Bondi knocks CNN analyst: 'Ratings are plummeting'
Attorney General Pam Bondi knocked CNN over a segment on her decision not to investigate the government officials involved in a Signal group chat that included sensitive information and was leaked to a prominent journalist earlier this month.
During the CNN segment, legal analyst Elie Honig said Bondi had been "MIA" and questioned her objectivity in leading the Department of Justice (DOJ).
"There is no indication that she’s going to open an investigation here," Honig said. "And by the way, when she was up for a confirmation as AG, remember, one of the concerns is, would she be able to exercise independence?"
Bondi was asked about the discussion during an appearance Thursday on Fox News.
"Yeah, there's a reason why their ratings are plummeting, because they're putting people like that on TV," she said. "We could care less what they say."
Fox News host Laura Ingraham said to Bondi, "this is not a concern of yours — inspector general, you know, idea of inspector general investigation or congressional investigation down the road. You are completely confident that this was ... a mistake and nothing more than that?"
"We are, and ... all of our intelligence officials who were on it are confident of that as well," the attorney general responded, according to a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Bondi has spoken about the administration's desire to crack down on leaking of classified information and has sought to dismiss the significance of leaked Signal chat.
“First, it was sensitive information, not classified, and inadvertently released," she told reporters this week. "And what we should be talking about is, it was a very successful mission."
Her deflection comes after The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently included in the chat where top Trump administration officials discussed Yemen strike plans, released the messages to the public Wednesday.