A group of Senate Democrats on Wednesday asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to investigate Attorney General Pam Bondi’s role in the Trump administration’s decision to accept a free luxury jet from Qatar to serve as Air Force One.
In a letter, eight Democrats on the Judiciary Committee raised ethical questions over the gifted plane and expressed concern about reports that Ms. Bondi provided legal guidance that approved a plan for the plane to eventually be transferred to President Trump’s library after he leaves office.
“These reports raise the troubling possibility that the department, and Attorney General Bondi personally, were integral to this scheme by crafting a legal justification to enable the president to circumvent the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, federal bribery and ethics laws, and Congress in order to acquire one of the largest foreign gifts in our history,” the senators wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times.
The letter was led by Senator Adam Schiff of California and was also signed by Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Alex Padilla of California, Peter Welch of Vermont and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
It came as the United States formally accepted the gift of the jet, which industry executives estimated to be worth about $200 million, and which will require extensive work before it can be considered secure enough to carry Mr. Trump.
The senators questioned Ms. Bondi’s involvement given her previous work as a lobbyist who counted Qatar among her clients. Any role she played in the transfer of the plane, the senators wrote, was a “plain conflict of interest that undermines the public’s trust.”
Members of Congress from both parties have repeatedly expressed concern over the plane deal. They have said the Qataris might be trying to unduly sway Mr. Trump, that it may not be financially prudent to refit the plane with necessary security measures only to eventually transfer it out of government service and that Mr. Trump’s urgent desire for a new plane might pressure contractors to work quickly and cut corners.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, has already targeted Ms. Bondi’s involvement, announcing that he would place holds on Justice Department nominees until Ms. Bondi explained why she approved the arrangement. The effects of his move would likely be limited, slowing nominations by requiring the Senate’s Republican majority to take procedural votes.
On Monday, Mr. Schumer introduced a bill that would essentially block the deal by barring the Pentagon from using any federal dollars to buy, modify or maintain such an aircraft for the president’s use.
Other Democratic lawmakers have also introduced nonbinding resolutions that would require the White House to seek approval before accepting the plane as a gift.
