
Great.
We'd love to work together, and we will flag all the programs that have been impacted, including those that directly support our local law enforcement like NYPD.
And just to be more specific, the three programs mentioned are community-based approaches: Jabara Hire, No Hate, and Shepherd Bird.
Congressman, I can't talk about that in this setting, but what I can tell you is I know Homeland Security.
I know the FBI.
They are focusing on doing everything we can to keep our nation safe, and they will continue to do that.
Yeah, it's a frightening time in which we live right now, but President Trump is committed to keeping all Americans safe, and we look forward to working with you on that.
unidentified
Great.
Thank you.
How many active cases of threats to the homeland does DOJ currently have open as of today?
Obviously, anything pending regarding national security issues, but there is not a day that goes by that we don't discuss the issues that you just brought up with me at the Department of Justice.
But I also know that our counterparts at DOD, HSI, the State Department, and all of our agencies are working together to make America safe and in turn, keep our world safe.
unidentified
This is very much on my mind.
I spent 20 years in the military.
I spent five years in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These aren't, of course, these aren't dots on a board.
And, you know, not only American lives abroad, what we saw today, are at risk, but it's also American lives here at home.
And I don't want us looking back and going, what if?
I want us to, as much as we can, get ahead of it, to give you the resources, the instruments that you need to go out and make sure that we're preventing things from happening, not waiting until after the fact.
There was a report of over 1,500 Iranian nationals that have entered the country illegal last several years.
Do we know out of those over 1,500, how many of those have been convicted of a crime?
Of course, you can always do more with more, but we're doing more with less.
We're prioritizing, we're refocusing, and the budget request supports $7.5 billion for national security.
Also, that's why it's very important, I believe, for all of you to support Big Beautiful Bill.
The one big beautiful bill gives us a lot of additional funding at the Department of Justice to carry out our mission.
The Senate version gives us $11.82 billion.
Currently, the House version gives us $3.3 billion.
Hopefully they will come to a compromise in there, but that's where it will truly help Department of Justice combat all of the issues that you brought up and many others.
And thank you for your service to our country, especially now I didn't realize that you had served in Iraq.
Thank you.
unidentified
Yeah, no, of course.
And thank you for saying that.
I mean, resources matter, and the big, beautiful bill, we look forward to getting that to the president's desk as soon as possible.
Once again, to give you the resources and the tools you need to get ahead of these problems that we see so clearly coming through.
I represent nearly half of the southern border.
The border is on my mind quite a bit.
One of the questions I have, I focus a lot on convicted criminal illegal aliens.
Do we know how many illegal aliens have been convicted of a crime in the United States?
I don't know, but many, I can tell you, our prosecutors are indicting and charging illegal aliens constantly, violent crimes, rapes, thefts, many crimes throughout this country.
And yes, our borders were wide open.
And Congressman, back in September, I went to our border at Yuma, Arizona, not in Texas, but in Yuma.
And at our border, what I saw firsthand, we saw IDs just dropped from every country you can imagine.
El Salvador, Venezuela, China.
Every country you can imagine.
And of course, I didn't see Iranian driver's license, but they are coming into our country.
Yes, we know that's documented.
But just walking into our country.
And that's why Homeland Security, that's why ICE, that's why the FBI, that's why all of our agencies, DEA, ATF, are all working hand in hand to combat that and to keep Americans safe.
And that is what President Trump is committed to doing.
Fentanyl seizures are down 30 percent compared to last year.
And that data is coming from the Customs and Border Patrol, CBP.
I don't make it up, but fentanyl seizures are down.
At your confirmation hearing, you asserted that you will do everything in your power to prevent illegal gun runners in our country.
Your budget request for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms, and Explosives, ATF, proposes a cut of 26% below the current level.
How can you justify such a massive cut without inevitably weakening ATF's ability to help our state and local law enforcement fight illegal gun trafficking?
How many ATF law enforcement officers and industry operations investigators do you anticipate will be lost to attrition as a result of this funding reduction you're proposing?
