Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday vowed to investigate a number of Donald Trump’s political enemies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for allegedly impeding federal agents.
Speaking with Fox News host Jesse Watters, Bondi accused top Democrats of trying to obstruct federal agents carrying out Trump’s immigration enforcement orders.
On Jesse Watters Primetime, Bondi responded to a video of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announcing a nonprofit called the “ICE Accountability Project” to “unmask” ICE officers and document “purported criminal actions of ICE and CBP agents.”
The attorney general warned that efforts to track ICE agents could result in legal action.
“[Lightfoot] will be getting a letter from us tomorrow to preserve anything she has done as well, to make sure that she’s not violating the law. It appears she is. You cannot disclose the identity of a federal agent—where they live, anything that could harm them,” Bondi said.
Bondi then expanded the list of officials she said could face scrutiny: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, and Pelosi.
“Pritzker, same ball game. Nancy Pelosi got a letter today from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, so did Brooke Jenkins—that D.A. in San Francisco,” Bondi continued. “We told them: ‘Preserve your emails, preserve everything you have on this topic.’ Because if you are telling people to arrest our ICE officers, our federal agents, you cannot do that. You are impeding an investigation, and we will charge them.”
On Oct. 16, Jenkins told Politico Playbook that she “won’t hesitate” to charge federal agents deployed by Trump to the city. Trump has since backed down on plans for deploying federal troops to the region.
Pelosi on Wednesday described mass immigration raids expected this week in the San Francisco Bay Area as “an appalling abuse of law enforcement power.”
“While the President may enjoy absolute immunity courtesy of his rogue Supreme Court, those who operate under his orders do not,” the former speaker said in a joint statement with California congressman Kevin Mullin. “Our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law—and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them.”
Bondi made clear she was prepared to follow through on her threats against Democratic leaders.
“If they think I won’t, they have not met me, because we will charge them if they are violating the law. We will protect our federal agents. They’re out there working nonstop… These people are out there working to keep Californians safe. Yet you’ve got Pelosi out there saying to obstruct their investigation. You can’t do it. And we’re going to investigate her now, as well as that D.A., and Pritzker’s on the list too now,” the attorney general added.
Trump federalized National Guard troops in Illinois following weeks of protests in Chicago over raids carried out by ICE agents. Trump has vowed during his presidency to deport “millions” of immigrants in what he claims will be the largest mass deportation in American history.
San Francisco had been bracing to become the next Democratic city to feel Trump’s wrath before his administration’s reversal on Thursday.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Justice Department and the offices of Pelosi, Pritzker, and Jenkins for comment.
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