LOS ANGELES.–Former Florida Gov. and Atty. Gen. nominee Pam Bondi, 59, took Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to task for suggesting she couldn’t say no to 78-year-old President Donald Trump. Schiff pressed Bondi if there was an order or expectation that she prosecute 58-year-old former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) for her work on the Jan. 6 House Select Committee. Cheney turned on Trump when he had her removed as Chair of the House Leadership Conference, handing it to 40-year-old Rep. Elise Stefanik. Trump endorsed Cheney’s primary rival Harriet Hageman who beat Cheney in 2023 by a landslide in the GOP primary, beating her by over 40%. Cheney’s hatred toward Trump led he to seek a Vice Chairwoman position on the Jan. 6 House Select Committee. “I’m asking you sitting here today whether you are aware of a factual predicate to investigate Liz Cheny,” Schiff asked Bondi.
When Schiff talks about a “factual predicate,” it’s the legal term for probable cause, any facts or evidence that would justify a criminal investigation possibly leading to charges. When you look at what happened to Trump in 2016, the FBI under 64-year-old former FBI Director James Comey opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin. Comey received former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s opposition research AKA “The Steele Dossier,” accusing Trump of having inappropriate ties to the Russian Federation. Comey used Hillary’s opposition research as a “factual predicate” to open up his counterintelligence investigation. When Trump became president in 2017, he fired Comey May 8, 2017 for inappropriate leaks to the New York Times and Washington Post documenting Trump’s alleged ties to the Kremlin.
Schiff was a big backer as former House Intelligence Committee Chairman of the Russian hoax, going so far as stating he had his own evidence that Trump colluded with the Kremlin. “Senator, no one asked me to investigate Liz Cheney, that is a hypothetical,” Bondi told Schiff in her confirmation hearing. “You know what we should be worried about? The crime rate in California is through the roof. You robberies are 87% higher than the national average,” Bondi said. “That’s what I want to focus on Senator,” said Bondi. Schiff asked Bondi if she would tell Trump he lost the 2020 election,” getting a rise out of her. Bondi accused Schiff of “playing politics,” actually leaking memo from former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Schiff and other Democrats went wild when Trump fired Comey May 8, 2017. They demanded the DOJ open up a Special Counsel investigation.
Bondi knows all about the $40, 22-month Special Counsel Robert Mueller investigation, ending March 23, 2019 when Mueller said there was no link between Trump or his campaign to the Kremlin. Democrats were dumbfounded, believing Mueller would finally get Trump for treason with his alleged Russian contacts. Schiff asked Bondi if she would advise Trump on making blanket pardons, prompting Bondi to respond. “I’m not going to mislead this body or you, you were censured by Congress, senator, for comments just like this that’s so reckless,” Bondi told Schiff, referring to his constant allegations, without facts or proof, that Trump colluded with the Kremlin to win the 2016 presidential election. Schiff was only the third member of Congress censured in over 100 years, yet acts like a tough rooster hurling accusations against Bondi.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) got his crack at Bondi, insinuating she would go after anyone identified by Trump. “It would not be appropriated for a prosecutor to start with a name and look for a crime?” asked Whitehouse. “It’s a prosecutor’s job to star with a crime and look for a name. Correct?” asked Whitehouse, implying that Trump has given Bondi a hit list of Democrats involved in Trump’s past prosecutions. “Senator, I think that is the whole problem with the weaponization that we have seen the last four years and what been happening to Donald Trump,” Bondi said. Bondi left no doubt that she would no longer allow political prosecutions at the Justice Department under her watch. Schiff and Whitehouse implied that Trump gave Bondi a hit list to go after people like Liz Cheney who worked feverishly to prosecute and convict Trump of various crimes.
Schiff is the last person Democrats need to make the case against Pam Bondi. Schiff proved to be one of the most corrupt Democrats seeking to stop Trump through a covert Democrat legal strategy from running for president. Democrats had a plan that backfired trying to bury Trump with legal cases to stop his 2024 presidential campaign. Democrats worried for years that should Trump run again in 2024 he would be unstoppable. Biden said recently he could have beaten Trump again, slapping at his party’s decision to remove him from the 2024 ballot, replacing him with Vice President Kamala Harris. Whether Biden could have beaten Trump in 2024 is anyone’s guess. Whitehouse thinks Biden could have won the election had he given his last speech first to announce his campaign, promising to get oligarch’s dirty money out of national elections.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