So I am a career prosecutor and I believe in keeping America safe, making America safe.
First, what we're doing is ATF is going to be brought over with DEA.
Everyone knows, everyone sitting up here, guns and drugs go together.
They go together.
We're going to make it more efficient.
What I will tell you will not be happening is ATF agents will not be knocking on the doors of legal gun owners in the middle of the night asking them about their guns.
They're going to be out on the streets.
If I can finish, they're going to be out on the streets.
How many ATF law enforcement officers and industry operations investigators do you anticipate will be lost to attrition as a result of the funding reduction you are proposing?
You are proposing a 26% cut to ATF for fiscal year 2026, as well as a 4.4% cut to DEA.
So you're going to merge the two agencies together, and then you're going to shortchange their resources so neither one of them will be able to do the job that they have been designed to do.
You've got a 34% cut to the high-intensity drug trafficking areas program.
No dedicated money at all for the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
So my view, it's fair to say that the Trump administration proposal shortchanges federal efforts to stop illegal gun trafficking and federal efforts to stop the flow of dangerous illegal drugs like fentanyl.
Mr. Chairman, you give me a certain amount of time, and I have a high respect for you, but I don't have to listen, nor do my colleagues have to listen to a filibuster when it's a simple question.
But I have an answer to your question.
It's page 146 of the department's fiscal year 2026 budget, and the performance summary explicitly says, and let me quote, ATF will eliminate 541 industry operation investigators, reducing ATF's capacity to regulate the firearms and explosive industries by approximately 40% in fiscal year 2026.
ATF will perform fewer regulatory inspections.
And the department summary goes on to say, and let me quote, ATF anticipates a reduction of approximately 284 support personnel and 186 agents based on historical attrition patterns.
And these personnel cuts will impact ATF across various functions, unquote.
If the capacity to regulate firearms industry is reduced by 40%, if you are losing 186 ATF law enforcement agents on top of that, it is clear the direction you are headed with this budget.
That's what it is, isn't it?
The proposal will weaken our ability to stop gun trafficking, and it will greatly reduce ATF support for state and local law enforcement that helps them prevent and solve violent crimes.
And thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for being here today.
You are, in my mind, a breath of fresh air to our Department of Justice.
Thank you.
Thank you.
So thank you for your dedication to the Constitution and for equal justice under the law.
I am sorely impressed with your experience and how you have handled the Department of Justice so far.
As we all know, under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Justice, FBI, and ATF were dangerously weaponized to target President Trump and everyday Americans, tactics more fitting of an authoritarian regime than a constitutional republic.
From politically persecuting President Trump, then President Biden's chief political rival, to going after pro-life advocates like Mark Hauck, the actions of the Attorney General Garland, Director Wray, and the DOJ leadership were unacceptable and unconstitutional, in my opinion.
That's why I was very encouraged to see the President's FY26 budget commit to ending the weaponization within the Department of Justice and the FBI.
And so can you elaborate for me how has the Trump administration's DOJ shifted away from politically motivated investigations and refocused on its core mission, prosecuting the most dangerous criminals?
And you mentioned that a little bit in your opening remarks.
So if you can focus on the moving away part, I'd appreciate it.
Yeah, thank you, Congressman Clyde, and thank you for that.
And also, our budget includes $1.2 billion and 2,444 agents for ATF.
And those agents will be on the street with DEA.
And thank you for letting me answer that question.
Yes, ma'am.
And we are prioritizing resources, addressing illegal firearms and traffickers.
And we will reduce unnecessary regulatory efforts, including what I just said about the weaponization.
That's how ATF, I believe, was weaponized in the prior administration.
Also, they were arresting peaceful protesters, the Biden administration, at abortion facilities.
No longer.
They targeted Catholics at church services.
No longer.
No longer will parents be arrested at school board meetings because they care about their children.
That has ended under this department.
That's why Donald Trump won the popular vote and the Electoral College by overwhelming margins.
