Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice for attorney general, dodged a question about the fairness of the 2020 election at the start of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, and suggested there were problems with the counting of votes.
“I accept the results,” said Ms. Bondi, the former Florida attorney general who represented Mr. Trump during one of his impeachment cases, but she would not explicitly say that Mr. Trump lost in 2020, saying she saw “so much” possible evidence of potential election interference in Pennsylvania.
Senator Richard J. Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, said the answer suggested that she was unwilling to simply acknowledge that Mr. Trump had lost. If confirmed as attorney general, Ms. Bondi would be responsible for investigating irregularities in federal elections, were they to arise.
Ms. Bondi replaced Mr. Trump’s first pick to lead the Justice Department, Matt Gaetz, the former Republican representative of Florida. Mr. Gaetz withdrew from consideration after a furor over allegations of sexual misconduct, including with an underage girl, made it unlikely he would have the support to be confirmed.
Ms. Bondi, 59, but she is a far more conventional, qualified candidate than Mr. Gaetz. That virtually ensures support among Senate Republicans, and the possibility that she will pick up a Democrat or two.
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, with limited expectations of derailing her nomination, aimed to pelt Ms. Bondi with questions to scrutinize the extent of her allegiance to Mr. Trump. “I need to know that you will tell the president no,” Mr. Durbin said in his opening statement.
She also faced questions about her role as a lobbyist from when she joined the firm Ballard Partners, which has close ties to Mr. Trump, in 2019. She registered as a lobbyist for Qatar and represented major corporations, including Amazon, Uber and General Motors, according to records.
People who have helped prep Ms. Bondi for the hearings said she would affirm her commitment to the rule of law, but would most likely invoke Mr. Trump’s right to communicate with the attorney general on nearly any topic.
Here’s what you need to know:
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A host of hearings: The questioning of Ms. Bondi comes on a packed day of confirmation hearings. Other Trump nominees up for hearings on Wednesday are Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state, John Ratcliffe for C.I.A. director, Russ Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Chris Wright for energy secretary, and Sean Duffy for transportation secretary.
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A grilling: Democrats plan to drag Ms. Bondi into the fight over Mr. Trump’s far more polarizing pick to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel, who will technically report to her. They will also grill Ms. Bondi on her previous interactions with Mr. Trump. In 2013, she declined to join a multistate lawsuit brought by students at Trump University, around the time her campaign accepted a $25,000 contribution from a nonprofit funded by Mr. Trump.
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Bondi’s background: Ms. Bondi, a Democrat until 2000, emerged from a crowded Republican primary to win the Florida attorney general’s race in 2010. During her eight-year tenure, Ms. Bondi tried unsuccessfully to overturn and weaken the Affordable Care Act, opposed expanding legal protections for the L.G.B.T.Q. community and cultivated a national reputation by supporting anti-human-trafficking efforts. Read more ›