FLASH
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In a four-hour session, the Attorney General faced criticism for redactions in documents and questions about other sensitive issues.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the House Judiciary Committee on her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. The hearing was marked by tension and accusations from both sides of the political spectrum.
Bondi called Epstein a "serious abuser" and said she hopes his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, serves the rest of her sentence. She apologized to the victims for the harm they suffered and defended the Justice Department's handling of additional documents from the investigation.
Criticism over release of documents
The department released millions more pages from the Epstein investigation this year. Several victims attended the hearing. Lawmakers raised concerns about the way the agency redacted the materials.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said that in some cases the documents contained nude images of survivors and that identities that had been protected for years were being revealed. She asked the victims present to indicate whether they had had any meetings with the Justice Department. According to her, none of them had had any prior communication.
Jayapal asked Bondi to apologize for the way he edited the article. The Attorney General denied the accusation and called the debate a political act.
The issue of names being removed from documents has sparked a clash between lawmakers and judicial leaders. A group of lawmakers from both parties alleged that the Department had unfairly removed names of people who did not enjoy legal protection.
After reviewing the full versions, the institution restored some names to the documents. Republican Thomas Massie demanded to know who was responsible for the redactions and whether there would be consequences for what he called an institutional failure. Bondi rejected that assessment and called the accusation politically motivated.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated during the hearing that the investigation had found no evidence that Epstein trafficked women for billionaire Les Wexner.
Democrat Ted Lieu raised the case of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who is facing pressure to testify in the United States. He has denied the allegations and in 2022 reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre without admitting responsibility.
Lieu presented a photo from the files showing Andrew in a compromising position and asked for clarification on why the material was not used for prosecution. Bondi stated that previous decisions on the investigation belonged to the previous Justice Department administration.
Lawmakers also asked Bond about the shooting deaths of two people in Minneapolis by federal agents, an event that sparked protests in several cities.
Democrat Steve Cohen called the incident an execution and accused the department of failing to fully investigate. Bondi defended the actions of federal authorities and argued that the situation was exacerbated by political interference that, she said, hindered law enforcement.
Other Republicans, including committee chairman Jim Jordan, supported her stance and praised the implementation of federal policies on illegal immigration.
The session ended without concrete decisions on the issue of redactions, while debates over the Epstein files remain open in Congress.
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