He made that crystal clear, and that's what's happening now in our country.
That weaponization has ended.
These ATF agents will be on the street fighting drugs.
I have been a career prosecutor.
ATF has taken thousands of guns off the street since January 20th, working hand in hand with DEA.
Drugs and guns go together.
Core function.
No more targeting and weaponizing our citizens by any of the agencies.
unidentified
Thank you.
Thank you for that commitment.
Thank you.
I was delighted to see that the Department of Justice's fiscal year 26 budget also included a dedicated fund for a firearm rights restoration initiative.
Can you describe this initiative a little bit and any other steps that your department is taking to restore the Second Amendment rights to Americans who are unlawfully or unjustly stripped of them by prior administrations?
I was going to ask you about the merger of DEA and the ATF and kind of, you know, if you'd elaborate on that, you've talked a little bit about it already.
One thing that I think is very important is that the ATF and federal farms licensees work together because truly FFLs are the front line when it comes to illegal purchases and just the information that is out there.
And we can help each other as long as we have a good relationship with each other.
unidentified
And during the last administration, it was a terrifying relationship.
And when you can lose your livelihood and you can lose your business and your employees can lose their jobs over simple mistakes, that's a real problem, especially when if you think about federal farms licensees, they're the pathway to the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
unidentified
They enable individual participation in the protection of liberty.
I mean, that's what federal farms licensees do.
So I think it's really important to have that critical relationship between ATF and the federal farms licensees.
And when the inspectors, when the ATF went from the Treasury to the Department of Justice and the inspection side of it, when the IOIs, when they were industry operations inspectors, when they became industry operations investigators, okay, you investigate crime, you really inspect records.
unidentified
That was concerning to me.
So my thought was maybe we could move the IOIs to the Department of Commerce, but just would get your thought on that.
I wanted to follow up on what Congressman Gonzalez raised with you with respect to the new environment that we're in now with the essentially a war with Iran.
A few weeks ago, your FBI director sat in the same chair and said that he thought in the budget that's been proposed, they're about $11.2 billion short.
He wanted an additional 1,100 positions that were lost to attrition and 1,300 he wanted to have filled.
That's before the scenario with Iran.
Now, I know you submitted the budget already and you want to stick with it, but please take another look.
This is a new environment.
I think the points that the Congressman raised are very valid with respect to the issue of sleeper cells and threats domestically here.
Taking FBI agents off the street now is a bad there.
There isn't a worst possible time you could do it.
So please reconsider that and move in a different direction on that because we need more of them on the street, not fewer.
Ms. DeLaura was raising issues with respect to your budget, the IOI cuts and the 86 agents that are going to be cut too.
And the concern I have on that front, I know you're saying we need, they want to be on the street, but they're ATF agents that do things that aren't on the street.
So like, for example, the Nibbon work where they match the cartridges to the guns is critical.
And I'm very concerned that some of the cuts you're going to make are going to impact that.
And the Nibbon pieces are critical for state and local law enforcements like you used to be, because a lot of them don't have the resources to track it down.
And the information that they can get, it can turn it around in 48 hours.
So the man who attempted to assassinate now President Trump, the connection that was made was through this apparatus, this approach.
The same thing with the Minnesota assassin.
So that's an area where we can't afford to have those kind of cuts, I don't think, at this time.
And the performance of fewer regulatory inspections.
You know, I had gun dealers in my district who needed those inspections to take place.
And important findings have been made, certainly with respect to tracking crime guns and cracking down on gun dealers who are working illicitly.
I'm not saying they all do.
I mean, many of them operate in the right way, but the only way to track it down is through inspections that have to be aggressive.
And by the way, even under the current regime or the previous regime, I think some of them didn't get inspections for maybe every 10 years or so.
So it wasn't like it's a constant harassment piece.
But I've got some folks here in the corner of the hearing room who are from my district.
Moms Demand Action, DMV mothers like me, Women's Missionary Society.
