ArcaMax

Let’s hear a word of praise for the ordinary citizens who have called for an end to the too-often reckless invasions of American cities by federal agents carrying out President Trump’s crusade against undocumented immigrants.

I am moved by the courage and patriotism of those who have come out on the streets, sometimes in awesome numbers, to demand investigations into and accountability for recent allegations of misconduct by officers of the Department of Homeland Security in Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere. These events were spotlighted last week in hearings in the House Judiciary Committee.

Then there’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, as is often said about the dramatis personae of the executive branch these days, plays to “an audience of one,” namely the president, and her actions and demeanor have descended to such a low standard that the Department of Justice approaches a staffing crisis.

To see why, consider Bondi’s House testimony on Wednesday. She came into the hearing against a backdrop of recrimination between a presidential administration and the opposition party the depth and rancor of which has not been seen since the Watergate era.

Team Trump faced a number of problems, including their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, the failed attempt to indict six Democratic lawmakers, and the killing of two protesters by federal officers in Minneapolis last month.

The attorney general, steadfast in her defense of the administration, replied to questions from Democratic members with a dramatic escalation of the angry rhetoric, invective and combative name-calling, at points reading scripted "sick burns" from a binder. At times, if you closed your eyes, it was easy to believe you were watching "Jerry Springer."

One illustrative low point came when she lashed out at the committee’s ranking Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

During a diatribe Bondi launched at another Democrat on the committee, Raskin broke in, directing her to respond to the question. “You don’t tell me anything, you washed-up loser lawyer," she muttered. "You’re not even a lawyer."

It's well known that Raskin is indeed a lawyer, a magna cum laude Harvard Law graduate and professor of constitutional law. But that wasn't even the most absurd thing Bondi said Wednesday.

She provoked audible laughter early in the hearing when she suggested Democrats on the committee should look at the good news of Trump’s second term.

“The Dow is over 50,000 right now, the S&P at almost 7,000, and the NASDAQ smashing records, Americans’ 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming,” Bondi said. “That’s what we should be talking about.”

Maybe, in her view, but the stock market was way off topic for the Judiciary committee, as a Democratic member pointed out.

It's a shame, but also not a surprise, that Bondi came prepared for a fight, which she made sound at least as personal as it was political. After all, the DOJ is falling down on a number of important issues.

Democrats repeatedly pressed Bondi on her department’s failure to redact names, addresses and other identifying information relating to Epstein’s victims, and in some cases nude images, from the files it released last month.

When Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, asked Bondi to address Epstein's victims present in the hearing room, the attorney general declared, “I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics.”

In fairness, she did express regret for “what any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster,” Epstein. She added, “I want you to know that any accusation of criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated.”

That's what a good attorney general is supposed to do. I only wish I could feel more confident that Bondi is up to the task.

Unfortunately, her to-do list is full of dead-end tasks on behalf of her No. 1 fan. Whether it's getting revenge on Trump's old enemies (e.g., indicting former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James) or reviving his old conspiracy theories (e.g., investigating the "stolen" election in Georgia, promising "Russiagate" prosecutions), covering his posterior (the "Epstein files" slow roll) or getting his mighty deportation machine running, the DOJ is losing talented attorneys who didn't sign up to do political wet work.

"The system sucks," a DOJ grunt attorney told a judge in Minneapolis, breaking down in the courtroom earlier this month. "This job sucks."

Like other federal judges, the one presiding in this particular case demanded to know why Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were not complying with court orders, and what the DOJ was doing about it.

“Fixing a system, a broken system, I don’t have a magic button to do it," the attorney pleaded. "I don’t have the power or the voice to do it.”

Away from the sound and fury of the hearing room on Capitol Hill, the problems of our democracy run deeper than we know.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com.)

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