First, California’s senators grilled Pam Bondi, Trump’s AG nominee. Then they made nice

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CALIFORNIA SENATORS ACKNOWLEDGE LIKELY BONDI CONFIRMATION

Via David Lightman...

After his tough questioning of Donald Trump Attorney General-designate Pam Bondi, Sen. Alex Padilla told her she’s a good bet to be confirmed.

“i know how to count. And I know how to read tea leaves. It seems to me you’re very, very, very, very likely to be confirmed and I certainly look forward to working with your office on the issues that I’ve raised today and more,” the California Democrat said.

Padilla and Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a confirmation hearing on Bondi Wednesday.

The hearings continue Thursday. Republicans control 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, and GOP committee members praised Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, throughout the hearing.

Not the Democrats. Padilla engaged in a tense exchange with Bondi over immigration policy and the results of the 2000 election.

Schiff, who also had sharp exchanges with Bondi, also had a gentler tone at the end of the day.

He told Bondi that if confirmed California would need her help in people engaging in fraud, arson, looting and other crimes related to the wildfires that have ravaged the Los Angeles area.

Would she be willing to take on big corporate interests if they appear to be engaging in questionable activity?

“I am committed to working with everyone in California constantly to help the people in the aftermath of these fires,” Bondi said.

Schiff did have a warning for her: At some point, she is likely to find her loyalty to Trump conflicts with her constitutional duty.

“It will come to you and what you do in that moment will define your attorney generalship, your public service,” he said, urging her to talk to former Trump administration officials who have faced similar dilemmas.

“You will surely be faced with that difficult challenge if you are confirmed,” Schiff said.

SACRAMENTO RESIDENTS FLOCK TO REDNOTE

As the clock ticks down on TikTok, many people are looking for alternatives to the video-sharing social media app. And many, especially in Sacramento, are looking at one specific alternative: Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote.

As the name implies, RedNote is a Chinese social media app that allows people to share text, photo or video posts, as well as shopping.

In the last week, searches for Xiaohongshu have spiked on Google, increasing by 4,900%, according to QR Code Generator, which analyzed Google Trends on the topic.

Last year, Congress voted to force TikTok’s Beijing-based owner ByteDance to divest the app or else shut it down by Jan. 19. Lawmakers cited concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over the app, that it posed a national security risk to let the app to continue operating as is.

Thus far, the courts have been sympathetic to this argument, and less sympathetic to the argument posed by TikTok and others challenging the law that it violates the First Amendment.

There is a certain irony that people would flock from one Chinese-owned social media app to another, as it appears all but certain that the TikTok ban will go into effect. And many of those people are in California.

According to the QR Code Generator analysis — using Google Trends and Apple App Store data — California was the second most likely state to search for the app Xiaohongshu, behind only Washington state.

The analysis found that the Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose) was the No. 2 most likely area to search for the app, behind Lafayette, Indiana. Los Angeles came in at No. 4, while the Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto area tied for No. 5 with Eugene, Oregon.

“It will be interesting to see how Xiaohongshu reacts to this new demographic, as it is a golden opportunity for them to expand their presence in America, and it will be exciting to see how Chinese and American users interact in such a direct manner. It also poses a dilemma for American lawmakers, as they are unlikely to be happy with another Chinese company filling the void left by TikTok,” said Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generator, in a statement.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I stand by my past comment.”

- Chris Wright, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Energy, responding to a question from Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California. Wright was referring to a 2023 LinkedIn post, where he wrote, “The hype over wildfires is just hype to justify more impoverishment from bad government policies.”

Best of The Bee:

• AG nominee Pam Bondi under fire from Padilla, Schiff over Trump pardons, immigration, via David Lightman.

• Los Angeles fire aid will not be tied to Trump legal fund, Democratic lawmakers say, via Nicole Nixon and Stephen Hobbs.

• California needs federal help after Los Angeles fires. Why is Congress so slow to act? Via David Lightman.

• Which California agencies eliminated the most vacant positions? Via William Melhado.

• California laws on home fire protection can work, LA showed. Will more homeowners take action? Via Ari Plachta.

This story was originally published January 16, 2025 at 4:55 AM.