I met with them a few weeks ago, and the concern was the issue of gun violence on our streets and the desire to make sure that the federal presence continues to push hard to make sure we close those cases.
You're reducing resources, you're reducing the number of agents, as Mr. Patel said.
That's moving in the opposite direction.
What response would you give to them with respect to the steps that you're taking to make sure not only that we stay safe, but we get even safer and do even more to get violent offenders off the street and get the guns off the street before the violent offenders get them?
They prioritize realignment of personnel to the field to carry out national security, which you just talked about, intelligence, criminal law enforcement, and criminal justice missions.
When you were the Attorney General in Florida after the Parkland shooting, my understanding is you moved to ban guns, gun sales to people under 21.
Is that a position that you would take now as the Attorney General?
I have a bill, H.R. 2368, which does something like that.
I would be interested in if you'd be willing to co-sponsor or support that bill.
You also moved to enact red flag laws allowing a judge temporarily to confiscate weapons when he or she viewed that the person was at risk of hurting himself or someone else.
Is that a position you would continue to support now?
And the last one is ghost guns.
Ghost guns, I don't think you took a position on it back when you were the AG in Florida, but we've had two bills come through here in the Congress, all Democratic co-sponsors.
I think there's no argument that ghost guns have any appropriate use on the street.
They only help criminals avoid prosecution.
Would you support a legislative ban on ghost guns?
Thank you, Chairman Rogers, Ranking Member Mean, for having this hearing today.
I'd also like to thank the subcommittee staff for their hard work.
Attorney General Bondi, thank you for being here today.
I commend you for your efforts to prioritize President Trump's America First agenda and commitment to making America safe again.
As you know, I represent Alabama's 5th congressional district, which includes Huntsville and Redstone Arsenal.
I'm especially supportive of the FBI Director Patel's plan for the continued movement of FBI personnel to North Alabama.
My district has repeatedly answered the call to support our law enforcement agencies with a second-to-none workforce, cutting-edge facilities, and room for growth.
Attorney General Bondi, do you support the FBI's plan to move additional personnel and programs to Redstone Arsenal and out of the Beltway?
In my district, we have the FBI, the ATF, DHS working together to address bombing incidents and use of explosives.
The FBI's Hazardous Device School and Terrorist Explosive Device Analytics Center, affectionately known as TDAC, the ATF's National Center for Explosives Training and Research, and the U.S. Bomb Data Center are all located at Redstone Arsenal.
As mentioned, ATF's National Center for Explosives and Training Research is a world-class facility located at Redstone.
The center provides remarkable training facilities and specializes in life-saving explosives and arsons training.
Can you discuss how merging the ATF with the DEA will streamline their activities while ensuring their critical and unique capabilities are maintained?
Mr. Attorney General, I just want to thank you how you represent yourself and you represent this country.
It's a hard task what you have to do.
You represent Democrats, Republicans, but what you have done in these first five months have reestablished the American people's belief in what the DOJ is to do for the American people.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
unidentified
Amen.
Johnny Let's back.
Mr. Morelli.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member Meng for holding this important hearing.
And thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for appearing before us today.
Madam Attorney General, I serve in addition to the Appropriations Committee as a ranking member of the Committee on House Administration.
I sent you a letter last week along with my Republican counterpart, Chairman Brian Stile, requesting an increase in federal prosecutory resources to address threats against members of Congress, particularly in light of what happened last week in Minnesota, that tragedy.
In 2024, the U.S. Capitol Police identified and received nearly 9,500 concerning statements or threats against members.
Federal prosecutors have only secured eight convictions so far, and the heightened threat environment demands an all-hands-on-deck approach.
Will you commit to assigning an assistant U.S. Attorney or a special assistant U.S. Attorney in each of the 94 federal districts to, at least on a part-time basis, investigate and prosecute threats against members of Congress?
So thank you for bringing that up, and I take that very seriously.
Not only what happened in Minnesota was horrible.
I've spoken to Keith Ellison.
I've spoken to Amy Klobuchar about that.
