‘You’re a washed-up loser lawyer’: Pam Bondi taunts Democrats over Epstein | Pam Bondi
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi attacked and insulted Democrats Wednesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing as she defended the Justice Department’s handling of cases related to Jeffrey Epstein.
Democrats bombarded Bondi with questions about how the department complied with a law last year requiring full release of records with specific, limited room for redactions. Since releasing the documents after the legal deadline, the Justice Department has come under scrutiny, both for releasing the names of survivors and for redacting, without explanation, the names of people who may have committed crimes.
Bondi avoided answering questions about how the ministry handled the files. After being pressed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Bondi also refused to turn around from her seat at the hearing table and apologize to Epstein’s victims who were in the courtroom. “I’m not going to get into the gutter with this woman. She’s doing theater,” Bondi said.
Bondi also sparred with Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, as he sought to stop the attorney general from using long, meandering answers to eat up the five minutes allotted for members to ask questions. When Raskin said he warned Bondi not to waste time early in the hearing, Bondi responded by shouting, “You’re not telling me anything.”
“You’re a losing lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” she told Raskin.
The Justice Department has struggled to remove the millions of documents it has released, sometimes removing documents from its website that should not have been released and sometimes removing redactions. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, pressed Bondi on Wednesday over the overly broad redactions, saying the Justice Department had lost credibility.
“I find it interesting that she continues to attack President Trump, the greatest president in American history,” Bondi said. The attorney general and Justice Department generally stay away from the president and the White House to avoid any perception of political interference in law enforcement — a norm that was broken by Trump.
“If they could keep their cool, it’s not a circus, it’s an audience. I find it interesting that she keeps going after Donald Trump, she doesn’t say how much money she took from Reid Hoffman,” Bondi said. Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder, said he knew Epstein through fundraising for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and had only met him professionally six times.
The files revealed that people close to Trump – including US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick; former strategist Steve Bannon; and Elon Musk – all had closer relationships with Epstein than previously thought. Neither man has been accused of wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Bondi also got into a heated exchange with California Rep. Ted Lieu, who asked if Trump had ever attended a party with underage girls. “It’s so ridiculous,” Bondi said. “And they’re trying to distract from all the great things that Donald Trump has done. There’s no evidence that Donald Trump committed a crime. Everyone knows that.”
Lieu responded that he believed that response amounted to a crime — lying under oath — since Trump’s name appears repeatedly in the records. In one message, for example, Epstein said Trump “knew” the girls, but never received a massage. Michael Reiter, the former Palm Beach police chief, also told the FBI that Trump told him that “everyone knew he was doing this” as it became clear that Epstein was under investigation. Trump’s name also appears in uncorroborated reports. Trump has never been charged with a crime and denies any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
“Don’t ever accuse me of committing a crime,” Bondi shouted at Lieu.
In a heated exchange with Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican representative who sponsored the law requiring disclosure of the records, Bondi tried to deflect blame from the Trump administration by accusing Massie of failing to pressure previous administrations on Epstein. Epstein’s sex trafficking took place over decades.
“This spans four administrations. You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you’re responsible for that part,” Massie said.
