A fiery confrontation between Attorney General Pam Bondi and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, escalated into a late-night social media assault by President Donald Trump, creating dramatic live television moments as the senator learned of the president’s attacks in real time on CNN.
The contentious exchange began during Bondi’s oversight hearing when Blumenthal pressed the attorney general about a dropped Department of Justice antitrust merger challenge and her conversations with a lobbying firm that had been her former employer. Instead of addressing the substance of the inquiry, Bondi deflected by attacking Blumenthal’s military service record from decades earlier.
Bondi told the senator she would not be lectured about integrity by someone who lied about military service to get elected. She challenged Blumenthal directly, questioning how he dared to challenge her integrity and insisting she had abided by every ethical standard. This personal attack marked a pattern throughout the hearing, where Bondi consistently responded to Democratic questions with personal attacks rather than substantive answers.
Trump escalated the situation later that evening with an extraordinary social media post on Truth Social, launching what he called an investigation demand into Blumenthal. The president referred to the senator as “Da Nang Dick” and described him as perhaps the biggest joke in the United States Senate. Trump’s lengthy post detailed allegations that Blumenthal had convinced people, particularly the news media, that he was a war hero who lived on the precipice of death in Vietnamese jungles.
The military service controversy stems from a 2010 New York Times investigation that revealed Blumenthal had misrepresented his Vietnam War service. The investigation found that Blumenthal received five deferments from 1965 to 1970 before joining the Marine Corps Reserve, but never served in active combat in Vietnam despite previous suggestions throughout his political career that he had.
Trump’s attack included a comparison to disgraced former Representative George Santos, suggesting that Santos’s lies were minimal compared to Blumenthal’s alleged deceptions. The president declared that Blumenthal should not even serve in the Senate and called for justice to be sought through an investigation.
When CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins read Trump’s social media post to Blumenthal during a live interview, the senator responded that the allegation from 15 years ago had been rejected by Connecticut voters three times, who overwhelmingly reelected him. Blumenthal emphasized that he was honorably discharged as a sergeant from the United States Marine Corps and served in the reserves, noting he had referred to his service “in Vietnam” on just a couple of occasions rather than “during Vietnam.”
The Tuesday hearing showcased a broader pattern of confrontational exchanges between Bondi and Democratic senators. When Senator Sheldon Whitehouse asked about Jeffrey Epstein investigation files and potential incriminating photos of Trump, Bondi accused Whitehouse of making salacious remarks and taking money from one of Epstein’s confidants. She similarly attacked Senator Mazie Hirono over her appearance at demonstrations when questioned about shutting down an investigation into Border Czar Tom Homan.
Ranking Democrat Dick Durbin used the hearing to highlight what he characterized as the systematic weaponization of the nation’s law enforcement agency to protect Trump and his allies while attacking opponents. Durbin noted that hundreds of Department of Justice attorneys had been fired or left, including roughly 75 percent of the civil rights division. The FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team were also disbanded under the current administration.
The hearing occurred one day before former FBI Director James Comey was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court following his indictment by a federal grand jury. This prosecution represents an extraordinary escalation in Trump’s effort to pursue his political enemies through the justice system. Bondi defended the Comey indictment during the hearing, repeatedly noting that the Alexandria, Virginia grand jury that handed up the charges was a liberal one.
Ahead of the contentious hearing, 282 former Department of Justice career employees signed a public letter expressing alarm about the administration’s degradation of the department’s vital work and its assault on public servants. The letter highlighted concerns about the politicization of federal law enforcement under the current leadership.
Durbin concluded the hearing by warning Bondi that she would eventually have to answer for her conduct, even if she refused to do so during Tuesday’s proceedings. The Illinois senator expressed frustration with Bondi’s repeated stonewalling of questions and her combative approach to the oversight process.
The dramatic sequence of events from the Capitol hearing to Trump’s late-night social media attack to Blumenthal’s live television response illustrates the increasingly volatile relationship between the administration and congressional Democrats conducting oversight of federal agencies.
