Pam Bondi Lashes Out And Refuses To Answer 1 Simple Question During Hearing

Is foreign influence driving U.S. policy thanks to channels opened up through President Donald Trump’s $TRUMPCoin? Don’t ask the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“I’m not going to tell you what I will or will not do other than I will do everything to keep people of your state safe even though you don’t want to talk about anything to do with your state because of the crime in your state,” Attorney General Pam Bondi told Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) during a Justice Department budget hearing held by a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Wednesday.

Merkley asked the longtime Trump ally if she would consider appointing a special investigator to probe the tens of millions of dollars potentially flowing from foreign interests toward the White House after the exclusive $148 million crypto soiree.

Some 220 guests, including crypto execs, celebrities, athletes, and other corporate and moneyed interests from around the globe attended the event held at Trump’s Virginia golf club.

One guest, Fr8Technologies CEO Javier Selgas of Mexico, bought $2 million of the coin and announced after the event that he intended to buy $20 million because he wanted a favor from Trump: a policy change around freight that flows from Mexico to the U.S. (The guest list was kept under wraps by the White House, and it was not until news outlets dug into the event, or some guests openly admitted that they attended, that they were identified.)

When Merkley told the attorney general that the American people simply had a right to know more, and that Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress cared about the issue, Bondi recoiled.

“It is wildly offensive that you would accuse President Trump of not protecting American interests in our country when he is the president who shut down our borders unlike Joe Biden… and you’re trying to play a gotcha question at a budget hearing when you have murderers left and right in your state, violent crimes, and we are doing everything we can to help your liberal state,” she said before immediately catching herself. “Whether you’re liberal or not, we’re going to do everything we can to help the citizens of your state, and you’re trying to avoid that because you’re trying to play gotcha questions with the president of the United States.”

Oregon, in fact, has reduced violent crimes like homicide and rape in the last two years, though the state saw a slight uptick in aggravated assault last year, according to the Major Cities Chief Association.

“It speaks volumes that you won’t answer the question about transparency when the president is asking people to invest in his company and his products, and foreigners are attending these events. I think transparency would be appropriate. Will you recommend any ethics guidelines to ensure that foreign influence does not find its way in through the doors of White House?” Merkley asked.

Again, Bondi lashed out.

“How do you characterize foreigners? The illegal aliens that have flowed into our country? You don’t want to talk about them. The crime that has gone rampant throughout this country and your state,” she said.

In fact, crime has been down throughout the United States ― and long before Trump returned to the White House, according to data collected by various law enforcement agencies around the nation.

The Justice Department has requested a budget of $33.6 billion for FY2026, which is a reduction of about $2.5 billion from its FY2025 levels. Nearly 5,000 positions inside the department, including U.S. attorneys, marshals and other staff, have been reduced already under Trump. And more cuts are coming: The 2026 budget request promises another 1,500 job cuts to the department.

Cuts have particularly decimated the Justice Department’s public integrity section already. The division is tasked with probing and prosecuting corruption of government officials, and in the last five months, the public integrity division went from having 30 attorneys to as few as five working on cases.

Bondi also dodged questions Wednesday about concerns Merkley had surrounding Trump’s stablecoin USD1. Stablecoins are a version of cryptocurrency where the value of the asset is pegged to something tangible, like the dollar, and it is backed by the U.S. Treasury.

USD1 was introduced last September through World Liberty Financial, a crypto company co-owned by Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump. The venture has already been quite lucrative so far: Gizmodo reported this week that financial disclosure forms reveal Trump hauled in nearly $60 million last year thanks to USD1.

In May, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates struck a deal to allow the Emiratis to purchase U.S. made chips and semiconductors for artificial intelligence ventures. During the Biden administration, some restrictions were placed on AI exports out of concern for national security.

But Trump, Merkley told Bondi, seemed to ease those policies completely once the CEO of the Emirati company MGX agreed to purchase $2 billion of the president’s coin.

“Does this sequence of events concern you?” the Oregon lawmaker probed.

Bondi wouldn’t answer directly, instead saying that the only foreign influence the lawmaker should be concerned about is the “Mexican national who had 384 pounds of methamphetamine” valued at $1 million in his Oregon storage unit.

Bondi did not mention that “Mexican national” was indicted — and the drugs were actually seized — under the Biden administration in 2021.