Attorney General Pam Bondi’s personal attacks are beneath the office she holds

Perry Stein and Jeremy Roebuck wrote in The Washington Post, “Pam Bondi lashes out as lawmakers press her on Epstein, cases against Trump foes” (Feb. 11, 2026).

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee epitomizes the logical fallacy of ad hominem, which occurs when a speaker attacks a person’s character instead of their argument. American government requires comity to function properly and ad hominem insults are inconsistent with that principle of cooperation. The Attorney General may operate in a partisan environment, but rough-and-tumble politics is no excuse for turning the formal and deliberative process of Congress into a name-calling match. Her behavior was beneath the office she holds.