‘Not going to get in the gutter with these people’: Pam Bondi during House hearing on Epstein files

A House Judiciary Committee hearing erupted into a shouting match after Attorney General Pam Bondi declined a request from Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) to address victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein seated in the audience.

During her questioning, Jayapal accused the Justice Department of protecting the identities of some Epstein associates while repeatedly disclosing the names or identifying details of victims, despite legal requirements to shield them.

Jayapal asked the 11 victims present to stand if they wished and to raise their hands if they had not yet met with the Trump Justice Department. All 11 stood and raised their hands. She then urged Bondi to “turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through.”

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Bondi refused, accusing Jayapal of engaging in “theatrics.”

The attorney general began referencing her predecessor, Merrick Garland, before being cut off by the congresswoman.

“This is not about anybody that came before you. It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologise,” The Hill quoted Jayapal as saying.

Bondi then replied that she wasn’t going “to get in the gutter with these theatrics.”

At the end of the exchange, Bondi muttered, “unprofessional.”

The tensions persisted moments later as Bondi became embroiled in another heated exchange, this time with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

After citing a list of Trump opponents who have been charged or investigated by the Justice Department, Nadler pressed the attorney general: “How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?”

“I’m going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question. Chairman [Jim] Jordan, I’m not going to get in the gutter with these people,” Bondi responded.

As Raskin urged Chairman Jordan, an Ohio Republican, to stop the clock and restore Nadler’s time, Bondi shot back at the ranking member, saying the constitutional law expert is “not even a lawyer.”

Bondi then turned her criticism toward Democrats more broadly.

“You all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president,” Bondi said.

“This has been around since the Obama administration. 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,” she said.

(With inputs from agencies)