Pam Bondi hearing: US Attorney Gen defends Trump in heated showdown over Epstein Files - 'I'm not going to have it'

Attorney General Pam Bondi, who appeared before a House of Representatives panel, clashed with the Democrats after being repeatedly pressed with questions on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein Files as she defended President Donald Trump. The US lawmakers grilled Pam Bondi over the alleged “slow” release of the files linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and and the redactions made to the documents.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA), after it was passed by the Congress in November, forced the Justice Department to release all documents and pictures linked to Epstein it had in its possession within 30 days. While the Justice Department was required to redact the names or any other personally identifiable information about Epstein's victims, names of those who were friendly with the financier were supposed to be released with the files.

Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, however, alleged that names of "abusers, enablers, accomplices and co-conspirators" of Epstein had been redacted in the Epstein Files.

Grilling Pam Bondi during the hearing, Jamie Raskin said, “You're running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice. You've been ordered by subpoena and by Congress to turn over six million documents, photographs and videos in the Epstein files, but you've turned over only three million.”

In her response, Pam Bondi defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein Files, asserting that thousands of hours were put to release the files and the department did its best.

She said, “More than 500 attorneys and reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing millions of pages to comply with Congress's law. We've released more than three million pages, including 180,000 images, to the public while doing our very best in the timeframe allotted by the legislation to protect victims.”

As she was pressed more, Pam Bondi clashed with the Democrats and praised President Donald Trump. Bondi said, “You sit here and you attack the president and I’m not going to have it. I am not going to put up with it.”