Attorney General Pam Bondi blasted Democrats at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, telling them, "You sit here and you attack the president, and I'm not going to have it" as she launched into a passionate defense of the Trump administration and rebuked criticism over the Jeffrey Epstein file release, The Associated Press reported.
Bondi repeatedly derided Democratic questioners for pressing the Justice Department on the files, telling them "I am not going to put up with it" while positioning herself as President Donald Trump's chief protector during a combative session that lasted more than five hours.
When Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, called on Epstein survivors in the room and urged Bondi to turn and apologize for how the files were handled, Bondi refused and declared, "I'm not going to get in the gutter with this woman" as she pointedly refused to satisfy what she called political theatrics.
Bondi also insisted that she has been a lifelong advocate for victims, saying, "I'm a career prosecutor, and despite what the ranking member said, I have spent my entire career fighting for victims," while adding "I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster," CBS News showed.
The attorney general pushed back against Democratic allegations that the Department of Justice was covering up crimes connected to Epstein, boasting that the department had done its "very best in the time frame allotted" under the Epstein Files Transparency Act while defending her release of millions of pages of documents.
Bondi dramatically shifted criticism toward economic performance, telling lawmakers, "The Dow is over 50,000 right now, the S&P at almost 7,000 and the Nasdaq smashing records" and saying "Americans' 401(K)s and retirements are booming; that's what we should be talking about," UPI reported.
She also clashed with Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, calling him a "washed-up loser lawyer" in a heated back-and-forth as she rejected accusations that the department was hiding information or protecting powerful people.
Bondi asserted the Justice Department would investigate allegations where justified, telling Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, "We will look and investigate any case, involving any victim," before accusing Democrats of filibustering their allotted time.
Republican lawmakers on the committee praised Bondi's aggressive defense of Trump's priorities and her refusal to be drawn into what she described as partisan attacks, while Bondi repeatedly framed Democratic focus on Epstein as a distraction from the administration's achievements.
Bondi's remarks reflected the broader partisan divide over the DOJ's handling of the Epstein files and underscored her alignment with a Trump administration message that Democrats are more interested in political theater than accountability and economic success.
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