For five hours on Wednesday, US lawmakers questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of Department of Justice (DOJ) documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Bondi defended the Justice Department’s response to the release of the Epstein records, saying there was a “pending investigation” into the case.
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Here are key takeaways from Bondi’s congressional hearings:
Why is Pam Bondi being questioned?
Bondi testified at a hearing titled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” at the House Judiciary Committee in the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., and the Epstein file quickly became the main focus.
Since the beginning of his second term, US President Donald Trump and his administration have consistently faced questions over their decisions to withhold or redact documents related to Epstein.
The new law, called the Epstein File Transparency Act, was passed in November with bipartisan support. The bill would require the Justice Department to release all documents related to Epstein in an easily searchable format.
Although the law allows for some limited redactions to protect victims’ identities, critics argue that large volumes of documents are being released with significant redactions. Some of those blacked-out sections appear to protect the identities of powerful people connected to Epstein.
Bondi, the Florida prosecutor, defended his record in dealing with sexual abuse in his opening statement Wednesday.
“I have spent my entire career fighting for victims and will continue to do so,” she said.
Epstein’s victims were also present.
With several of Epstein’s victims sitting behind her at the hearing, Bondi forcefully defended the department’s handling of files related to Epstein, an issue that has dogged him throughout his tenure.
In his opening remarks, Bondi labeled Epstein a “monster” and apologized to his victims.
“I deeply regret what the victims went through, especially because of that monster,” Bondi said.
At one point during the hearing, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, asked Epstein victims to raise their hands if they had not had the opportunity to meet with Justice Department officials. All the victims raised their hands.
Among the victims was Daniel Bensky, who met Epstein in 2004 when he was 17 years old. She accused Mr. Epstein of sexual assault.
“There was a huge lack of empathy today. Honestly, there was a huge lack of humanity today,” Bensky said on NBC after the hearing.
Bondi clashes with Democrats
Congressional Democrats on Wednesday accused the U.S. attorney general of engaging in a “cover-up” of the Jeffrey Epstein case files and turning the Justice Department into an “instrument of revenge” against President Trump.
Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin criticized the delay in releasing the Epstein files and the redactions of the documents.
“You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up directly from the Department of Justice,” Raskin said. “You were ordered by subpoena and Congress to turn over 6 million documents, photos, and videos contained in the Epstein files, but you turned over only 3 million.”
When pressed by Congressman Jayapal, Bondi turned to Epstein’s victims in the audience and refused to apologize for the “torment” the Trump Justice Department had put them through. She accused Democrats of “theatrics.”
Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett stormed out of the hearing after getting into an argument with Bondi. “This is a massive cover-up, and this administration is still complicit in it. In fact, this administration is complicit,” Crockett said.
In a heated exchange, Crockett said Bondi would be remembered as one of the worst attorneys general to put loyalty to Trump above the law and cede the rest of his time.
Mr. Bondi countered that Mr. Crockett made no attempt to question her and accused her of ignoring the fact that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries received money from Mr. Epstein after his conviction, an allegation that Mr. Jeffries denied.
The attorney general also clashed with California Democrat Ted Lieu. Lieu asked whether President Trump attended parties with underage girls, a question Bondi considered “ridiculous.”
Bondi insisted there was no evidence that Trump committed a crime.
Mr. Liu pointed to the repeated appearance of Mr. Trump’s name in Epstein’s files and suggested that her answers amounted to lying under oath. Bondi retorted, “Don’t ever accuse me of committing a crime.”
Trump’s name appears multiple times in Epstein’s released files, but he is not connected to any sexual abuse of women. Rather, the records primarily show that he and Epstein knew each other and had a social relationship.
For example, Trump was listed as a passenger on Epstein’s private jet at least eight times between 1993 and the mid-1990s.
On February 1, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One about his name being included in the latest portion of the Epstein file: “I’ve been told by some very important people that it not only pardons me, but it’s the opposite of what people expected, you know, the expectations of the radical left.”
Republicans join Democrats in questioning Bondi
Mr. Bondi accused Democrats of using Mr. Epstein’s files to distract from Mr. Trump’s successes, even though Republicans started the uproar over the records and Mr. Bondi himself fanned the flames by distributing binders to conservative influencers in the White House last year.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massey, who led the effort to request the files, questioned why billionaire Leslie Wexner’s name was redacted in FBI documents listing potential co-conspirators in the sex trafficking investigation against Epstein and accused the Justice Department of a “massive failure” to comply with the law.
Bondi said Wexner’s name appeared multiple times in other files released by the department, and that the Justice Department removed Wexner’s name from the documents “within 40 minutes” of Massey’s discovery.
“We have 40 minutes to catch you red-handed,” Massey replied.
On Tuesday, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna revealed the names of six people, including Mr. Wexner. Other names announced include Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, president of Dubai-based logistics company DP World, Salvatore Nuala, Zurab Micheladze, Leonik Leonov and Nicola Caputo. Al Jazeera could not independently confirm their identities or affiliations.
Khanna said she released the man’s name after reviewing the file with Massey.
‘President Trump orders pizza-like prosecutions’: Bondi comes to president’s defense
Raskin and other Democrats condemned the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump’s political opponents, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“You have turned the people’s Department of Justice into Trump’s vehicle for revenge,” he said. “Trump orders prosecution like pizza, and every time he orders it, you deliver.”
Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, is the only person to go to prison in connection with Epstein. She was convicted of sex trafficking of underage girls in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Mr. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing regarding Mr. Epstein, but he fought for months to prevent the release of files on his former friend.
A revolt by Republicans ultimately forced the president to sign a law requiring the release of all records.
The move reflected intense political pressure to address what many Americans, including President Trump’s own supporters, had long suspected was a cover-up to protect the rich and powerful under Mr. Epstein’s control.
President Trump’s repeated denials of any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes have come under scrutiny due to a 2019 FBI interview with then-Palm Beach Police Chief Michael Reiter included in Epstein’s files.
Mr. Reiter told the FBI that Mr. Trump called him in 2006, after the sex crimes against Mr. Epstein became public, and told him, “I’m glad you stopped it. We all knew he was doing this.”
