Pam Bondi rebukes Democrats in Epstein files hearing: 'I'm not gonna get in the gutter'

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Pam Bondi engaged in a series of heated exchanges with Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing that focused heavily on the Justice Department’s handling of records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.

Lawmakers pressed Bondi over redaction errors that revealed personal information of survivors and questioned the department’s investigative efforts.

The proceedings were marked by repeated interruptions, lawmakers reclaiming their allotted time, and personal criticisms. Bondi defended the department’s actions and rejected accusations of wrongdoing.

Dispute over redactions and apology request

Pramila Jayapal criticized the department’s document release, alleging that survivors’ names and identifying information were insufficiently redacted. 

“We have blurred the names of the survivors for their protection, but your Department of Justice initially released this list of 32 survivors names with only one name redacted, along with numerous files that disclose not only the names, the emails and the addresses of survivors, but also n*de photographs and even the identities of Jane Doe, who had been protected for decades until your department released their names,” she claimed.

She asked Bondi to turn around and apologize directly to the survivors.

As both spoke over one another, Bondi said, “I'm not gonna get in the gutter for her theatrics.” She did not issue a direct apology in that exchange.

Earlier, Bondi addressed survivors seated behind her, stating, “I'm a career prosecutor... I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and I will continue to do so.”

She added, “I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster.”

Jerry Nadler questions investigations into co-conspirators

Rep Jerry Nadler (D-NY) questioned Bondi about how many of Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators had been indicted or were under investigation.

“How many perpetrators are you even investigating?” Nadler asked. “How many have you indicted?”

“Excuse me, I'm going to answer the question,” Bondi responded. 

“Answer my question,” Nadler said.

“No, I'm going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question,” Bondi replied.  “Your theatrics are ridiculous ... Chairman Jordan, I'm not going to get into the gutter with these people.”

As Nadler attempted to reclaim his time, Rep Jamie Raskin (D-Md) interjected, “You can filibuster all day long, but not on our watch, not on our time. No way. I told you about that, attorney general, before you started.”

Bondi shouted, “You don’t tell me anything,” later referring to Raskin as a “washed up loser lawyer” and adding, “Not even a lawyer.”

Hank Johnson urges Bondi to apologize to survivors

Rep Hank Johnson, (D-Ga), reiterated Jayapal’s request that Bondi apologize to survivors for the redaction errors.

“Representative Jayapal asked a simple question, if you would be so kind and honorable as to turn around and face them and apologize to them for outing them,” Johnson said.

“Your time is up,” Bondi replied.

Bondi also defended the department’s broader record, stating over 3 million pages of documents, including 180,000 images, had been released under the 'Epstein Files Transparency Act'.

She criticized Democrats for focusing heavily on Epstein, saying, “They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama administration. This administration released over 3 million pages of documents.”