From PBS NewsHour.
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi about whether the Department of Justice has investigated ties between senior Trump administration officials and Jeffrey Epstein.
Balint asked Bondi about whether the DOJ has spoken with Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, whose names have all appeared in recently released Epstein files.
Bondi refused to answer, instead asking Balint to define “ties" and noting that Lutnick has addressed his relationship with Epstein directly. Bondi redirected the conversation to a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was shot and killed in Jan. 2025.
The exchange got heated, with the congresswoman and attorney general speaking loudly over each other.
“The American people have a right to know the answers to this. These are senior officials in the Trump administration,” Balint said.
Wednesday’s hearing offered an opportunity for lawmakers to question Bondi on a number of controversial issues involving the Justice Department, including around the Trump administration’s failure to meet a Congress-mandated deadline to release all of its Epstein files; the legal justification for the administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific; as well as prosecutions of perceived Trump political rivals like James Comey and Letitia James. Bondi is seeking to revive both cases, which were already thrown out by a U.S. district judge.
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