House Democrats took the opportunity in Attorney General Pam Bondi’s congressional hearing to attack her over a lack of prosecutions in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Even by the standards of the contentious hearings that have characterized President Donald Trump’s second term, Bondi’s Wednesday hearing was particularly hostile. Democrats skewered the attorney general on issues ranging from improper redactions to the Epstein files to a lack of prosecutions over them.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) contrasted a deal struck between Trump and the Justice Department over the improper release of his tax returns with the improper release of personal information of Epstein’s victims.
“If Donald Trump can get $10 billion theoretically from the Department of Justice, how much should these people get for a far worse violation of their privacy and a far greater danger established to them in their lives?” he said.
The two then got into a back-and-forth, with Raskin objecting to Bondi bringing up a sex criminal in his own district. She derided him as having “Trump derangement syndrome.”
Raskin complained that Bondi was violating the rules, going “off on a wild goose chase and … reading statistics, or you start talking about stuff going on in our district.”
At another point, Bondi dismissed Raskin as a “washed-up” former lawyer, then clarified he wasn’t even a lawyer.
One of the most extended attacks on Bondi came from Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), who labeled her as “one of the worst attorney generals” in U.S. history and “an instrument of Trump’s lawless authoritarian agenda.”
“You weaponize the Department of Justice to target immigrants, working families, and anyone that Trump deems an enemy of the state, all to protect real, powerful criminals, including in your administration,” Garcia told Bondi. “My Democratic colleagues have focused on your cover-up of the Epstein files and your passion for protecting pedophiles and child traffickers. That alone is grounds for impeachment.”
Longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) went after Bondi over her lack of prosecutions related to the Epstein case.
“How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators has she indicted? The answer is zero,” Nadler said. “You have been the attorney general for a whole year, and your DOJ fired the lead prosecutor to this case, sat on evidence this entire time, and claimed falsely last July that there were no more leads.”
One of Bondi’s first of many heated exchanges came when Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) demanded an apology for her handling of the Epstein case.
“Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through, with the … absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?” Jayapal asked.
When Bondi replied by accusing her of hypocrisy over a lack of similar questioning toward former Attorney General Merrick Garland, Jayapal interjected, trying to force an apology.
“I’m not going to get in the gutter over her theatrics,” Bondi said, triggering a prolonged exchange with competing interruptions.
Epstein was not the only case Democrats attacked Bondi over. The fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis also featured as a frequent target.
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) got personal, invoking her son’s 2012 murder when pressing Bondi over the Minnesota shootings.
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McBath accused Trump officials of spreading “sickening lies” about Pretti and Good, including labeling Pretti an “assassin” and “the definition of domestic terrorism.” She asked Bondi if she would “denounce the statements” and protect their names. Bondi answered by assuring McBath that both cases are under investigation.
The hearing lasted over five hours, with nearly every round of questioning from a Democrat reverting to a monologue from the questioner or a shouting match.
