During a heated House hearing on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi declined a direct request to face and apologize to Jeffrey Epstein’s victims for the Justice Department’s management of the deceased sex offender’s case.
While interrogating Bondi at the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington instructed Epstein victims in the audience to “please raise your hand if you have still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.” She then observed for the record that “every single survivor has raised their hand.”
Jayapal subsequently directed her attention back to Bondi and inquired: “Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?”
Bondi chose not to face the victims, instead launching into a discussion about her predecessor, Merrick Garland. After Jayapal repeated her request for an apology, the Attorney General declined, stating, “I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics.”
Bondi had recognized the victims in her opening statement earlier in the proceeding, where she also justified her conduct in the Epstein matter.
“I’m a career prosecutor and despite what the ranking member said, I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and I will continue to do so,” she said. “I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster.”
Other Democratic committee members also concentrated their comments on Epstein’s victims and challenged Bondi on the DOJ’s approach to the case. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the panel’s leading Democrat, charged the Attorney General with “siding with the perpetrators” and “ignoring the victims” in his own remarks.
“That will be your legacy, unless you act quickly to change course,” Raskin stated. “You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice.”
Raskin presented the victims and family members of deceased victims who were present to Bondi before commenting, “You’re not showing a lot of interest in the victims, Mrs. Attorney General.”
Later in the hearing, Democratic Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida once again spoke directly to the victims in the room, requesting they stand and respond to a set of questions. Moskowitz asked the victims to indicate by raising their hands if they had met with the Justice Department to provide testimony and evidence; no hands were raised. He then asked if they had contacted the department “individually, or through a lawyer or representative to offer to provide testimony and evidence,” to which all victims raised their hands. They all again raised their hands when asked if they had subsequently been “denied or ignored” by the Justice Department and if they remained willing to speak with the department.
Lawmakers and survivors of Epstein’s abuse have condemned the Department of Justice for its tardy publication of files concerning the late sex offender, despite a mandate requiring all government documents related to the case to be made public by Dec. 19. Criticism also focused on the redaction of numerous alleged associates of the disgraced financier in the released files, while certain personal details and photos of survivors were left unredacted.
The department removed thousands of documents from its Epstein files website earlier this month following complaints from victims and their lawyers regarding the inconsistent redaction of potentially identifiable information. Earlier this week, after lawmakers asserted that several high-profile names had been hidden in the documents without clear legal justification, the department also disclosed more than a dozen additional names.
Bondi previously testified before Congress in October, engaging in similar disputes with Democratic lawmakers and offering minimal information during a four-hour Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.