Democrats are challenging Attorney General Pam Bondi to address the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, who are seated behind her during a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing of the Justice Department.
The panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, used his opening remarks to introduce Bondi to Epstein’s victims, setting the tone for the tough questions she’s expected to face for her handling of the case against the convicted sex offender.
“To promote justice for the people, you’ve got to listen to the victims, like the women seated behind you today,” said Raskin. “Those are just some of the hundreds of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex trafficking ring who are demanding that the truth be told and are demanding accountability for the abusers who trafficked and raped them.”
Raskin added that Bondi had not yet met with those victims.
In her own opening remarks, Bondi defended her handling of the Epstein files and maintained that if victims’ names were inadvertently released, her Department has moved swiftly to correct those mistakes.
She opted to directly address the victims seated behind her.
“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,” Bondi said. “I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster.”
She added that the FBI was waiting to hear from those with information.
But when asked by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to turn around and directly address the victims and apologize for what the Justice Department has put them through, Bondi refused.
“I am not to get in the gutter for her theatrics,” Bondi said of Jayapal.
Jayapal also asked the Epstein victims seated in the hearing room to stand and raise their hands if they have not been able to meet with the Justice Department to share their stories. Everyone did.
Bondi has faced criticism for months for reneging on her commitment to bring transparency in the Epstein case, starting with when she told Fox Newslast year that Epstein-related materials were “on [her] desk right now to review” but then in July announced no such files would be released.
Since Congress passed legislation compelling the Justice Department to release the Epstein files in their near-entirety, the administration has blown past statuary deadlines to do so. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has complained in recent days that some redactions were overly broad, while other materials appeared to jeopardize the privacy of Epstein’s victims.
