One of the more ludicrous and frankly surreal moments in Culver City’s recent history occurred last week when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi threw a jab this way, citing Culver as an example of high crime rates.
The exchange was between Bondi and California Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove during a Congressional hearing, when Kamlager-Dove raised the issue of the removal of a Department of Justice report on political violence from its website. Bondi inexplicably responded with the claim that Kamlager-Dove should worry about her own problems.
“Her district includes Culver City, and she’s not talking about any crime in her district, nothing about helping crime in her district,” Bondi said. “She’s not even worth getting into the details.”
Since then, Bondi’s statement has been the cause of confusion and hilarity in equal measure, with local comedian Heather Gardner taking to social media to say, “The worst crime in Culver City is that they charge $24 for a smoothie at Erewhon.”
Mayor Freddy Puza got into the details: “Let’s be clear about the facts: crime in Culver City declined 9.7% in 2024 and is down another 6.1% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The full 2025 year-end crime report will be released in the coming weeks. Our City is in Congresswoman @rep_kamlagerdove district, and the facts simply do not support the Attorney General’s narrative from today’s Congressional hearing. We welcome the correction from the federal Department of Justice, but we won’t hold our breath.”
One has to wonder if Bondi misspoke. She’s not one to own up to a mistake though, so we’ll likely never know.