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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
2:58 PM – Tuesday, October 7, 2025
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi fiercely confronted Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal during a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, calling out the Connecticut senator’s history of “lying” about his military service — while defending herself against partisan attacks from Democrats over her past lobbying work.
The confrontation arose as Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questioned Bondi about her previous role at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm, and its involvement with the Justice Department in relation to the American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) merger.
Democrats have argued that Bondi’s prior work at the lobbying firm raises questions about whether her actions as Attorney General could have been influenced by past professional relationships. In addition, critics of hers argue that if she previously represented clients with interests before the DOJ, there could be a “perceived or real conflict” when overseeing related regulatory or enforcement decisions.
On Tuesday, Blumenthal pressed Bondi on whether she had communicated with Brian Ballard, the firm’s founder, about the American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) merger.
“In the merger that took place involving American Express GBT [Global Business Travel], I understand that Brian Ballard, longtime backer and head of the law firm where you worked, was instrumental in lobbying the Justice Department to drop that lawsuit? … What conversations did you have with Mr. Ballard?” he asked.
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However, before Bondi could unravel his string of questions, she called attention to Blumenthal’s own credibility issues, seemingly arguing that it was audacious for him to accuse her of wrongdoing given his documented history of making false public statements.
“Senator Blumenthal, I cannot believe that you would accuse me of impropriety when you lied about your military service. You lied, you admitted you lied to be elected a U.S. senator,” Bondi said.
During his 2010 Senatorial campaign against Republican Linda McMahon, the current U.S. Secretary of Education, Blumenthal faced major criticism over a prior claim he made regarding his military service record. The controversy also resurfaced in 2017 when President Donald Trump referred to Blumenthal as a “phony Vietnam con artist” on then-Twitter (now X).
Although Blumenthal did serve in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1970 to 1976, he was never deployed to Vietnam.
Despite this, while at a 2003 rally in Bridgeport, where he was speaking about Vietnam War vets, Blumenthal said: “When we returned, we saw nothing like this. Let us do better by this generation of men and women.” He appeared to be specifically speaking to Vietnam War veterans in the crowd.
In another instance, during a 2008 rally, he also said: “We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam …” His remarks were reported by The New York Times in 2010.
Blumenthal eventually acknowledged that his claim was inaccurate, though he labeled it a “misstatement,” rather than an outright lie. He further characterized the falsehood as “misplaced words” and “unintentional,” arguing that he did not intend to mislead anyone — despite suggesting that he was deployed to Vietnam on the least two separate occasions.
“I have made mistakes and I am sorry. I truly regret offending anyone,” Blumenthal said at the time, making his public apology on May 24, 2010 — less than a week after The New York Times report was released.
While these alleged “misstatements” were widely criticized by both parties, they did not prevent Blumenthal from winning the 2010 Senate election — defeating McMahon after receiving 55% of the vote.
Following Bondi’s fiery response on Tuesday, she continued her defense, emphasizing her integrity and career as a prosecutor.
“How dare you? I’m a career prosecutor. Don’t you ever challenge my integrity,” Bondi continued. “Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as attorney general, and anything [about] my former firm Ballard Partners.”
Blumenthal did not immediately address Bondi’s response, and Tuesday’s confrontation exemplifies the increasingly combative nature of congressional oversight hearings.
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