WASHINGTON — Congressional members confronted Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday over allegations that she redacted alleged perpetrators’ names in the Epstein files while failing to protect victims’ identities.
“This is bigger than Watergate,” Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told Bondi. “This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it.”
In a heated House Judiciary hearing, Bondi defended the Justice Department against Massie and Democratic accusations of an “Epstein cover‑up,” as survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex‑trafficking ring watched from the audience. Republicans countered that Bondi had reduced violent crime and criticized sanctuary cities for not honoring Customs Enforcement detainers and allegedly releasing violent noncitizens.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., demanded an apology to Epstein’s survivors. Instead, Bondi responded that former Attorney General Merrick Garland and other Democratic leaders never faced such confrontation – a justification she invoked multiple times during questioning.
Democratic lawmakers repeatedly asked Epstein survivors to stand, pressing Bondi for an apology she never gave. (Dasha Dubinina/MNS)
“This [Epstein’s crimes] has been around since the Obama administration. This administration released over 3 million pages of documents, and Donald Trump signed that law to release all of those documents. He is the most transparent president in the nation’s history,” said Bondi.
But Jayapal rejected her comment, refocusing on Bondi’s accountability.
“This is not about anybody that came before you. It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize,” said Jayapal.
Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, argued that Democrats should be apologizing to the Epstein victims for not addressing the issue during the Biden administration.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., interrogates Bondi with enlarged prints of Epstein’s emails displayed behind her. (Dasha Dubinina/MNS)
Other Democrats also questioned Bondi’s handling of Trump’s connections to the case. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., pressed the attorney general on former President Donald Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein, asking whether any underage girls were present at parties Trump attended with Epstein. The attorney general called the line of questioning “ridiculous” and insisted there was no evidence Trump had committed a crime.
Lieu then cited an FBI witness statement from a former Trump limousine driver, who allegedly reported a 1995 incident hearing Trump on the phone with Epstein and later met a woman who said she was raped by both men and committed suicide shortly after. Pointing to that statement, the lawmaker accused the attorney general of lying under oath when she claimed there was no evidence of criminal conduct by Trump.
“Shame on you! If you had any decency you would resign right after this hearing concludes,” added Lieu.
In her defense, Bondi said that her main objective is to “keep American people safe.” She accused Lieu of discussing Epstein to distract from crime in California due to sanctuary city policies.
Some Republican legislators rallied behind Bondi.
“I want to thank you also for standing up for truth today, and for fighting back against the theatrics and the time waste that you will endure over the next hour or two. I want to apologize on behalf of my colleagues on the left here,” said Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis.
Many Republican lawmakers specifically supported Bondi for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Minneapolis and other cities. They endorsed her argument that sanctuary city policies attract criminals who assume they will be shielded from prosecution.
“Why did this happen in Minneapolis? Why did federal law enforcement have to go to Minneapolis? Because of industrial scale fraud!” said Rep. Thomas Tiffany, R-Wis.
Bondi promised that the administration wouldn’t stop arresting and deporting undocumented criminals.
Democrats specifically referenced the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, criticizing ICE’s actions.
“The fact is, ICE is running rampant, and you are not investigating when they killed Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good. That was an execution, and you did not investigate it. And you tried to investigate her, Ms. Good’s widow,” said Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.
While Bondi claimed many of the discussion topics were bipartisan issues and required consensus, several lawmakers condemned her policies.
Rep. J. Luis Correa, D-Calif., said victims don’t feel the government has their back, referencing Epstein back to Epstein files. He asked survivors in the room to raise their hands if they felt supported by the government. When no one did, he said, “That’s the issue.”
“Having redacted files that are not showing the names of these predators is wrong. These are very powerful people. This was a very expensive business, and we don’t know who they are,” Correa said.