Pam Bondi, Trump’s choice of attorney general, sat for a combative hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Republicans on the Committee overwhelming defended the attorney general and the work her department has done. Conservatives on the panel largely avoided hardball questions, while Democrats focused on how the Department of Justice is seemingly carrying out Trump’s desire for revenge against political foes. They also asked several questions about the department’s handling of the files regarding sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. criticized the department’s handling of the Epstein files and how the agency failed to appropriately treat the victims. Democrats collectively have voiced concern over transparency and believe that the heavily-redacted Epstein files protects powerful people who may have also committed similar crimes.
“You’ve got the best lawyer’s job in America. Your mission is justice and your clients are the American people. But to promote justice for the people, you must listen to the victims, like the women seated behind you. They’re some of the hundreds of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex trafficking ring demanding the truth for America and accountability for the abusers who trafficked and raped them. You still haven’t met with these survivors,” Raskin said in his opening statement.
Bondi refused to look in the victims’ direction as Raskin called each of their names, including the family of Virginia Giuffre who died by suicide last year.
“You’re not showing a lot of interest in the victims, Madam Attorney General, whether it’s Epstein’s human trafficking ring or the homicidal governmental violence against citizens in Minneapolis,” Raskin continued. “You’re siding with the perpetrators, and you’re ignoring the victims…That will be your legacy unless you act quickly to change course.”
Bondi vociferously defended her department’s handling of the release of the Epstein files and said she was sorry for what any victim had been through at the hands of “that monster.”
But, when Democrats turned up the pressure during questioning, Bondi, at times responded with hostility and even personal attacks.
When Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., asked if Bondi would apologize to the victims for the poorly-executed release of the Epstein files, the attorney general said, “I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics.”
Her agita wasn’t just reserved for Democcrats. When Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., addressed his concerns about the over-redaction of the Epstein files, Bondi responded similar to many MAGA supporters in social media debates by calling him a “failed politician” with “Trump derangement syndrome.” She also asked if he had required the same level of transparency for Merrick Garland, the attorney general during the Biden administration.
The Trump administration, with the help of Bondi and her department, have investigated and indicted several Democratic figures, from New York Attorney General Leticia James to a set of lawmakers who participated in a video telling servicepeople that they can disobey unlawful orders.
A grand jury in Washington, D.C. declined to indict those lawmakers this week.
