Pam Bondi Puts Up Firewall, Won’t Support Special Counsel or Other Probe Into Signal Affair as Democrats Seek To Keep Story Alive

Attorney General Bondi is emerging as a key figure in President Trump’s efforts to contain the fallout from the disclosure on Signal of battle plans against the Houthis. The exchange was shared by the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to the chat. Ms. Bondi, America’s top law enforcement official, is facing increased pressure from Democrats to launch an investigation into the use of Signal for such sensitive deliberations as well as into how Mr. Goldberg, who is a frequent antagonist of Mr. Trump, was added to the “Houthi PC Small Group Chat.” So far the White House has resisted calls for an inquiry. Secretary Hegseth shared details of aircraft and the timing of air strikes with the group. Vice President Vance, in a position at odds with that of Mr. Trump, expressed reservations about military action in light of Europe’s posture toward the Middle East.Some have speculated that the breach was significant enough as to violate the Espionage Act or other statutes related to classified information. Ms. Bondi, though, insists, that while the information was “sensitive,” it was not classified. Mr. Trump concurs. CNN’s senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, said on air last week that “there’s no reasonable prosecutor who could look at this and say it doesn’t need to be investigated.”Ms. Bondi responded that “there’s a reason” why CNN’s ratings “are plummeting, because they’re putting people like that on TV.” Mr. Honig recently said Ms. Bondi “has failed miserably.” The attorney general has followed the president in calling the release of the messages “a mistake” that does not warrant further investigation. Yet Senator Lankford, a Republican, declared on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that the appointment of an inspector general to investigate would be “entirely appropriate.”Mr. Lankford and another Republican Senator, Roger Wicker, who support further inquiry into group chat could be digesting polling over the weekend that disclosed bipartisan concern over the Signal chat. YouGov reports that 60 percent of Republicans reckon that the chat amounted to “a very or somewhat serious problem,” with that number rising to 89 percent among Democrats.The chat has also reportedly resurfaced the possibility that one of the Trump administration’s highest ranking officials — National Security Advisor Mike Waltz — could be fired. The Wall Street Journal reports that “the damage to Mike Waltz’s reputation has put him on shaky ground in the White House” and that the Floridian is “still navigating a minefield.” Mr. Waltz has been on thin ice since well before the Signal scandal, with some MAGA adherents convinced that his more conventional and interventionist approach to foreign policy is an awkward fit with Mr. Trump’s “America First” convictions. Mr. Trump, though, has elected to keep Mr. Waltz on — for now. Thanks to Ms. Bondi, it appears as if none of the principals will have to navigate criminal charges. She told reporters last week that “If you want to talk about classified information, talk about what was at Hillary Clinton’s home.” That is a reference to Secretary Clinton’s email server. Ms. Bondi also mentioned the “classified documents in Joe Biden’s garage that Hunter Biden had access to.”Ms. Bondi appears set to not only block the handing up of criminal charges but also to intervene in the civil case, citing the Federal Records Act, brought in Maryland against the participants in the Signal chat. That case is being heard by Judge James Boasberg, who has blocked Mr. Trump’s efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act, most notably when he ordered planes of alleged Venezuelan gang members en route to El Salvador to be turned around mid-flight. Mr. Trump has called Judge Boasberg “disgraceful” and a “ Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator who was sadly appointed by Barack Hussein Obama.” Ms. Bondi has said of Judge Boasberg that “He shouldn’t be on any of these cases. He cannot be objective. He’s made that crystal clear.” Judge Boasberg has ordered records frozen in the Signal case.The administration is appealing Judge Boasberg’s enjoining of Mr. Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act against alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang, an order that was upheld by the Fourth United States Appeals Circuit, to the Supreme Court. The acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, wrote to the Nine that the case “presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country — the President, through Article II, or the judiciary.”Ms. Bondi, unlike her predecessors Attorney General Garland and Attorney General Sessions, appears unlikely to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Signal affair. Special Counsels Robert Mueller and Jack Smith both investigated Mr. Trump but failed to convict him in court — or prevent him from winning a second term.

Pam Bondi Puts Up Firewall, Won’t Support Special Counsel or Other Probe Into Signal Affair as Democrats Seek To Keep Story Alive

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