At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) questioned AG Pam Bondi about stopping any Iranian retaliation on US soil.
00:00Attorney General, in the last 72 hours, senior officials at the Department of Justice and the FBI have issued warnings about the possibility of Iran or its supporters retaliating on American soil.
00:13I'm concerned by these threats, particularly to Jewish communities and facilities.
00:18I appreciate that the Department is taking this seriously and the FBI appears to be taking these threats.
00:23Particularly, I'm concerned after one of our own state citizens, Kansan Sarah Milgram, was murdered by an anti-Israel activist here in Washington, D.C.
00:35My question is, General Bondi, is I recognize that a full assessment of these threats is probably better in a classified setting.
00:44But would you describe for the committee today, can you tell us what you can about specific actions the FBI and the DOJ law enforcement components are taking to mitigate these threats?
00:56Yeah.
00:57Thank you, Senator Moran.
00:59And I spoke with Sarah's family in Kansas.
01:03I also spoke with the young man's family in Israel.
01:06I went to the scene of that crime as I've done countless times as a homicide prosecutor in my career.
01:13I never dreamed that I would do that again.
01:16And it was truly horrific.
01:18They were simply leaving an event, as you well know, at a museum.
01:22And Ambassador Leiter actually told me that night that he, it's come out since publicly, that he had a ring and was planning on proposing to her the following week in Israel.
01:33It was horrific.
01:35Not only that, what happened at Governor Shapiro's house in Pennsylvania was absolutely disgusting.
01:42I've spoken to Governor Shapiro multiple times, and that person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
01:49That was a hate crime.
01:51I believe it was done during Shabbat to terrorize Governor Shapiro, pending criminal case.
01:58So I don't want to get into it too much.
02:00But I think that's been public information.
02:02Also, what happened in Boulder, Colorado.
02:07We, you know, what happened at a Holocaust survivor.
02:10A woman who survived the Holocaust was hit by a firebomb with someone simply because she's Jewish.
02:18And many others were injured.
02:21Also, there's a cafe in this country called Jerusalem Cafe.
02:25My civil rights division is all over that.
02:28They will not serve you if you have a Jewish star.
02:31They have coffees and teas with despicable names that are anti-Semitic.
02:36My civil rights division is going after them with full force.
02:40So not only from a civil rights perspective, but from a national security perspective.
02:46My national security division, one of my top lawyers, is sitting behind me here today.
02:50We are all over these cases working hand-in-hand with FBI, with Homeland Security.
02:57All of our agencies are working so well together to try to combat this throughout our country.
03:05And without getting into detail in this setting, Iran, of course, is a threat.
03:10They have been a threat, and they always will be a threat to our country.
03:14And we are working hand-in-hand with all of our agencies to protect Americans and to keep us safe.
03:23We have a 24-7 command center at the FBI set up for situations just like you described, Senator.
03:33Thank you for your vehement response about the importance of protecting all Americans,
03:40and particularly those who are singled out because of their heritage or religion.
03:45There are a number of grant programs at DOJ that might be valuable.
03:49The Precipitous Increase in Crime Program is available to surge resources under the Burn Justice Assistant Grant Program.
03:57And I'm looking at ways that we can help further protect synagogues and other religious places in our country from this kind of terror and violence.
04:08I've taken a... Let me switch topics, although not unrelated.
04:12I've taken a particular interest in trying to make sure the judges, the federal court of our country is protected.
04:18And we've seen too many circumstances in which a judge or a judge's family has been harmed.
04:25The United States Marshal Service plays a critical role in ensuring that federal judges and their families are safe and secure.
04:31And in this context of this elevated threat environment that there's evidence of,
04:40I'm pleased that the budget is proposing an increase of $30 million in Marshall salaries and expense account.
04:47That increase, however, is dedicated to the proposal to migrate Interpol Washington into the Marshall Service.
04:56General Bondi, would you support additional resources for the marshals to ensure that they can execute their judicial security responsibilities?
05:05Yes, and to back up a minute, when you said about protecting our Jewish friends throughout the country,
05:13we are also protecting mosques.
05:15We are protecting all religions throughout our country.
05:20I just didn't want to miss that point.
05:23And I appreciate you making that clarification.
05:24We wouldn't signal out any particular religious individuals or institutions.
05:29We want all Americans to be safe and secure.
05:32Yes, Senator.
05:33And Todd Blanche, my Deputy Attorney General, has a meeting set with the Sergeant of Arms here
05:41to be sure that all of you are protected as well, as well as our judges.
05:47Our new U.S. Marshal, his name is Gatti Seralta, and he is remarkable.
05:52He is a Floridian, so I'm a little biased.
05:55He's from Miami, and he has been a long, long-standing U.S. Marshal.
06:00And he is going to do everything in his power to keep all of our judges safe,
06:06and we'll work hand-in-hand with all of you on that.
06:10But this has nothing to do with the political party.
06:13This has to do with keeping Americans safe, keeping our lawmakers safe, keeping our judges safe,
06:19where our judges feel like they can go home at night and be safe and not have to worry,
06:24and all of our governors and all of the lawmakers in Minnesota throughout this country.
06:30I spoke to Keith Ellison after Minnesota.
06:32I spoke to Senator Klobuchar after Minnesota.
06:35And in that case, our U.S. Attorney on the ground there is working hand-in-hand with the District Attorney.
06:43That's what I've done my entire career, and that's what they will continue to do.
06:48The federal, state, and local authorities will work hand-in-hand.
06:52Our budget includes $190 million, Senator, for judicial security, including 303 deputy U.S. Marshals.
07:04I'm pleased to hear that you're aware and supportive of those efforts.
07:08I would highlight for you that under the Daniel-Andrew Act, we are working to have the personal information of judges removed from the internet,
07:22from public circumstances, including the addresses and names of their children.
07:28Senate Bill FY25, our Senate Bill funded that program at $10 million,
07:34and I'm hopeful this subcommittee and the Department of Justice can continue to find ways to support that effort
07:40to further protect our judges and their families.
07:43Senator, not only our judges, but all of you as well need to be protected in the world in which we live.
