Attorney General Pam Bondi's Combative Hearing Performance Draws Criticism
Attorney General Pam Bondi delivered an astonishingly contemptuous performance during a Wednesday hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers questioned her leadership of the Justice Department and handling of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her demeanor was so confrontational that one congressman compared her showing to one of literature's great villains.
Confrontational Exchanges and Political Diversions
Seated before the committee, Bondi responded to questions about the Epstein files with shouting, insults, sarcasm, and frequent eye rolls. Similar to her previous congressional appearance in October, President Donald Trump's top law enforcement officer pivoted to political and personal attacks when pressed by Democratic lawmakers about the Epstein scandal and other controversies engulfing her department.
These controversies included the Trump administration's unsuccessful effort to indict Democratic lawmakers who had urged active duty troops to defy what they called "illegal orders." Instead of addressing these substantive issues, Bondi attempted to divert attention toward crimes committed by undocumented immigrants in Democratic panel members' districts.
Epstein Survivors Stand in Silent Rebuke
During one particularly powerful moment, Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked Epstein survivors present in the hearing room to stand and raise their hands if they had been unable to meet with officials from Bondi's department. Every single survivor in attendance complied with this request, creating a silent but powerful visual rebuke of the Justice Department's handling of their cases.
In the exchange that followed, Bondi refused to apologize to the survivors and slammed Jayapal's tactics. "I'm not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics," Bondi declared in a booming voice that echoed through the hearing chamber.
Accusations of Cover-Up and Incompetence
The confrontational tone was established early when Representative Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, unloaded on Bondi during his opening statement. Raskin accused Bondi of "running a massive Epstein cover-up" by not fully releasing all relevant files and claimed she had acted with "staggering incompetence, cold indifference and jaded cruelty."
More broadly, Raskin asserted that Bondi had "turned the people's Department of Justice into Trump's instrument of revenge." He noted that Bondi had previously brought a "binder of smears" to attack senators at her last congressional hearing and urged the Trump official to "set the burn book aside and answer our questions."
Stock Market Deflection and Bizarre Comparisons
In one of the hearing's most eye-popping moments, Bondi defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files by raving about stock market performance. Responding to criticism from Representative Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) over the Epstein debacle, she pointed to how the Dow Jones Industrial Average had recently surpassed a 50,000-point milestone.
"He is the most transparent president in the nation's history, and none of them, none of them asked [Joe Biden's Attorney General] Merrick Garland over the last four years one word about Jeffrey Epstein," Bondi declared. "How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump — the Dow. The Dow right now is over — the Dow is over 50,000."
Raskin laughed audibly from the dais at this non sequitur. "I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock trader, as I hear, Raskin," Bondi retorted. "The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7000, and the Nasdaq smashing records, Americans' 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about."
Ironically, at the precise moment of Bondi's statement, the Dow had actually dipped back below the 50,000-point threshold she was celebrating.
Republican Lawmakers Also Face Wrath
Bondi's combative approach extended even to Republican lawmakers who attempted to hold her accountable. When Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) questioned the Justice Department's mishandling of redactions in the Epstein files, Bondi called him "a failed politician" and "hypocrite" suffering from "Trump derangement syndrome."
During another extraordinary flashpoint, Bondi went back and forth with Nadler as he attempted to ask how many of Epstein's co-conspirators her department had indicted. "Here we go with these theatrics," Bondi snapped, prompting Raskin to intervene and tell her not to filibuster.
"You don't tell me anything," Bondi fired back, accusing Raskin of being a "washed-up lawyer."
Jekyll and Hyde Comparison
During another frank exchange over the Epstein probe, Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) accused Bondi of acting out a "Jekyll & Hyde kind of routine," referencing Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story about a scientist who drinks a potion and leads a nefarious double life.
"You're nice to the Republicans and you turn like Hyde on the Democrats," Johnson explained to her, capturing the stark contrast in Bondi's treatment of lawmakers from different parties throughout the contentious hearing.
