WASHINGTON — Attorney General Pam Bondi defended her role in the Justice Department, addressing Democratic accusations of politicizing the agency during a congressional hearing on Tuesday. The session was expected to scrutinize the influence of political pressure on law enforcement concerning perceived opponents of President Donald Trump.

In her initial statements, Bondi supported conservative assertions that it was actually President Joe Biden’s Justice Department that had politicized the agency, despite it having initiated two criminal cases against Trump. Bondi cited recent revelations that the FBI had scrutinized phone records of several Republican lawmakers as part of an investigation into Trump’s efforts to reverse his 2020 election defeat to Biden.

“They were using law enforcement powers for political purposes, which will be remembered as a significant breach of public trust,” stated Bondi. “This behavior undermines the people’s confidence in our law enforcement institutions, and we are committed to restoring that trust every day.”

Her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee coincides with former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming court appearance following an indictment that raises concerns about the department potentially being used for political retaliation against Trump’s adversaries. The hearing also occurs as federal law enforcement officers are being dispatched to various U.S. cities to address crime and uphold immigration laws.

The proceedings are anticipated to reveal deep partisan divides, with Republicans likely to commend the Justice Department’s initiatives to tackle violent crime and shift away from Biden’s policies. Conversely, Democrats are expected to question Bondi about her turbulent eight-month tenure, which has been marked by politically sensitive investigations, as well as the dismissal and resignation of numerous seasoned prosecutors, some of whom had roles in investigating Trump, opposed the administration’s pressure, or were simply senior figures from the previous administration.

As the hearing opened, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the committee’s Republican chairman, praised Bondi for “getting tough on criminals” and her efforts to scrutinize what conservatives have alleged was the targeting of conservatives by the Biden Justice Department.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee’s top Democrat, lamented the surge of hundreds of career officials with a combined thousands of years of law enforcement experience. Durbin told Bondi that her actions at the Justice Department, including the diversion of agents to focus on immigration enforcement, are making America less safe.

“What has taken place since January 20th, 2025, would make even President Nixon recoil,” Durbin said of the president who resigned to avoid being impeached in connection with the Watergate scandal. “This is your legacy, Attorney General Bondi. In eight short months, you fundamentally transformed the Justice Department and left an enormous stain in American history. It will take decades to recover.”

Bondi’s appearance is her first before the panel since her confirmation hearing last January, when she pledged to not play politics with the Justice Department – a promise Democrats are likely to pounce on as they press the attorney general on whether she can withstand pressure from a president publicly calling to charge his perceived enemies.

Bondi and other Republican allies have said the Biden administration, which brought two criminal cases against Trump, was the one that weaponized the department even though some of its most high-profile probes concerned the Democratic president and his son.

The Comey indictment is likely to take center stage at the hearing. The U.S. attorney’s office in Virginia that brought the case had expressed reservations about the strength of evidence, and the Trump administration had to race to install a new prosecutor to secure the charges after the experienced leader of that office resigned days earlier under pressure.

Other inquiries are likely to come up as well.

The Justice Department under Bondi has opened criminal investigations into other vocal critics of the president, including Democratic U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor and current mayoral candidate. They have all denied wrongdoing, as has Comey, and have slammed the investigations as politically motivated.

Bondi is likely to tout the Justice Department’s efforts to tackle violent crime by surging federal law enforcement in Washington and now Memphis, Tennessee. Republican lawmakers who make up the majority of the committee will also likely highlight the department’s focus on illegal immigration and dismantling Mexican cartels responsible for smuggling drugs into American communities.

The attorney general may also face questions about the Justice Department’s handling of investigative files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. The wealthy New York financier’s case has dogged the department since its decision in July not to publicly release any more files in its possession after raising the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.

But even in the face of intense conservative outrage, Bondi maintained the strong public support of the president.