U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed with lawmakers during a heated House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, in what can only be called a partisan battle.
She engaged in shouting matches with Democrats during her testimony, even calling the panel’s top Democrat a “washed-up, loser lawyer.”
Bondi appeared before the committee after the Department of Justice recently released millions of pages of documents tied to the federal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Highlights
- AG Pam Bondi clashed with House Democrats, calling Ranking Member Jamie Raskin a “washed-up, loser lawyer” during a heated Judiciary Committee hearing.
- The DOJ was criticized for missing deadlines and improperly redacting Epstein investigation files, exposing some victims’ personal information.
- Bondi accused Democrats of unfairly attacking President Trump and demanded apologies over unproven election interference claims.
Pam Bondi got into shouting matches with Democrats during the Judiciary Committee hearing
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The DOJ was criticized not only for missing the initial deadline to release the files, but also for incorrect redactions. The names of people involved have been redacted, while personal details of some victims have been published.
Bondi testified in front of a committee consisting of 44 members of Congress, including Republican Chairman Jim Jordan and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, a Democrat.
Epstein’s victims were among the attendees, as Raskin accused Bondi of failing to prioritize them.
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“You’re not showing a lot of interest in the victims,” Raskin said. “Whether it’s Epstein’s human trafficking ring or the homicidal government violence against citizens in Minneapolis, as attorney general you’re siding with the perpetrators and you’re ignoring the victims.”
Bondi fired back. “You don’t tell me anything,” she said, before calling Raskin a “washed-up, loser lawyer—not even a lawyer.”
Raskin also accused Bondi of avoiding direct answers and asked Jordan to restore time to Rep. Jerry Nadler during a tense exchange. “You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch,” Raskin said. “Not on our time, no way. And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started.”
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Bondi turned her criticism toward Nadler as well. She referenced past investigations into U.S. President Donald Trump and said Democrats owed him an apology.
“You said the president conspired, sought foreign interference in the 2016 election,” Bondi said. “Robert Mueller found no evidence, none, of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologized to President Trump?” she added.
“You all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it.”
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The hearing focused heavily on the release of the Epstein files. Some lawmakers argued about the DOJ not redacting personal information belonging to victims.
Rep. Thomas Massie said, “Literally the worst thing you could do to survivors, you did.” Massie, along with Ro Khanna, co-authored the bill signed by Trump last November that forced the release of the Epstein files.
Thomas Massie criticized Bondi for not redacting some victims' personal information
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“If any man’s name was redacted that should not have been, we will of course unredact it,” Bondi retorted. “If a victim’s name was unredacted, please bring it to us, and we will redact it.”
When Massie hit back and showed three documents “emblematic of the massive failure of the DOJ to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Bondi said Massie “has Trump Derangement Syndrome” and called him a “failed politician.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal asked victims in the room to stand if they had not been able to meet with the Justice Department.
“Why didn’t she ask Merrick Garland this twice when he sat in my chair? I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics,” Bondi said about Jayapal, referring to the former Attorney General.
Rep. Ted Lieu raised questions about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, bringing to the committee a now-infamous picture of him grinning while looming over an unidentified female who is sprawled on the floor.
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“Why have you not prosecuted former Prince Andrew?” Lieu questioned Bondi. Bondi responded, asking Lieu why he did not ask the questions about prosecutions to Garland. Lieu said there were more than 1,000 victims in the case and condemned Bondi for not holding a single man accountable.
“Shame on you,” he said.
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Bondi was also questioned by Democratic Rep. Becca Balint, who brought up US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s ties to Epstein. While Lutnick has not been accused of any wrongdoing, he did confirm that he had visited Jeffrey Epstein's island in 2012. “These are senior officials in the Trump administration. This is not a game,” Balint said.
The hearing grew increasingly combative as members from both parties interrupted each other. Bondi accused some Democrats of focusing on Epstein only because Trump is president.
“None of them asked [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland, over the last four years, one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump,” Bondi said.
Rep. Becca Balint stormed out of the chamber at one point
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At one point, Balint stormed out of the chamber after Bondi accused her of not putting similar questions in front of Bill Clinton or Merrick Garland.
Balint called the rebuke “Weaksauce.” Bondi then brought up Balint’s 2024 vote against a resolution condemning a pro-Palestine slogan, saying, “With this antisemitic culture right now, she voted against a resolution condemning ‘from the river to the sea.’”
“Do you want to go there, are you serious?” Balint shouted as she walked out. “Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust, really?”
According to a recent poll by Reuters/Ipsos, Americans disapprove about 3-to-1 of the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.