It's horrible.
We are involved in that.
The FBI was involved.
Our U.S. attorneys are involved.
Many of these are district to district.
So the way we're doing that is, I will tell you, my National Security Division is involved in all of those and assisting in those.
We meet every single morning and we discuss that.
But many of those, Minnesota, will be handled in the state in which it happened.
Another one is quickly though.
I filibuster.
Governor Shapiro and what happened in Pennsylvania with Governor Shapiro.
I've spoken to Governor Shapiro.
We are working hand in hand, our U.S. Attorney, with the district attorney there, hand in hand, just like in Minnesota.
I made sure our U.S. Attorney and our district attorneys there were working hand in hand.
Political party doesn't matter when something like this happens.
And I also want to make sure all members of Congress are safe as well.
unidentified
Okay, and I would reiterate, Chairman Stein, I think Chairman Style and I agree that at least a part-time in each of the 94 districts would be appropriate.
Recently, several defendants who received presidential pardons related to that day are now arguing in court that the pardon covers crimes, like, for instance, illegal firearm possession discovered in a search of an individual's home in California months after January 6th.
unidentified
What's your position on whether the pardons cover these separate offenses?
The pardon power rests with the President, not the Department of Justice, and some of that is pending litigation, and I cannot discuss pending litigation.
unidentified
Well, I'm not asking you about who has the right to a pardon.
I think as the Department of Justice in February wrote, the pardon is an act of grace which removes the punishment from a crime a person has committed.
It further said, in its effect, the granting of a pardon is in no sense the overturning of a judgment of conviction.
unidentified
It is an executive action that mitigates or sets aside punishment.
So as the chief law enforcement officer, what's your opinion?
Not the president's power of whether he can offer a pardon.
That's pretty clear in the Constitution.
But for crimes committed unrelated to January 6th, Would you suggest that the pardons would cover activities or crimes potentially committed outside of that by the same person?
All the sentences that the people that were on death row, I've met with those families.
All of those sentences were commuted.
I'm not going to comment on pardons on either side of the aisle.
unidentified
So, well, I'm not asking about either.
So I'm asking, you're the chief law enforcement officer in the United States.
You have a responsibility directly, but you sworn oath to the Constitution, not the President.
Want to know what your views are on the extent to which pardons cover potential crimes committed by individuals who have been pardoned but unrelated to January 6th?
And for you to suggest that you don't have an opinion or to divert to other things that had nothing to do with January 6th pardons, I think is frankly demeaning to your responsibilities and your job.
You know, when I am home in my district talking to my constituents, they are concerned about their safety.
They are concerned about the safety of their communities, safety of their neighborhoods.
And as we have spoken many times under your leadership, the DOJ has taken decisive steps to restore the rule of law, to tackle violent crime, and to hold both foreign and domestic bad actors accountable.
I read your opening statement, and I just wanted to give you an opportunity to go back again and talk about, in light of four years of open borders, the drugs that are coming in, the sex trafficking, the human trafficking, the gangs that have moved in, the terrorism that has infiltrated the United States, the sleeper cells that may or may not be present in this country, the political prosecutions that we saw over the four years of the Biden administration,
the fact that we are restoring integrity to the office and the rule of law.
Can you restate for my constituents how the actions of the Department of Justice and your agencies are keeping them safe?
And we have also been working hand in hand on a task force with your governor, with Governor Yunkin.
And we really, we started a task force with Governor Yunkin, and that's something that we would like to take to every single state, both Democrat and Republican.
And that's how we've been able to fight these gangs, these trans national cartels, these organizations, these criminal organizations.
And it was really remarkable.
One of the top members of TDA was living 20 minutes from where we're sitting right now in Virginia and working hand in hand, regardless of political party, with state and local law enforcement officers throughout the state of Virginia.
We were able to dismantle a major, major gang.
And there are so many gang members.
And he was another one who was living there.
I think when he was arrested, he had multiple, and ATF was involved in that, multiple guns when he was arrested.
