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Attorney General Pam Bondi launched into a wide-ranging, passionate defence of U.S. President Donald Trump, repeatedly shouting astatine Democrats during a combative proceeding successful which she postured herself arsenic the Republican’s main protector and tried to crook the leafage from persistent disapproval of the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Besieged by questions implicit Epstein and accusations of a weaponised Justice Department, Ms. Bondi aggressively pivoted successful an bonzer code successful which she mocked her Democratic questioners, praised Mr. Trump implicit the show of the banal marketplace and openly aligned herself arsenic successful sync with a president whom she painted arsenic a unfortunate of past impeachments and investigations.
“You beryllium present and you onslaught the president and I’m not going to person it,” Ms. Bondi said. “I americium not going to enactment up with it.” With victims of Epstein sitting down her successful the proceeding room, Ms. Bondi defended the department’s handling of the files related to the affluent financier’s enactment trafficking probe that person dogged her tenure. But she repeatedly refused to straight reply questions from Democrats who person accused her of perpetuating a cover-up and ignoring victims.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Bondi told the victims to travel guardant to instrumentality enforcement with immoderate accusation astir her maltreatment and said she was “deeply sorry” for what they had suffered.
“Any accusations of transgression wrongdoing volition beryllium taken earnestly and investigated,” Ms. Bondi said.
Ms. Bondi’s quality earlier the House Judiciary Committee comes a twelvemonth into her tumultuous tenure that has amplified concerns that the Justice Department is utilizing its instrumentality enforcement powers to people governmental foes of the President.
Just a time earlier, the section had sought to unafraid charges against Democratic lawmakers who produced a video urging subject work members not to travel “illegal orders”. But successful an bonzer rebuke of prosecutors, a expansive assemblage successful Washington refused to instrumentality an indictment.
The committee chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, opened the proceeding by repeating talking points that the Justice Department, nether Democratic President Joe Biden, was weaponised against Donald Trump and conservatives. Democrats and galore good-government advocates accidental it is Mr. Trump’s ain medication that has politicised instrumentality enforcement.
“What a quality a twelvemonth makes. Under Attorney General Bondi, the DOJ has returned to its halfway missions — upholding the regularisation of law, going aft the atrocious guys and keeping Americans safe,” Mr. Jordan said.
Democrats excoriated Ms. Bondi implicit haphazard redactions successful the files that person kept concealed the names of abusers but exposed backstage and intimate details astir victims and besides included nude photographs.
“Your section has shown a signifier of redacting the names of almighty predators,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, speechmaking from an email involving a withheld sanction and referencing a “torture video.”
She asked victims of Epstein’s maltreatment to rise their manus if they had been incapable to conscionable with the Justice Department. Jayapal noted that “every azygous subsister has raised their hand.”
Ms. Bondi has struggled to determination past the backlash implicit her handling of the Epstein files since distributing binders to a radical of societal media influencers astatine the White House successful February 2025. The binders included nary caller revelations astir Epstein, starring to adjacent much calls from Mr. Trump’s basal for the files to beryllium released.
Members of Congress were astatine the section earlier this week to look done unredacted versions of the files. As portion of an statement with the Justice Department, lawmakers were fixed entree to the implicit 3 cardinal released files successful a speechmaking country with 4 computers and were allowed to instrumentality handwritten notes.
Democrats person accused the section of redacting accusation that should person been made public, including accusation that could pb to scrutiny of Epstein's associates. Meanwhile, survivors person slammed the section for inconsistent oregon nonexistent redactions that allowed for the inadvertent merchandise of nude photos and different backstage information.
Department officials person defended their handling of the files, saying they took pains to support survivors, but that errors were inevitable fixed the measurement of the materials and the velocity astatine which the section had to merchandise them. The Associated Press and different media organisations are inactive reviewing millions of pages of documents, galore of them antecedently confidential.
An AP reappraisal of records shows that portion investigators collected ample impervious that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, they recovered scant grounds the well-connected financier led a enactment trafficking ringing serving almighty men. Videos and photos seized from Epstein’s homes successful New York, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands did not picture radical being abused oregon implicate anyone other successful his crimes, a authoritative wrote successful 1 2025 memo.
The lawsuit involving lawmakers’ video to subject work members could supply further fodder for Democrats to hammer Ms. Bondi and question however the Justice Department is utilizing its investigative authority.
The video, featuring Democrats who are veterans oregon person acquisition successful the quality community, angered the medication — Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, successful particular.
The Justice Department opened an probe into the video successful which Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, on with 4 different Democrats, urged US work members to travel established subject protocols and cull orders they judge to beryllium unlawful.
A expansive assemblage successful Washington connected Tuesday (February 10, 2026) declined to contented immoderate indictments. It wasn't instantly wide whether prosecutors had sought indictments against each six lawmakers oregon what complaint oregon charges prosecutors attempted to bring. But it marked the latest lawsuit of a expansive assemblage rebuffing the Justice Department successful cases involving critics of the administration.
