During a heated session on Wednesday with the House Judiciary Committee, Pam Bondi engaged in a verbal clash with numerous Democratic members over the contentious Epstein files.
Serving as Attorney General for Donald Trump, Bondi stirred up the proceedings by calling Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin a “loser” and accusing Republican Thomas Massie of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Her fiery exchanges also included a spirited mention of the thriving stock market, which drew laughter from the attendees.
The intensity of Bondi’s remarks prompted an emotional reaction from Representative Becca Balint. In a moment of frustration, Balint exited the hearing after Bondi took a sharp turn from Epstein-related questions to criticize Balint’s voting history, accusing her of antisemitism for not backing Israel.
Balint holds a significant position as the first Jewish congresswoman to label the conflict in Gaza as “genocide.”
“With this antisemitic culture, she voted against a resolution condemning…” Bondi began, only to be interrupted by Balint.
Enraged, Balint retorted, “You want to go there?… You’re speaking to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust,” before forcefully pushing her chair away and leaving the room in anger.
Balint repeatedly asked Bondi if her department has investigated the ties top Trump administration leaders have to Epstein, at one point stating ‘this is not a game, secretary,’ to which Bondi responded: ‘I’m attorney general.’
‘My apologies, I couldn’t tell,’ Balint jabbed back.
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Committee on the Judiciary during an oversight hearing, at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on February 11, 2026
Representative Becca Balint, a Vermont Democrat, questions Attorney General Pam Bondi
The AG earlier furiously clashed with Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who accused Bondi of filibustering after she rebutted the lawmaker’s attacks with remarkable range, even referring to the booming stock market.
‘I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started speaking,’ Raskin said.
Bondi snarled back: ‘You don’t tell me anything. You washed-up loser, you’re not even a lawyer.’
Before his election to Congress, Raskin was a professor at American University Washington College of Law.
The AG also fired back when Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington invited her to apologize to Epstein’s victims, beckoning women inside the hearing room to stand up and raise their hands.
‘Will you turn to the survivors now and apologize for what your DOJ has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein Files and their [private] information?’ Jayapal asked.
Bondi erupted: ‘I’m not going to get in the gutter with her,’ she said, addressing committee chairman Jim Jordan.
She instead attacked former Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland for failing to release the files.
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on February 11
Some victims of Epstein and their supporters at the hearing. They raise hands to signify that they had not met with representatives of the Department of Justice about their cases
Representative Jamie Raskin (Democrat, Maryland), the ranking member of the committee, top center, with Chairman Jim Jordan (Republican, Ohio) on his right, questioning Bondi
Thomas Massie (Republican, Kentucky), left, grills the Attorney General at the hearing
Epstein and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, in 1997
Raskin, the committee’s ranking member, excoriated Bondi as the hearing kicked off, stating: ‘This performance screams cover-up.’
‘As Attorney General, you’re siding with the perpetrators, and you’re ignoring the victims that will leave your legacy unless you act quickly to change course. You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice,’ Raskin said.
Bondi responded to Raskin’s attacks in her opening statement.
‘To address the Epstein Files, more than 500 attorneys and reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing millions of pages to comply with Congress’s law,’ Bondi stated.
‘We’ve released more than three million pages, including 180,000 images, all to the public, while doing our very best in the timeframe allotted by legislation to protect victims,’ she continued.
Bondi added that if ‘you brought us a victim’s name that was inordinately released, we immediately redacted.’
‘All members of Congress, as you know, are invited to visit the DoJ to see for yourself,’ the Attorney General said.
Bondi then went on to address the Epstein victims in the room.
Bondi addressed the Epstein victims in the hearing, saying that ‘any accusation of criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously’
Bondi later touted wins of the Trump administration that have little to do with the DoJ’s work
Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington state, sits in front of a poster of an email from the Epstein files as she questions Bondi
‘I want to take a moment to acknowledge the Epstein survivors who are here today,’ she noted, adding that ‘the FBI is waiting to hear’ from victims.
‘I want you to know that any accusation of criminal wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated,’ Bondi also stated.
Bondi then touted wins of the Trump administration that have little to do with the Department of Justice’s work.
‘They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama administration… The Dow is over $50,000 right now… Americans’ 401 (k) s and retirement savings are booming. That’s what we should be talking about,’ Bondi noted.
During a later exchange with Jordan, Bondi was also asked to weigh in on the controversy regarding former CNN host Don Lemon, when she noted that the DoJ ‘will always protect our churches and the freedom of religion.’
Massie of Kentucky also clashed with Bondi as he skewered the AG for not complying with the Epstein Files Transparency act which he spearheaded through Congress.
Massie launched a blistering attack on Bondi for not properly redacting the names of victims, and for improperly redacting the name and photograph of Les Wexner, an alleged conspirator of Epstein.
‘Are you able to track who it was that obscured Les Wexner’s name as a co-conspirator in an FBI document?’ Massie asked.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, questions Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill
Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives to testify on Capitol Hill
Bondi wears red soled heels to her testimony on Capitol Hill
Sky Roberts (C), brother of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre, attends a hearing of Oversight of the Department of Justice with US Attorney General Pamela Bondi
A Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivor attends the testimony of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi
‘We corrected it within 40 minutes’, Bondi replied.
‘Within 40 minutes of me catching you red-handed,’ Massie responded.
Bondi punched back with her own fiery attacks, accusing Massie of having ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ and being a ‘failed politician.’
