Former Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before House lawmakers Friday in a closed-door hearing concerning her oversight of the Department of Justice's release of millions of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bondi in March to discuss her role in managing the document release. The hearing has drawn significant attention from survivors of Epstein's abuse and Democratic lawmakers who have raised concerns about how the files were handled during her tenure.
Critics have accused Bondi of making contradictory statements about the contents of the documents, exposing survivors' names and private information, and removing key files related to President Trump. Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Bondi has consistently defended the department's work, arguing that some errors occurred because government lawyers faced a tight timeline imposed by Congress to review millions of pages of material. During his campaign before his second term, Trump promised to release significant information on Epstein, though both supporters and critics contend that promise was not fulfilled.
"We haven't seen the full release of the files, so that's already a violation of the law," said Dani Bensky, referencing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, according to NPR. Bensky, who says Epstein sexually abused her as a young ballerina, expressed concern that Bondi's release of the files without proper redactions of victims' identities "sends such a chilling effect to the rest of the survivor community."
Bondi's tenure as attorney general faced broader criticism from legal experts who characterized her leadership as weaponizing the department to advance Trump's agenda. In April, Bondi was removed from the Department of Justice's top position. Trump called her "a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend" in a social media post following her departure. Bondi described her time as attorney general as "the honor of a lifetime" in her own social media statement.
During a February appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Bondi addressed the controversy in a contentious hearing. "To address the Epstein files, more than 500 attorneys and reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing millions of pages to comply with Congress' law," Bondi said at the hearing, according to NPR. "We've released more than 3 million pages, including 180,000 images, all to the public while doing our very best in the time frame allotted by the legislation to protect victims."
She also stated she was "deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster."
Friday's hearing format has generated additional controversy because it was conducted behind closed doors and transcribed rather than videotaped under oath. California Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, told NPR that Democrats are "demanding that it be both videotaped under oath and released to the public."
The House Oversight Committee has questioned numerous high-profile individuals about Epstein, including his convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former lawyer and accountant, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The committee videotaped and released a recording of the Clintons' deposition to the public. Other transcriptions, such as Lutnick's, were released days after testimony. According to the committee, Bondi's transcription will be released in a similar manner.
Bensky emphasized the importance of video documentation, stating that "context is lost" when hearings are only transcribed. She added that survivors have continued to repeat the "same talking points over and over" to the Department of Justice, noting that "it's just not getting any better."
In a letter to Kentucky Republican Representative James Comer, the committee chair, Garcia noted that Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's current assistant attorney general for civil rights, is among the lawyers representing Bondi. The arrangement was first reported by Semafor. Democrats have raised concerns about Dhillon's involvement, though legal experts consulted by NPR indicated the decision follows standard practice.
Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor and professor at the University of Michigan Law School, explained in an email to NPR that when a government official or former official testifies about matters tied to that office, "an attorney for the government often appears on behalf of the United States to assert privileges."
The Department of Justice stated that Dhillon and other department personnel attended the hearing "to assist the Committee in understanding the Department's role in implementing and complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act during her tenure." Dhillon did not respond to requests for comment.