But he did not have any of the drugs on him.
He had insulated himself because he was one of the leaders of the criminal organization.
And so these task force working together with the state of Virginia have been remarkable.
So that's one way to break it down what we've done.
We're just so proud of the partnership that we've had with your state, dismantling the gangs, the guns, the drugs, and we'll continue to do that.
Secure a safer community for the people living there.
When you have sanctuary states like California who are preventing you from actually getting in there and actually getting the gangs off the streets, getting the drugs and the human trafficking off the streets, that hurts the people of those states.
You know, when the streets of Los Angeles descended into scenes more fitting of a failed state than a major American city, mobs setting fire to police cruisers and looting entire city blocks, videos online showing American flags being burned and the flags of foreign nations being flown.
Some carried by rioters proudly waving them through smoke-filled streets.
The Department of Homeland Security has revealed new data saying that ICE law enforcement is now facing a 500% increase in assaults while carrying out enforcement operations.
Can you describe what actions you've taken to hold these sanctuary jurisdictions accountable?
To California specifically, and we have made it very clear: if you spit, I believe it was an ICE officer, someone spit on him, we charge them federally.
We will charge you if you spit on a law enforcement officer.
If you loot under the Hobbes Act, that is a robbery, and we will charge you with robbery.
We are going after the maximum penalty federally for anyone who touches a federal agent, and we are also going to protect our state and local law enforcement agencies and officers.
The men and women every day around this country, whether it's a blue or red or purple state, are out there fighting crime.
That's what they care about.
They care about keeping every single one of us safe.
That's what they're doing.
They care about preventing drug abuse, drug overdoses throughout this country.
And they jeopardize their lives every single day to keep us safe.
And we are going to do everything in our power to fight for them.
I just wonder, sincerely wonder, do you hear how hollow your last words sound in light of the pardon of all of the January 6th people, day one of this administration?
I believe you're sincere.
You want to protect law enforcement, but your principal, the president, pardoned every single one on January 6th.
It rings hollow when you say these words: that if you spit on a police officer, we're going to go after you.
Talk to my friends who are Capitol Police officers who were here, five of whom are no longer here.
They are dead.
And this administration, and I guess I want to ask you, did you have any advice for the president when he came forward with the blanket pardon on January 20th?
He had you, the DOJ, disband the national cryptocurrency enforcement team.
His son recently launched the Executive Branch Club, a private club with $500,000 memberships here in D.C. Any of this seemed like it might be a problem, might be profiteering from the office, and maybe you and your ethics team might be concerned about these conflicts of interest, your own and the president and his family.
You're not just complicit in this, you're actively helping and profiting.
Isn't it true that on April the 2nd, the same day that Trump announced his chaotic tariff regime that plummeted the stock market, you sold more than $1 million worth of your shares in Trump Media stock?
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for holding the hearing.
Thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for being here.
You just mentioned this previously, and obviously, as you're aware, about the recently uncovered information about the FBI's egregious politically motivated anti-Catholic field memo, which was disseminated to more than 1,000 employees.
The Biden administration claimed that this memo only was circulated at the Richmond Field Office.
It's now clear that this memo went much beyond just that one field office.
This was a memo that suggested that Catholics, based on their theological beliefs and practices, were radical and that their traditional parishes were vectors for extremism.
The FBI went so far as to infiltrate and spy on Sunday masses.
So, Attorney General Bondi, I'm grateful for your efforts to combat anti-Christian bias, including the task force you recently stood up.
It's clear from both the original leaked memo and the additional documentation that has been released that extremist Southern Poverty Law Center was the basis for this anti-Catholic bigotry coming from the FBI.
Will you commit to not use the Southern Poverty Law Center to determine who is a hate group?
Our civil rights division, led by Harmeet Dillon, is doing an incredible job working on those issues and many more.
Our civil rights division, I met with her this morning, I talk to them almost daily, and they are working to protect people of all religions.
