Trump 2nd term live updates: Dan Bongino named as deputy FBI director

The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia sent a letter to Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California asking him to clarify his comments made during a TV appearance.

During the interview, Garcia said, “What the American public wants is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight. This is an actual fight for democracy.”

At a committee hearing on the same day, Garcia showed a photo of Elon Musk and called it a “d--- pic,” an apparent reference to a photo GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene showed of Hunter Biden during a committee hearing.

“This sounds to some like a threat to Mr. Musk -- an appointed representative of President Donald Trump who you called a ‘d‑‑‑’ — and government staff who work for him. Their concerns have led to this inquiry,” U.S. Attorney Edward Martin wrote in the letter dated Feb. 17.

“At this time, I respectfully ask that you clarify your comments from February 12, 2025,” Martin wrote.

Garcia posted the letter on X and said that if “you criticize Elon Musk, Trump’s DOJ will send you this letter.”

“I will not be silenced.”

-ABC News’ Luke Barr

Attorney General Pam Bondi sat for an interview with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Thursday afternoon at CPAC, where she said the Justice Department is "worse" than she had expected.

"DOJ, what's your assessment? Is it as bad as you thought it would be? Is it better? Is it worse?" Cruz asked Bondi.

"Worse," Bondi answered. "Meaning, yeah, that that department had completely lost its mission of fighting violent crime. Look what they did to President Trump. Look at the weaponization, and weaponization ended."

Bondi also declined to answer directly whether she is considering prosecuting Biden, instead turning her attention toward attacking the prosecution of President Donald Trump for his mishandling of classified documents and former special counsel Robert Hur's decision to decline prosecution of Biden.

However, she emphasized she has not had any discussions with Trump about moving to prosecute Biden.

"Listen, Donald Trump and I have not talked about that at all," Bondi said. "This is not about targeting. This is what they do to us. This is not about targeting. This is not about weaponization. This is about keeping America safe and going forward and prosecuting violent criminals."

-ABC News' Alexander Mallin

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., went further than any Republican was willing to go, directly invoking President Donald Trump's name in a Senate floor speech that bashed Russian President Vladimir Putin and called for a full defense of Ukraine.

"I'm a Republican. I support President Trump, and I believe that most of his policies on national security are right," Tillis said. "I believe his instincts are pretty good, but what I am telling you -- whoever believes that there is any space for Vladimir Putin in the future of a stable globe better go to Ukraine, they better go to Europe, they better invest the time to understand that this man is a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy in my life time."

Tillis also seemed to challenge Trump's comments about a "big, beautiful ocean" separating the United States from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"If you believe that Ukraine is a country an ocean away and not relevant to our national security, think again," Tillis said. "The world is small. The world is watching. The strength of our alliances are on the line, and the future of democracy in the world is on the line if we do anything less than defeat Vladimir Putin."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

House Speaker Mike Johnson, during his appearance at CPAC, praised the Department of Government Efficiency's work to cut spending but downplayed the idea to use some of its savings to send checks to the public.

He said the idea, which Trump discussed on Wednesday night, doesn't align with conservatives' core principles of "fiscal responsibility."

"We have a $36 trillion federal debt," he said. "We have a giant deficit that we're contending with. I think we need to pay down the credit, right? That's what I think we need to do." Johnson said.

Earlier Thursday, White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, when asked about the timeline for the proposal, said it was going to be worked out through the reconciliation process in Congress.

-ABC News' Arthur Jones II