Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to apologize to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and lashed out at Democrats for ‘theatrics’ during a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Bondi didn’t apologize for the way that the Department of Justice has handled their cases and their data following the enactment of the Epstein Files transparency act by Congress last year.
Bondi faced a grilling by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday after the Justice Department released millions of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein, as critics are up in arms about how the files have been released, raising issues with both pace and substance.
The DOJ has faced furious criticism after redacting the names of the pedophile financier’s associates, while failing to redact the names of the victims.
Shortly after Bondi’s opening statement, the Epstein survivors were asked to raise their hands if they had not met with DOJ leaders to discuss their cases. Every single woman present raised her hand.
‘Will you turn to the survivors now and apologize for what your DOJ has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein Files and their [private] information?’ Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington asked Bondi.
Bondi refused to apologize and turn to face the victims, attacked former Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland for failing to release the files, and then told Jayapal, ‘I’m not going to get in the gutter.’
Bondi faced a grilling by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday after the Justice Department released millions of documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein.
The DOJ has faced furious criticism after redacting the names of the pedophile financier’s associates, while failing to redact the names of victims.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the committee’s ranking member, excoriated the AG as the hearing kicked off, stating: ‘This performance screams cover-up.’
‘As Attorney General, you’re siding with the perpetrators, and you’re ignoring the victims that will leave your legacy unless you act quickly to change course. You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said.
Bondi responded to Raskin’s attacks in her opening statement.
‘As Attorney General, you’re siding with the perpetrators, and you’re ignoring the victims that will leave your legacy unless you act quickly to change course. You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said.
‘As Attorney General, you’re siding with the perpetrators, and you’re ignoring the victims that will leave your legacy unless you act quickly to change course. You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said.
‘To address the Epstein Files, more than 500 attorneys and reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing millions of pages to comply with Congress’s law,’ Bondi stated.
‘We’ve released more than 3 million pages, including 180,000 images, all to the public, while doing our very best in the timeframe allotted by legislation to protect victims,’ she continued.
Bondi added, that if ‘you brought us a victim’s name that was inordinately released, we immediately redacted.’
‘All members of Congress, as you know, are invited to visit DOJ to see for yourself,’ the Attorney General said.
Bondi then went on to address the Epstein victims in the room.
‘I want to take a moment to acknowledge the Epstein survivors who are here today,’ she noted, adding that ‘the FBI is waiting to hear’ from victims.
‘I want you to know that any accusation of criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated,’ Bondi also stated.
Bondi then touted wins of the Trump administration that have little to do with the Department of Justice’s work.
‘They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama administration…The Dow is over $50,000 right now… Americans’ 401 (k) s and retirement savings are booming. That’s what we should be talking about,’ Bondi noted.
During a later exchange with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Bondi was also asked to weigh in on the controversy regarding former CNN host and current independent media figure Don Lemon, when she noted that the DOJ ‘will always protect our churches and the freedom of religion.’
