Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

During the February 11 Epstein Files hearing in Congress’s House Judiciary Committee on Justice Department Oversight, Attorney General Pam Bondi evaded questions, victimized the president, and flat-out refused to apologize to survivors. Many Congresspeople, who had five minutes to address Bondi, declared that the handling of the files under Bondi’s direction is and was a massive cover-up for one of the largest and most powerful sex trafficking rings. 

“You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D— MD) said, emphasizing her neglect to meet with the survivors and siding with the perpetrators. 

Rep. Raskin noted how Bondi was ordered to turn over six million documents, photographs, and videos within the Epstein files, but only three million have been turned in due to duplications. He told her to simply release all the files. 

“In the half that you did produce, you redacted the names of abusers, enablers, accomplices, and co-conspirators, apparently to spare them embarrassment and disgrace, which is the exact opposite of what the law ordered you to do,” Rep. Raskin said. 

Congress also ordered the department to redact many victims’ names, as they hadn’t come forward publicly about the abuse they experienced, “but you published their names, their identities, their images— on thousands of pages for the world to see,” Rep. Raskin said. “Abandoning victims and coddling perpetrators is what you do best.” 

 Bondi claimed she did the best she could in the time frame she was given to release the Epstein files, while doing her utmost to protect victims; she claimed to have immediately redacted victims’ names. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D— WA) took to the microphone and highlighted how some of Epstein’s thousands of trafficking ring victims were in the room with them, showing incredible courage. 

She pushed back against Bondi and said the justice department has a pattern of redacting the names of predators in positions of power. Rep. Jayapal added how the department initially released a list of 32 survivors and had only redacted one name; this included names, emails, physical addresses, and nude photos. 

Rep. Jayapal then asked survivors to stand up, if they were comfortable with doing so, and the women did. She proceeded to ask them to raise their hands if they were unable to meet with this justice department, if comfortable doing so, and all of the women did.

“Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to survivors in your opening statement about what they went through at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?” Rep. Jayapal asked. 

As Bondi began to bring up former Attorney General Merrick Garland, Rep. Jayapal interjected and said this situation was not regarding anyone else prior, but her justice department and the harm it has done to survivors. The Chair chimed in and said Bondi could answer questions however she wanted, giving her a free pass to evade simple questions, a pattern that was woven into the over four-hour-long hearing. Bondi never apologized directly to the women who had stood behind her and bravely raised their hands. 

“You do a Jekyll and Hyde”

Rep. Hank Johnson (D— GA) asked Bondi if reports of 1,000 personnel being assigned the task of scrubbing Trump’s name from the Epstein files were accurate, and the two ended up talking over each other. Rep. Johnson moved on and asked if she agreed that her eight years as Florida’s Attorney General prepared her for her current position, to which she responded yes. He asked if she’s prosecuted felony cases, including narcotics, domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sex trafficking, to which Bondi said she “answered that question earlier.” 

Rep. Johnson asked if Bondi was aware of the importance of protecting the identities of victims as she prosecutes the perpetrators. “As we have said multiple times, the protection of all victims,” Bondi said, as Rep. Johnson interjected. Bondi asked if he wanted her to answer his question. 

“You’re not answering the question— you do a Jekyll and Hyde kind of routine around here.” 

— Rep. Johnson 

Bondi asked what that meant numerous times, and Rep. Johnson said that she’s kind to conservatives but turns into Hyde on democrats. He added how the survivors were present, and how Rep. Jayapal asked her a simple question to turn to them and face them for outing them. 

“How many lives have been derailed because your department was either sloppy and incompetent or willfully trying to intimidate or punish these ladies?” Rep. Johnson asked, as his time expired. 

Over the course of the hearing, Bondi attacked Congresspeople and claimed they had “Trump derangement syndrome,” a made-up term used to attack people who work to hold Trump accountable.

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