Fiery exchanges dominate Bondi appearance before Congress: 4 takeaways

Attorney General Pam Bondi went toe-to-toe with lawmakers in a heated hearing on Wednesday as the country’s top lawyer appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for the first time since taking office.

Bondi fielded questions on issues ranging from pending investigations into adversaries of President Trump to immigration, but the most tense exchanges came amid questions about the Epstein files.

The attorney general was seated with a large binder that she referenced repeatedly as she lobbed insults at lawmakers, citing specific crimes in their districts or boasting about the performance of the stock market. 

The repetition began to prompt groans from Democrats, and Bondi so frequently referenced the guide that at one point Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) quipped he would “like to see you flip to the Jared Moskowitz section of the binder. I’m interested to see what staff provided on the oppo on me.”

Here are four takeaways from a combative hearing.

Finger-pointing over the Epstein files takes center stage

At least 11 victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were in the audience for the hearing — wearing shirts taking aim at the extensive redactions in the publicly released files — and they were repeatedly referenced by lawmakers.

At one point, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked the victims to raise their hands if they had not yet met with Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ). Each of them did.

The moment stood in contrast to a pledge by Bondi earlier in the hearing to bring the full weight of the department behind any additional cases of abuse, telling the public, “The FBI is waiting to hear from you. I want you to know that any accusations of criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated.”

Numerous lawmakers posed questions about redactions in the files, as well as failures to conceal the names of victims.

Jayapal showed one email exchange with Epstein where the DOJ concealed the identity of his associate juxtaposed with another file that publicly listed the names of the victims — a display lawmakers blurred for the hearing

In another instance, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said the DOJ only unredacted an email of someone he’s described as “likely incriminated” in the files because “of me catching you red-handed.”

Bondi said she would work to fix any improper redactions in the files.

“If any man’s name was redacted that should not have been, we will, of course, unredact it. If a victim’s name was unredacted, please bring it to us, and we will redact it. We were given 30 days to review and redact and unredact millions of pages of documents. Our error rate is very low,” she said.

Bondi repeatedly pushed back on lawmakers by asking why they didn’t demand answers about the Epstein investigation under prior administrations, invoking her predecessor Merrick Garland.

“I’m glad you’re asking about Merrick Garland,” Massie said. 

“This is bigger than Watergate. This goes over four administrations. You don’t have to go back to Biden. Let’s go back to Obama. Let’s go back to George [W.] Bush. This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it.”

Taunts and fiery exchanges dominate hearing

Questions about the Epstein files sparked the most contentious exchanges between Bondi and lawmakers.

In one particularly notable exchange, Bondi rebuffed a request from Jayapal to turn around and address the 11 victims who said they had not met with the department and “apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through.”

The request ignited a shouting match between the two women, as Bondi pushed back and replied that she wasn’t going “to get in the gutter with these theatrics” while Jayapal argued Bondi was ignoring victims.

At the end of the exchange, Bondi muttered, “Unprofessional.

Tensions flared again just moments later when Bondi was asked to contrast prosecutions against Trump foes with a lack of charges stemming from the Epstein files. As Bondi spoke, ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) interjected to argue that Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) had reclaimed his time.

“You washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” Bondi said to Raskin, a lawyer and former constitutional law professor.

After Massie asked about the Epstein files, Bondi said he had “Trump derangement syndrome” and called him “a failed politician.”

Under questioning from Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Bondi said, “You’re about as good of a lawyer today as you were when you tried to impeach President Trump in 2016.”

“You do a Jekyll and Hyde kind of routine around here,” Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said during his line of questioning, adding when Bondi asked for clarification, “Well, it means you’re nice to the Republicans and you turn like Hyde on Democrats.”

After almost every exchange with Democrats, Bondi asked the following Republican to use some of their time to respond, often detailing a crime in the Democrats district. At one point, Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) replied, “Weak sauce.”

Bondi responded by implying Balint had voted against a resolution condemning antisemitism.

“You want to go there? Are you serious? Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust,” Balint said before storming out of the room. 

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) faulted Bondi for failing to respond to Democrats’ questions.

“Our witness who somehow is a lawyer but does not understand how [testifying] works,” she said.

Prosecution of Trump foes compared to Epstein case

Democrats and Republicans alike pressed Bondi on the multitude of cases and investigations into Trump foes, though with departing views on how those matters should advance.

“You’ve turned the people’s Department of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge. Donald Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza, and you deliver every time,” Raskin said before referencing news that a grand jury rejected an effort by the Trump administration to charge six Democratic lawmakers who recorded a video noting that military service members can refuse illegal orders.

“Another grand jury shut down your vendetta factory. … I hope you will heed the wisdom and the constitutional patriotism of those grand jurors and not try it again by doubling down on that humiliation.”

Nadler juxtaposed interest in prosecuting Trump’s enemies with a lack of new charges relating to Epstein’s associates.

“DOJ has failed to bring any of these perpetrators to justice. Instead, it has engaged in a relentless pursuit of Donald Trump’s perceived enemies,” he said. “How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?”

Meanwhile, committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked about his own criminal referral for former CIA Director John Brennan.

“Mr. Brennan lied to the committee,” Jordan said. “And I think the country would like to know if, in fact, he’s going to be indicted for lying.”

Jordan went on to accuse Brennan of lying about the role the Steele dossier played in the investigation into the 2016 election. Brennan has denied any wrongdoing.

“I can’t confirm nor deny whether there is a pending investigation, but what I will say is no one is above the law,” Bondi said.

Democrats press Bondi on Trump’s ties to Epstein

Several Democrats queried Bondi about Trump’s ties to Epstein and the extent to which the Justice Department had probed his actions. 

At one point, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Bondi appeared to lie under oath after he showed footage of Trump and Epstein at a party.

“This is so ridiculous,” Bondi responded. “They are trying to deflect from all the great things Donald Trump has done. There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime.”

“I’m going to put up another document from a witness who called the FBI national threat operation center because I believe you just lied under oath,” Lieu responded, displaying a document that summarizes unverified allegations from a limo driver about Trump.

“You need to interview this witness immediately,” Lieu added.

“Don’t you ever accuse me of a crime,” Bondi fired back.

Goldman also showed an email that the DOJ redacted, and he said the unredacted version shows Epstein and associate Ghislaine Maxwell discussing “statements that Donald Trump made about his prior relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

“Will you commit to publicly providing the unredacted version of this so that the American people can understand the extent of Donald Trump’s lies about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?” Goldman asked.

Democrats also made a point of noting how many times Trump’s name appears in the files, particularly after FBI Director Kash Patel previously asserted it was fewer than 1,000.

Moskowitz sat with a Bible next to him, as well as the “Harry Potter” series.

“Trump’s name appears more times in the Epstein files than God’s name appears in the book about God. By the way, this is the Trump Bible. Move over, King James,” Moskowitz said.

“Trump’s name also appears more times in the Epstein file than Harry Potter’s name appears in the seven books about Harry Potter.”

While many Republicans did not ask about the Epstein files, Bondi earned some praise from those who did.

“It is safe to say that the administration led on that issue and that there was silence in the previous administration,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), though he went on to ask why victims’ names were inadvertently released.

But in a tirade from Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.), he noted that Bondi has taken significant heat over her handling of the files.

“After all this, nobody supports you. I’m not talking about Democrats,” Garcia said, noting losses before GOP-appointed judges.

“Your MAGA base despises you because you’re covering up the Epstein file. How ironic.”