From PBS NewsHour.

Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday for the first time since her confirmation hearing in January.

In the oversight hearing, focused on the Department of Justice, Bondi was expected to face questions from lawmakers on a number of controversial decisions made by the agency. That includes the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey that came days after President Donald Trump directly called on Bondi in a social media post to prosecute Comey and other perceived political foes.

In her opening statement, Bondi claimed that former FBI agents “wanted to take President Trump off the playing field,” and she touted efforts to end political weaponization of justice and “return the department to its core mission of fighting violent crime.”

Ahead of Bondi’s testimony, more than 280 former DOJ employees wrote a letter this week urging Congress for more oversight due to the “degradation” of oaths to the Constitution and to upholding the law under the Trump administration.

“Members in both chambers and on both sides of the aisle must provide a meaningful check on the abuses we’re witnessing,” the letter read.

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