Over the span of 5 hours on Wednesday, United States lawmakers questioned Lawyer Common Pam Bondi over the US Justice Division’s (DOJ) dealing with of paperwork associated to convicted late intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi, testifying earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee, defended the DOJ’s dealing with of the discharge of the Epstein data and stated there are “pending investigations” within the case.
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Listed below are key takeaways from Bondi’s congressional listening to.
Why is Pam Bondi being questioned?
Bondi testified earlier than the Home of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, in a listening to entitled “Oversight of the US Division of Justice”, however the Epstein information shortly grew to become a major focus.
For the reason that begin of his second time period, US President Donald Trump and his administration have constantly confronted questions in regards to the resolution to withhold or redact paperwork associated to Epstein.
That new legislation, referred to as the Epstein Information Transparency Act, handed into legislation in November with bipartisan assist. It requires the Justice Division to publish all of its paperwork associated to Epstein in an simply searchable format.
Although the legislation permits for some restricted redaction to guard the identities of victims, critics argue that scores of paperwork have been revealed with heavy redactions. A few of these blacked-out sections seem to defend the identification of highly effective figures concerned with Epstein.
Throughout her opening assertion on Wednesday, Bondi, a prosecutor from Florida, defended her file of addressing sexual abuse.
“I’ve spent my whole profession combating for victims, and I’ll proceed to take action,” she stated.
Epstein victims had been current
With a number of victims of Epstein seated behind her within the listening to room, Bondi forcefully defended the division’s dealing with of the information associated to the well-connected financier, a problem that has dogged her tenure.
Throughout her opening remarks, Bondi deemed Epstein a “monster” and issued an apology to the victims.
“I’m deeply sorry for what any sufferer, any sufferer, has been by means of, particularly on account of that monster,” Bondi stated.
At one level throughout the listening to, Consultant Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, requested the Epstein victims to lift their fingers if that they had not had an opportunity to fulfill with a member of the Justice Division. All of the victims raised their fingers.
The victims included Danielle Bensky, who met Epstein in 2004 when she was 17 years previous. She has accused Epstein of sexually assaulting her.
“There was such a scarcity of empathy in the present day. There was such a scarcity of, truthfully, humanity in the present day,” Bensky instructed an NBC programme after the listening to.
Bondi clashes with Democrats
Congressional Democrats accused the US legal professional normal on Wednesday of partaking in a “cover-up” of the Jeffrey Epstein information and turning the Division of Justice into an “instrument of revenge” for Trump.
Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin criticised the gradual launch of the Epstein information and the redactions made to the paperwork.
“You’re operating an enormous Epstein cover-up proper out of the Division of Justice,” Raskin stated. “You’ve been ordered by subpoena and by Congress to show over six million paperwork, pictures and movies within the Epstein information, however you’ve turned over solely three million.”
When pressed by Consultant Jayapal, Bondi refused to show and face the Epstein victims within the viewers and apologise for what Trump’s Justice Division has “put them by means of”. She accused the Democrat of “theatrics”.
Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett stormed out of the listening to after a spat with Bondi. “This can be a large cover-up. And this administration remains to be engaged in it. In actual fact, this administration is complicit,” Crockett stated.
Throughout a heated trade, Crockett stated Bondi could be remembered as one of many worst attorneys normal, prioritising loyalty to Trump over the legislation, earlier than yielding the remainder of her time.
Bondi shot again that Crockett had not even tried to query her and accused her of ignoring the truth that Democratic chief Hakeem Jeffries had taken cash from Epstein after his conviction, a declare Jeffries has denied.
The legal professional normal additionally clashed with Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California. Lieu requested whether or not Trump had attended a celebration with underage women, a query Bondi deemed “ridiculous”.
Bondi insisted there was no proof Trump had dedicated against the law.
Lieu advised that her reply amounted to mendacity beneath oath, noting that Trump’s identify seems repeatedly within the Epstein information. Bondi shot again: “Don’t you ever accuse me of committing against the law.”
Trump’s identify seems a number of instances within the launched Epstein information, however not in reference to the sexual abuse of girls. Slightly, the data primarily present that he and Epstein were acquainted and had a social relationship.
As an example, Trump was listed as a passenger on Epstein’s non-public jet at the very least eight instances between 1993 and the mid-Nineties.
On February 1, Trump instructed reporters on board Air Power One about his identify being talked about within the newest tranche of Epstein information: “I used to be instructed by some crucial those who not solely does it absolve me, it’s the other of what folks had been hoping, you realize, the novel left.”
Republicans be part of Democrats in questioning Bondi
Bondi accused Democrats of utilizing the Epstein information to distract from Trump’s successes, regardless that it was Republicans who initiated the furore over the data and Bondi herself fanned the flames by distributing binders to conservative influencers on the White Home final 12 months.
Consultant Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, who helped lead the hassle to require the information’ launch, accused the Justice Division of a “large failure” to comply with the law as he questioned why billionaire Leslie Wexner’s identify was redacted in an FBI doc itemizing potential co-conspirators within the intercourse trafficking investigation into Epstein.
Bondi stated Wexner’s identify appeared quite a few instances in different information the division launched and that the DOJ unredacted his identify on the doc “inside 40 minutes” of Massie recognizing it.
“Forty minutes of me catching you red-handed,” Massie replied.
On Tuesday, Democratic Consultant Ro Khanna revealed the names of six men, together with Wexner. The opposite names made public are Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the pinnacle of Dubai-based logistics firm DP World, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov and Nicola Caputo. Al Jazeera couldn’t independently confirm their identities or affiliations.
Khanna stated he was revealing the boys’s names after he reviewed the information with Massie.
‘Trump orders prosecutions like pizza’: Bondi got here to the president’s defence
Raskin and different Democratic lawmakers condemned the prosecutions introduced by the DOJ towards Trump’s political foes, similar to former FBI director James Comey and New York Lawyer Common Letitia James.
“You’ve turned the folks’s Division of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge,” he stated. “Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza and also you ship each time he tells you to.”
Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, is the one individual behind bars in reference to Epstein. She was convicted in 2021 of intercourse trafficking underage women and is serving a 20-year jail sentence.
Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing relating to Epstein however he fought for months to forestall the discharge of the information about his one-time good friend.
A rise up amongst Republicans finally compelled the president to log off on the legislation mandating the discharge of all of the data.
The transfer mirrored intense political stress to handle what many People, together with Trump’s personal supporters, have lengthy suspected to be a cover-up to guard wealthy and highly effective males in Epstein’s orbit.
Trump’s repeated denials of any data of Epstein’s crimes have come beneath scrutiny because of a 2019 FBI interview – contained within the Epstein information – with Palm Seashore’s then-police chief Michael Reiter.
Reiter instructed the FBI that Trump had referred to as him in 2006 – when the intercourse prices towards Epstein grew to become public – to say: “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everybody has recognized he’s been doing this.”
