The US attorney general Pam Bondi attacked and insulted Democrats during a House judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday as she defended the justice department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Democrats pounded Bondi with questions about the way the department has complied with a law last year mandating the complete release of the files with specific and limited room for redactions. Since releasing the documents after the statutory deadline, the justice department has come under intense scrutiny both for releasing the names of survivors and redacting, without explanation, the names of people who may have committed crimes.
Bondi avoided addressing the questions about the way the department has handled the files. After being pressed by the representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Bondi also declined to turn around from her seat at the hearing table and apologize to Epstein victims who were in the hearing room. “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman. She’s doing theatrics,” Bondi said.
Bondi also sparred heavily with Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, as he sought to prevent the attorney general from using long meandering answers to eat up the five minutes members are allotted to ask questions. When Raskin said he had warned Bondi about eating up time at the outset of the hearing, Bondi replied by yelling: “You don’t tell me anything.
“You’re a washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” she said to Raskin.
The justice department has struggled with the redactions in the millions of documents it has released, at times taking documents down from its website that should not have been released and at others removing redactions. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, pressed Bondi on the overly broad redactions on Wednesday, saying the justice department had lost credibility.
“I find it interesting that she keeps going after President Trump, the greatest president in American history,” Bondi said. The attorney general and the justice department have typically kept themselves at arm’s length from the president and the White House to avoid the perception of political interference in law enforcement – a norm that has been shattered by Trump.
“If they could maintain their composure, this isn’t a circus, this is a hearing. I find it interesting she keeps going after Donald Trump, she doesn’t say how much money she took from Reid Hoffman,” Bondi said. Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn has said he knew Epstein because of fundraising for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and only met with him professionally six times.
The files have revealed that people close to Trump – including the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick; former strategist Steve Bannon; and Elon Musk – all had closer relationships with Epstein than was previously known. None of the men has been charged with wrongdoing in connection to Epstein.
Bondi also had a heated exchange with the California representative Ted Lieu, who asked whether Trump had ever attended a party with underage girls. “This is so ridiculous,” Bondi said. “And they are trying to deflect from all the great things Donald Trump has done. There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime. Everyone knows that.”
Lieu responded that he believed that answer amounted to a crime – lying under oath – since Trump’s name appears in many instances in the files. In one message, for example, Epstein said Trump “knew about” the girls, but never got a massage. Michael Reiter, the ex-police chief in Palm Beach, also told the FBI that Trump told him “everyone has known he’s been doing this” as it became clear Epstein was under investigation. Trump’s name also appears in uncorroborated tips. Trump has never been charged with a crime and denies any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein.
“Don’t you ever accuse me of committing a crime,” Bondi yelled back at Lieu.
In a heated exchange with Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican representative who sponsored the law requiring disclosure of the files, Bondi tried to deflect blame away from the Trump administration by accusing Massie of not pressing previous administrations on Epstein. Epstein’s sex trafficking took place over decades.
“This goes over four administrations. You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion,” Massie said.
