US attorney general goes on attack during questioning by House judiciary committee over handling of files
The US attorney generalPam Bondiattacked and insulted Democrats during a House judiciary committee hearing on Wednesday as she defended the justice department’s handling of files related toJeffrey Epstein.
Democrats pounded Bondi with questions about the way the department has complied with a law last year mandating the complete release of the files with specific and limited room for redactions. Since releasing the documents after the statutory deadline, the justice department has come under intense scrutiny both for releasing the names of survivors and redacting, without explanation, the names of people who may have committed crimes.
Bondi avoided addressing the questions about the way the department has handled the files. After being pressed by the representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Bondi also declined to turn around from her seat at the hearing table and apologize to Epstein victims who were in the hearing room. “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman. She’s doing theatrics,” Bondi said.
Bondi also sparred heavily with Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the committee, as he sought to prevent the attorney general from using long meandering answers to eat up the five minutes members are allotted to ask questions. When Raskin said he had warned Bondi about eating up time at the outset of the hearing, Bondi replied by yelling: “You don’t tell me anything.
“You’re a washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” she said to Raskin.
The justice department has struggled with the redactions in the millions of documents it has released, at times taking documents down from its website that should not have been released and at others removing redactions. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat, pressed Bondi on the overly broad redactions on Wednesday, saying the justice department had lost credibility.
“I find it interesting that she keeps going after President Trump, the greatest president in American history,” Bondi said. The attorney general and the justice department have typically kept themselves at arm’s length from the president and the White House to avoid the perception of political interference in law enforcement – a norm that has been shattered by Trump.
“If they could maintain their composure, this isn’t a circus, this is a hearing. I find it interesting she keeps going after Donald Trump, she doesn’t say how much money she took from Reid Hoffman,” Bondi said. Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn has said he knew Epstein becauseof fundraisingfor the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and only met with him professionally six times.
The files have revealed that people close to Trump – including the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick; former strategistSteve Bannon; andElon Musk– all had closer relationships with Epstein than was previously known. None of the men has been charged with wrongdoing in connection to Epstein.
Source: Drudge Report
