Pam Bondi appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.J Scott Applewhite/AP

With her At Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, Pam Bondi likely gave assurances that she will be attorney general. However, she did this by pretending to be an idiot.

The former Florida attorney general and lobbyist refused to confirm or deny that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, refused to issue pardons for violent attackers on June 6, a series of controversial statements from the new president.

Such responses reflect the reality that Bondi relies on Trump’s continued support; already has the support of GOP senators; and simply doesn’t need Democratic votes to secure the job.

Bondi admitted Wednesday that Biden is indeed president. But she would not contradict Trump’s continued false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. That has emerged as standard phrasing for Republicans who want to avoid sounding crazy without angering Trump.

But Bondi – who in late 2020 worked as one of the lawyers for the Trump campaign challenging his loss in Pennsylvania – went a step further, vaguely claiming that she actually believes there was significant voter fraud, despite courts rejecting such claims uniformly rejected. “I saw a lot of things there,” Bondi said.

Bondi also repeatedly dodged Democrats’ questions by claiming she was “unfamiliar” with Trump’s high-profile events and statements. Bondi stated that she was exceptionally ill-informed.

Does she agree with Trump’s frequent public descriptions of people condemned for attacks on Congress on Jan. 6 as “patriots” and “hostages,” asked Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). “I don’t know that statement,” Bondi said.

Does she agree with Trump’s infamous statement, reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s rhetoric, that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”?

“I don’t know that statement,” Bondi said.

Asked whether she would defend the Constitution’s principle of firstborn citizenship, which Trump has vowed to end, Bondi said she would have to address the issue.

Asked by Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) whether she would investigate Smith in light of Trump’s renewed calls to jail former special counsel Jack Smith, Bondi said in part: “I haven’t seen the file .”

Bondi also declined to rule out investigations into former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) over her work as House committee leader on Jan. 6, which Trump had also encouraged, in a non-response in which he suggested, among other things , that Schiff is focused on crime in California.

Asked by Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) for an enemies list that detailed Trump’s choice for FBI Director Kash Patel in a book published in 2023 under the title Government gangstersBondi explained: “I don’t think he has an enemies list. He did a quote on TV.”

When Durbin asked about the recorded phone call in which Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to help him “find 11,780 votes” to overturn the results of that state’s 2020 election, Bondi said : “My understanding is that this is not what (Trump) asked him to do.”

Such reactions are likely to ensure that Bondi stays in Trump’s good graces and receives an endorsement. In this sense they are not stupid. Unfortunately for Bondi, they certainly sound like it.