From PBS NewsHour.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday in an oversight hearing Wednesday, saying she has leveraged the Department of Justice to go after President Donald Trump’s perceived foes.
At the same time, Nadler added, Bondi has not held the powerful names seen in the thousands of files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein accountable.
Nadler had two big questions related to the Epstein case: “How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?”
Bondi then engaged in a back-and-forth with Nadler, without answering his questions.
“I’m not going to get in the gutter with these people, but I’m going to answer the question,” she said.
Later, Bondi said the Democrats on the committee “don’t like the answer … because it’s honest,” but doesn’t answer the questions in the Nadler’s allotted time.
The hearing was 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.
The Department of Justice has released millions of pages of Epstein-related documents, photographs and messages. But it missed its deadline by more than a month, and the releases have been mired by missed redactions and accusations of key omissions. Millions of pages related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender remain inaccessible, though the White House defends its review as thorough and complete. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has demanded more transparency, accusing the government of failing to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed in November, and survivors released a Super Bowl ad telling Bondi “it’s time for the truth.”
Several Epstein survivors attended Wednesday’s hearing.
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