And, you know, especially now, I'm actually surprised that hasn't come up yet this morning, but in light of everything happening with Israel, all of the anti-Semitic things that have been happening around our country, I went to the crime scene here in D.C. of two young people who were leaving a Jewish museum and were gunned down simply because of their religion.
It was horrific.
It was horrific.
And then in Boulder, Colorado, when a Holocaust survivor was firebombed, lit on fire because she was Jewish.
And so it's not only Catholics, it's every religion and even mosque that were slowwalked under the Biden administration and not allowed to open.
And I think everybody of faith in the United States appreciates that.
And I just want to switch gears real quick to just another topic.
In 2022, the D.C. Metropolitan Police recovered the remains of five unborn children, apparently from a D.C. abortion mill, which appeared to be the victims, these five remains that were found victims of a brutal partial birth abortion.
As you know, Congress passed a bipartisan law outlawing this gruesome practice in the early 2000s.
Public reporting suggests that the president, President Biden's DOJ, directed the D.C. chief medical examiner to destroy the remains of the children without performing an autopsy, which the CME appears not to have done yet.
General Bondi, will you commit to working with me and this committee to conduct a full and fair investigation into the deaths of these children to ensure justice is served for the DC5?
Cybersecurity Funding for Northwest Indiana00:02:59
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Attorney General Bondi.
I yield back.
unidentified
Mr. Mervyn.
Thank you, Chairman.
Thank you, Ranking Member, Attorney General.
Thank you for joining us today.
Our law enforcement officers, first responders, and local safety agencies are the backbone of our communities.
In Northwest Indiana, I've worked hard to bring critical federal grant dollars home, funds that directly support the brave men and women who protect us every day.
Unfortunately, funding for 20 has been rescinded, weakening our public safety framework and making our neighborhoods less safe.
I firsthand have a positive impact in securing dollars and investments for Gary, Indiana, East Chicago, Lake County, and Michigan City that were force multipliers that will do such as license plate readers and the COPS grant.
I'm asking you today, what can we do to ensure that those funds are going to continue to flow to my district and in light the Haida?
I'm in Northwest Indiana, Gary, Indiana.
We are a Haida district where we have the Chicago traffic.
That's vitally important to my district.
I just need commitments that that funding will continue to be going forward and that our agencies will have that support.
So in light of the escalation with Iran, part of our cybersecurity and our infrastructure when it comes to our electric grid, our banking systems, that is a new threat.
Does this budget reflect increasing our cybersecurity protections?
And how is the Department of Justice going to protect our infrastructure when it comes to bad actors such as Iran coming directly at our infrastructure in a cyber attack?
Yeah, we have $50 million for cybersecurity and also in the one big $50 million, but also in the one big, beautiful bill it is also addressed to give us more resources.
I want to do everything I can to help you protect cybersecurity, all of us in this country, not only again with Iran, but also with China and all of our foreign adversaries around the world.
unidentified
Okay.
And then just a question of curiosity that I have.
Director Patel was here a couple of weeks ago, and we talked about the emails that went to the FBI agents, meaning please tell us what you did at the end of the week.
Give us five reasons why you did.
At first, Director Patel said that that didn't exist.
Then he specifically said, well, that came from the Department of Justice to the FBI agents.
And his words, I told them not to fulfill that obligation.
How do you manage that if you give a directive to your director of FBI and he chooses not to fulfill that?
And where did that information go?
So when someone from the FBI, an agent, fulfilled that obligation of giving you the information of what they were working on, where did that data go and how is it secured?
Yeah, and Congressman, I'd be happy to see who answered that, but I have asked, I asked, when I learned about it, I asked that it be withdrawn, and it was that email.
unidentified
When you learned about the email going to the FBI agents, you asked them to withdraw it.
And the purpose of that email was to make sure, just so you know, it was to make sure that these people were sitting at their desk and working and alive, that there were people actually responding.
It could have been, I got up and got a cup of coffee.
Sure.
unidentified
So without going into that, the people that did answer it, where did that data go?
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