The Jeffrey Epstein files, fraud, and the Biden administration’s lawfare were among the topics that Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed during her testimony Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.
Here are four big takeaways from the hearing.
1. ‘Should be Apologizing’
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., suggested investigations of President Donald Trump’s enemies were distracting the Justice Department from reviewing the files of Epstein, a well-connected convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
He spoke for four minutes before asking a question.
“The DOJ has failed to bring any of these perpetrators to justice,” Nadler said regarding the names in the Epstein files. “Instead, you have engaged in a relentless pursuit of Donald Trump’s perceived enemies. I want to focus on just one example.”
He brought up a federal indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleging mortgage fraud; a case subsequently dismissed.
“How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?” Nadler asked.
Bondi attempted to answer, but Nadler kept interrupting her. He eventually jumped to answer his own question, “Zero.”
“I’m not going to get in the gutter with these people,” Bondi said.
Nadler noted a social media post by Trump complaining about the two impeachments and five indictments against him.
Bondi, who was on the team of lawyers defending Trump in his first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020, noted she and Nadler, one of the House managers, were on opposite sides.
“During impeachment, you said the president conspired and sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. [Former special counsel] Robert Mueller found no evidence,” Bondi said. “Have you apologized to President Trump? All of you who participated in those impeachment hearings against Donald Trump, you all should be apologizing. You sit here, and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it.”
She followed that the Trump administration is in the process of releasing the Epstein files.
“They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama administration,” Bondi said. “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.”
Trump signed the bill that passed overwhelmingly in Congress.
Later in the hearing, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked Bondi if more individuals involved with Epstein would be indicted. She responded, “We have several investigations pending.”
2. ‘You Have to Be Quiet’
At several points, ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Bondi, the third woman to serve as U.S. attorney general, to stop talking.
Raskin jumped into the exchange between Bondi and Nadler to say he warned Bondi not to “filibuster.”
“I told you about that, attorney general, before we started,” Raskin said.
Bondi defiantly replied, “You don’t tell me anything.”
Later in the hearing, the two got in another exchange when Raskin said each member has only five minutes and accused Bondi of “going off on a wild goose chase, another tangent.”
“If you do that, then we’re allowed to say we are reclaiming our time,” Raskin said. “At that point, you have to be quiet. You have no choice. You have to be quiet.”
3. Fraud ‘Rampant Throughout the Country’
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., asked Bondi about the investigation into the estimated $9 billion welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota.
“Well, it’s not only rampant in Minnesota but also, throughout this country,” Bondi said. “Much of it is in California, as you know, and in other places. Yes, we are working on it actively. Our criminal fraud division has been working on it. We are expanding that.”
Tiffany followed, “Why did federal law enforcement have to go to Minneapolis? Because of industrial scale fraud.”
Tiffany, whose district is only about 20 miles from Minneapolis, added that he asked Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, to open the books for a federal audit on food stamps and Medicaid.
“Don’t you think it would be a good idea for every governor to do that at this point?” Tiffany asked.
Bondi called it a “great idea.”
4. ‘Failed Politician’ and ‘Hypocrite’
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., a co-author of the bill that forced the release of the Epstein files, criticized the Justice Department for redacting the name of a potential perpetrator. Bondi said the name was added back within 40 minutes.
“Within 40 minutes of me catching you red-handed,” said Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican who has clashed with Trump on issues.
“Red-handed, there was one redaction,” Bondi said, laughing.
Massie responded, “He was listed as a co-conspirator.”
“He has Trump derangement syndrome,” Bondi said of Massie. “You’re a failed politician.”
Bondi went on to add, “He’s a hypocrite because he voted against the ban that we were talking about on deepfake AI porn. One of only two people voted against it.”
