Pam Bondi slams Democrats over Epstein hearing: 'You all should be apologizing'

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Pam Bondi lashed out at House Democrats during a contentious Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday, Feb 11, accusing them of hypocrisy and telling them they owed President Donald Trump an apology for past impeachment efforts. 

The session was intended to examine the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, but quickly devolved into shouting matches as Democrats pressed Bondi on victim protections and unredacted names.

The former Florida attorney general and Trump ally faced questions about the DOJ's release of millions of Epstein-related documents. Critics accused the department of failing to fully protect victims' identities while allegedly shielding potential accomplices.

Democrats demand an apology to Epstein victims

At one point, Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash) asked Epstein victims and survivors in the audience to stand and raise their hands if they had not met with the current Justice Department. Eleven individuals did so. Jayapal then pressed Bondi directly. "Turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through," Jayapal said.

Bondi called the display "theatrics" and refused to engage with what she described as an unprofessional stunt. She noted that the Epstein matter had lingered since the Obama administration and touted the scale of the document release under Trump.

"This has been around since the Obama administration. This Administration released over 3 million pages of documents. Over 3 million. And Donald Trump signed that law to release all of those documents. He is the most transparent president in the nation’s history," Bondi declared. "If a victim’s name was unredacted, please bring it to us, and we will redact it."

She also pointed out the irony of Democrats probing the document dump. "None of them asked [former Attorney General] Merrick Garland, over the last four years, one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump," she said.

Rep Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who was apparently caught dozing off at one point, grilled Bondi on the lack of indictments against alleged Epstein co-conspirators.

“How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?” he asked, insisting that “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.”

Pam Bondi fires back

Bondi did not yield. Responding to the Democrats' line of questioning, she turned the focus to what she portrayed as years of unfounded attacks on Trump.

"You said the president conspired, sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. Robert Mueller found no evidence, none, of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologized to President Trump?" she asked. "You all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it."

In one heated exchange, Bondi dismissed Rep Jamie Raskin's procedural complaints. "You don’t tell me anything," she said, before labeling the Maryland Democrat a "washed-up, loser lawyer — not even a lawyer."

Bondi framed the questions as extensions of past "witch hunts" against the president, including the two impeachments.

Throughout the hearing, Bondi pivoted to positive developments under the Trump administration and urged lawmakers to focus on substantive outcomes rather than past grievances. 

She touted a booming economy, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average topping 50,000, the S&P 500 nearing 7,000, and the Nasdaq smashing records. Crime rates and illegal border crossings have also plummeted under Trump's leadership, she argued.

"That's what we should be focused on – all the great work that this president has done," Bondi declared.