Dem
47
GOP
53
The House Judiciary Committee heard AG Pam Bondi yesterday. And boy, it heard a lot. She was at her combative best. But so were the House members. It was a festival of accusations, lies and denials that ran for 5 hours.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) was the first Republican to light into Bondi. He asked her about the redactions in the Epstein files she released, which include redactions of the names of Epstein's clients (which are not allowed by the law Massie co-sponsored) and the absence of redactions for some victims' names (which are required by that law). He asked her "Who's responsible?" She replied saying that he was a failed politician and a hypocrite. Then she said: "Within 40 minutes, Wexner's name was added back in." Massie responded: "Within 40 minutes of me catching you red-handed." Massie also said "This is bigger than Watergate. This cover-up spans decades and you are responsible for this portion of it."
But there was more to come. Eleven of Epstein's victims were invited to the hearing. They were sitting just behind Bondi. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) accused Bondi of shielding Epstein's associates, rather than the victims. Jayapal then asked the 11 victims to stand if they wished and raise their hand if they had been unable to meet with officials from the DoJ. All of them stood and raised their hands. Then Jayapal asked Bondi to turn around and apologize to them. Bondi began by trying to blame Merrick Garland, but Jayapal cut her off and said: "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 apologize." Needless to say, Bondi did no such thing. Instead, she said she "wasn't going to get into the gutter with these theatrics." This page has a video of the women standing and raising their hands.
Bondi also had a shouting match with Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY). Nadler wanted to know how many of Epstein's co-conspirators she had indicted. Bondi said: "I'm going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question. Chairman Jordan, I'm not going to get in the gutter with these people." Not exactly an answer. Hint: The correct answer to Nadler's question is "zero." This video gives a flavor of how the hearing went:
Bondi also went on the offensive, on occasion. For example, she called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) a "washed-up lawyer" and said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), who has been in Congress for 20 years, lacked experience.
In short, Bondi was as combative as could be. The only person she fawned over was Donald J. Trump. She did this because she knows that if the Democrats take the House, she will probably be the second official impeached (after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem) and wants Big Daddy to protect her. He probably won't, but she doesn't know this. (V)