President Donald Trump took a swing at a Connecticut senator in a Truth Social post on Oct. 7, the same day the senator clashed with Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Bondi testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where she repeatedly battled with Democrats who asked her questions about Jeffrey Epstein and investigations into Trump's political opponents. She dodged questions and went for personal attacks against Democrats, while Republicans praised her performance.

When talking with Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, she revived a controversy from his Senate campaign 15 years ago, where he was accused of misrepresenting his military history. Trump echoed her attack on Truth Social.

"This guy shouldn’t even be in the U.S. Senate," Trump's post stated. "It should be investigated ... He should be allowed to speak no longer!"

In response to Trump's Truth Social post, Blumenthal said he was proud of his service and that his constituents in Connecticut know his record.

"Donald Trump is lashing out because he doesn’t want to answer questions about why he’s directing DOJ to prosecute his political opponents, drop lawsuits against corporations trying to screw over American consumers, cover-up one of his top staffers accepting a bribe in a bag, or slash millions in law enforcement funding," Blumenthal said in a written statement to USA TODAY. "I must have really gotten under his skin."

Who is Sen. Richard Blumenthal?

Blumenthal is a U.S. senator from Connecticut serving his third term.

Prior to being elected to the Senate in 2010, he served as Connecticut's Attorney General for two decades.

Blumenthal spent six years in the Marine Reserve, starting in 1970, but never went overseas. During his campaign, the New York Times reported he had distorted his military service. At a 2010 veteran-backed press conference, he explained he had not served "in Vietnam," as he previously stated, but rather he meant to say he served "during Vietnam."

“On a few occasions, I have misspoken about my service and I regret that. I take full responsibility,” Blumenthal said in 2010, according to the New Jersey Herald. “But I will not allow anyone to take a few misplaced words and impugn my record of service to our country.”

In addition to serving on the Judiciary committee, he is on the Veterans'Affairs Committee, Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Bondi deploys several attacks on Senate Democrats

Bondi's hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee was highly combative when it came to her interactions with Democrats, Blumenthal included.

Bondi at one point interrupted Blumenthal, who had been asking about potential weaponization of the Justice Department, saying, “I’m not going to get in the gutter with you.”

"I am not going to be lectured,” Bondi added, talking over Blumenthal, “about integrity by someone who lied about being in the military just to be elected a senator."

Some of her attacks appeared to be preplanned, as a Reuters photograph captured her notes in a folder she opened occasionally during her meeting.

“I've never seen anything quite like that,” Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, said of the meeting. “These are oversight hearings. Some of the questions are pointed and tough, but her reaction was completely out of line, and her refusal to answer the most basic questions about the issues before the department really left a lot of us feeling that she's not doing the job she was appointed to.”

Contributing: Josh Meyer, USA TODAY

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Who is Sen. Richard Blumenthal? Trump heaps on attacks following Bondi hearing

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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