Ayesha Bakshi
๐ค SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
But this has been really frustrating for victims.
I talked to lawyers for victims ahead of the Justice Department's release.
Some of them said that their clients were terrified because they thought just this would happen.
And the lawyers told me that they didn't think the Department of Justice had any excuse for messing up in this space because they had provided names in advance to try to make sure that these people were shielded.
So Pam Bondi really expressed a commitment to victims.
But it's also true that there are many victims who are really frustrated by what's happened in this process.
They think that they were improperly brought forward when they didn't want to be public.
And they also think that some people are being improperly shielded from being held accountable.
members of Congress, Democrats on the committee especially, accused the Justice Department of politicizing these investigations, of not conducting a fair and free investigation into what really happened here.
They noted that local law enforcement partners have basically been blocked out from the Justice Department's investigation into these cases.
And there's a lot of reporting to suggest that the Justice Department has actually prevented prosecutors and investigators who wanted
to look into the federal agents and whether their use of force was appropriate from being able to do so.
So those sorts of accusations were leveled at Pambondi.
It's part of a wider set of accusations that a lot of Democrats have that the Department of Justice has become weaponized and more partisan under Pambondi's leadership.
Pimbondi defended her administration.
She said that no one is above the law.
She said that the Department of Justice continues to be committed to enforcing immigration laws and that that's a high priority of the Trump administration.
Yes, they were referring to the fact that the Trump administration, the Department of Justice in particular, has targeted people whom President Trump has specifically said should be prosecuted.
Basically, they're referring to concerns about the White House potentially directing
prosecutions by the Justice Department.