Prominent Democrat Dave Aronberg among those praising Pam Bondi at confirmation hearings

Dave Aronberg is forgoing a U.S. Attorney gig.

Florida legal leaders from both parties trekked to Capitol Hill to urge Senators to confirm Pam Bondi as Attorney General.

Witnesses speaking on her behalf included former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, an outspoken Democrat. Aronberg, who ran for Florida Attorney General the same year Bondi won the statewide office, noted that despite a partisan rivalry, she hired him as Florida’s drug czar.

“She offered me this position because she knew from the campaign trail that fighting the opioid epidemic had been my career priority and an important part of my campaign platform,” Aronberg said. “It did not matter to her that I had a ‘D’ after my name. She believed I was the best person for the job, regardless of party affiliation.”

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said the fact that a prominent Democrat would advocate for Bondi spoke well of her professionalism.

“This is somebody who’s been a foe, who probably spoke against her in a public setting, and she had the temperament and the good judgment to look past your political views and hire you into her organization,” said U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican. “I think that says a lot about people.”

Aronberg was among a handful of Florida officials who spoke as witnesses in confirmation hearings for Bondi, whom President-elect Donald Trump nominated for Attorney General in November. The Senate panel also spoke to former Alachua and Marion Sheriff Emery Gainey and to longtime statewide prosecutor Nicholas Cox.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, pressed Cox on concerns he had about Bondi’s testimony in a prior hearing, specifically regarding her loyalty to Trump. Durbin said past Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr both faced public pressure by Trump in his first term when they had political disagreements. The Illinois Democrat questioned if Bondi would stand up to Trump.

“I can understand your concern,” Cox said, “but the Pam Bondi I know as a prosecutor, where her heart is as a prosecutor, and having my experience with her myself telling her no when she was Attorney General, I believe she will stand up to it.”

He noted that Bondi wanted to fight pharmaceutical companies on the distribution of fentanyl, which initially put her at odds with then-Gov. Rick Scott. But she eventually convinced people in her own party that the narcotic posed a threat. Scott, now a U.S. Senator, has since worked on bipartisan legislation addressing the opioid crisis.

Gainey also discussed working with her from a law enforcement side on cracking down on pill mills in the state.

“Utilizing Florida’s rulemaking statutes and bipartisan support from members of Florida’s Legislature, she was able to permanently ban the sale of these deadly drugs, despite the continuous efforts by those who altered their formulas to circumvent Florida law, in an attempt to keep versions of these harmful substances on the shelves of some retailers,” Gainey said.

The committee also heard from national watchdog groups opposing Bondi’s confirmation.

Lisa Gilbert, Co-President of Public Citizen, primarily raised concerns about Bondi’s lobbying work with Ballard Partners after her eight years as Florida Attorney General concluded.

“We have had lobbyists become Attorney General in the past, but nowhere near the scope and scale of Ms. Bondi, with 30 clients of her own in just the last five years, and coming from a firm that represents such a broad swath of corporate America,” Gilbert said.

She noted as an example that Bondi worked for Geo, a private prison corporation, which could create conflicts on numerous decisions at the Justice Department involving corrections oversight.

Mary McCord, Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, testified on concerns she had about the independence of the Justice Department in Trump’s second term.

“Although she is a member of the President’s Cabinet and therefore expected to implement the President’s policy priorities, her duties are limited by the Constitution,” McCord said. “That means, among many other things, not targeting people or associations for investigation or prosecution based on protected speech, or not executing searches without a warrant, not denying the equal protection of the law to all people within the United States.

“It also means that any prior role as part of the President’s legal defense team is over once the oath of office is taken. The Attorney General is not the President’s personal attorney. She is the attorney for the United States.”