US Attorney General Pam Bondi defended the justice department’s handling of the Epstein files and faced a barrage of angry questions on other issues during a fiery congressional hearing on Wednesday.
Her testimony before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee descended at times into a shouting match, with Bondi at one point calling a Democrat a “washed up loser” and, after another heated exchange, one lawmaker even stormed out.
Here are some of the key exchanges from the four-hour hearing.
1. Epstein victims watch as Bondi defends redactions
The hearing followed the release by the justice department earlier this year of millions more files from its investigations into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Several of Epstein’s victims were seated behind Bondi at the hearing, and lawmakers frequently referenced them.
In her opening statement, Bondi called Epstein a “monster” and told the victims she was sorry for the abuse they endured.
But lawmakers then directed a host of complaints at Bondi about how the justice department has handled its release of the files. Several criticised what they said was a failure to redact the names of victims as was required by law.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said that in some cases “nude images” – of survivors were released, some of whom have had their identities protected “for decades”.
Jayapal asked survivors in the room to stand and raise their hand if they had not been able to meet with the justice department, which led all of them to rise.
Jayapal then asked Bondi to apologise to the victims for the justice department’s handling of redactions.
Bondi fired back, describing Jayapal’s questioning as “theatrics” and adding: “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman.”
The attorney general said at another point during the hearing that officials were doing their best to protect victims in the timeframe allotted by the legislation which required the files to be released. She said any names brought to them that have been released “inadvertently” have been “immediately redacted”.
2. Republicans join in over Epstein complaints
The hearing turned tense over names in the Epstein files that had been redacted, too.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has accused the justice department of improperly removing the names of people from the files who are not protected.
They have been allowed to review unredacted versions of the files, which has since led the justice department to unredact names in at least one document.
Thomas Massie, a Republican who has been involved in these efforts, told Bondi he wanted to know who was responsible for the redactions and whether anybody will be held accountable for the “failure”.
