Pam Bondi hearing Epstein files: End of the road for Donald Trump loyalist Attorney General?

Attorney General Pam Bondi is facing questions from lawmakers over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein that have exposed sensitive private information about victims despite redaction efforts. Bondi is confronting a new wave of criticism stemming from the political saga that has dogged her term after the release of millions of additional Epstein disclosures that victims have slammed as sloppy and incomplete.

It’s the first time the attorney general has appeared before Congress since a tumultuous hearing in October in which she repeatedly deflected questions and countered Democrats’ criticism of her actions with her own political attacks.

The hearing comes days after some lawmakers visited a Justice Department office to look through unredacted versions of the files. As part of an arrangement with the Justice Department, lawmakers were given access to the over 3 million released files in a reading room with four computers and were allowed to take handwritten notes.


The last time Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before a congressional panel was in October, when she stonewalled Democrats for four hours and read from a list of scripted insults in response to their questioning of her conduct.

But that stall-and-brawl strategy is not likely to work as well when she testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning. She was expected to face bipartisan skepticism over her handling, and perceived bungling, of the release of the investigative files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Epstein case, once an obsessive focus of the right, has now become a powerful political weapon wielded by Democrats in attacking President Donald Trump and his appointees in the Justice Department and the FBI.

In her opening statement, Bondi defended her actions in the Epstein case. "I'm a career prosecutor," she said. "I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and will continue to do so."

For Republicans, the never-ending Epstein fiasco has defined Bondi's tenure in much the same way that her willingness to execute Trump's commands has tarnished her in the eyes of Democrats.