Rep. Jamie Raskin used a tense House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing Wednesday to accuse Attorney General Pam Bondi of withholding and mishandling material in the Jeffrey Epstein case, claiming the Justice Department protected alleged abusers while exposing victims to further harm.
Rep. Raskin’s opening remarks stated Bondi has not met with survivors who testified at the hearing and claimed Congress was not complying with its request to release records from the Epstein case. Raskin stated Congress ordered the DOJ to release six million documents, photos, and videos related to the Epstein case, but only half came in, claiming the DOJ’s “duplicative” explanation was not true. Raskin stated the DOJ redacted names of alleged abusers, enablers, and accomplices but did not redact names of victims. The statement was released by House Judiciary Committee Democrats.
Raskin’s comments focused on the “Epstein cover-up,” with the politician repeatedly pointing to other men in the Epstein network whose names were redacted. Raskin also mentioned the DOJ’s handling of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of helping Epstein recruit and abuse girls. Raskin said the DOJ transferred her to a lower-security facility after she was subpoenaed to testify before Congress. Other than the Epstein case, Raskin broadened his attack to include the independence of the DOJ. Raskin accused Bondi of using the department to conduct politics. He also mentioned that she targets public officials and lawmakers at the order of the former President Donald Trump. Raskin also mentioned fatal incidents related to immigration enforcement. According to Raskin, the DOJ handled these cases favorably towards the immigration officers who were involved. Raskin mentioned the killing of Renée Good in Minneapolis. Raskin said that Good is a poet with three kids.
Bondi received sharp questioning from the Democratic members of the committee. According to Reuters, Bondi dismissed the Democratic members’ attacks as “theatrics.” The article also mentioned that the Democratic members were critical of the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein-related releases. AP reported that the hearing between the committee members and Bondi was “combative.”
Bondi’s response (as stated at the hearing): She began by acknowledging Epstein survivors in the room and defended her record as a prosecutor, saying she has spent her career fighting for victims and would continue to do so.
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