U.S. Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi said at her confirmation hearing on Wednesday that she is “very proud” of her lobbying work for the Qatari government, the first time she has publicly addressed that issue since President-elect Donald Trump announced her nomination in November. 

“I am very proud of the work that I did. It was a short time and I wish that it had been longer, for Qatar,” said Bondi, the former two-term Florida attorney general. She described the work as “anti-human trafficking efforts leading into the World Cup.”

“I am very proud of the work that I did. It was a short time and I wish that it had been longer, for Qatar,” Pam Bondi said at her confirmation hearing to be attorney general.

She described the work as “anti-human trafficking efforts leading into the World Cup.”

Watch below or… pic.twitter.com/tGGFCZ9eJV

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) January 15, 2025

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Bondi, who represented Qatar as a partner at lobbying firm Ballard Partners, why she had not disclosed her work for Qatar in official nomination documents. She did not answer the question. 

“If there are any conflicts with anyone I represented in private practice, I would consult with the career ethics officials within the Department [of Justice] and make the appropriate decision,” she said. 

Bondi is not the only Trump nominee with ties to Qatar. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, has a history of financial dealings with the Gulf monarchy, which has faced bipartisan criticism in Washington for its ties to Hamas and for hosting the terror group’s leaders.