Pam Bondi Dismisses Call to Apologize to Epstein Survivors as ‘Theatrics’

Attorney General Pam Bondi spent Wednesday sparring with lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, as she underwent a bipartisan grilling on how she managed to so badly botch the release of the Epstein files—at one point dismissing the presence of Epstein survivors in the room as “theatrics.” For much of the hearing—which was scheduled to discuss her leadership of the Justice Department—she shot back at criticism by reading out of her anti-Dems “burn book,” calling Trump the “greatest” president in American history, and repeatedly attempting to pivot away from questions about her department’s handling of the files.

“We are joined in this room by some of the thousands of survivors from Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific sex trafficking ring,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said during her time. “To those survivors in the room, if you are willing—please stand. And if you are willing, please raise your hands if you have still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.” All eleven victims present raised their hands.

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they’ve not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

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— Karl Bode (@karlbode.com) February 11, 2026 at 12:15 PM

“This is not about anybody that came before you,” continued Jayapal, addressing Bondi’s attempt to pivot to why former AG Merrick Garland was never asked about the Epstein files. “It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice, and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize.” Naturally, Bondi did anything but.

“I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics,” the AG shot back, refusing to face the victims standing behind her. “You’re not going to answer this question, so let me just say this: What a massive cover-up,” Jayapal responded.

I didn’t realize we don’t pursue pedophiles if the stock market is doing well. Thank you, Pam Bondi, for that clarification.

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) February 11, 2026

The hearing comes just over a week after the DOJ said it finished uploading the Epstein files in full—one month past the deadline. The release included millions of documents, emails, and hundreds of thousands of images. But two days later, 20 of Epstein’s victims condemned the DOJ for failing to properly redact information, exposing their details and nude images. There were “literally 1000s of mistakes,” one of the attorneys told ABC News at the time.

“The Epstein Files Transparency Act required your Department of Justice to disclose the perpetrators connected with Epstein’s criminal activities, and to redact the information of survivors to protect their identities,” Jayapal said, criticizing the DOJ for erroneously posting an “Epstein victim list” that exposed the names of 31 survivors.

“Survivors are now telling us that their families are finding out for the first time that they were trafficked by Epstein,” Jayapal said, before reading from the letter. “In their words, ‘This release does not provide closure, it feels like a deliberate attempt to intimidate survivors, punish those who came forward, and reinforce the same culture of secrecy that allowed Epstein’s crimes to continue for decades.’” 

Meanwhile, the perpetrators were protected! One example cited was a 2009 email from Epstein to a redacted recipient that read, “where are you? are you ok I loved the torture video.” Jayapal points out that while the DOJ on Tuesday finally revealed the email was sent to Emirati business executive Sultan Bin Sulayem, this was only done after immense congressional pressure. The DOJ’s Number 2, Todd Blanche, claimed on Twitter that the original reason the name was redacted was that it belonged to an email. Sure, Jan. 

Massie: “Here is an email that was sent by the victims’ lawyers to the DOJ. It was a list of names not to release. What did the DOJ do with this email? They released it! Literally the worst thing you could do the survivors you did.”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 11, 2026 at 12:23 PM

Bondi had many other heated moments, including losing her temper at Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Cali.) after he accused her of lying under oath when she said there was “no evidence” of Trump committing crimes in the Epstein files; calling Rep. Jamie Laskin (D-Md.) a “washed-up loser lawyer” when he told her to stop stalling for time; and calling Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) a “failed politician” with Trump Derangement Syndrome. At another point, she inexplicably urged everyone to pivot their attention to stocks instead of the Epstein files. “The DOW is over 50,000 dollars!” she exclaimed. “The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P is at almost 7,000, and the NASDAQ [is] smashing records. That’s what we should be talking about.” So that’s what deflection looks like.

Speaking alongside Epstein victims at Capitol Hill ahead of the hearing, Sky Roberts—the brother of Virginia Giuffre—delivered a message to Bondi from Annie Farmer, another survivor. “She said, ‘Pam, do your job. Do your job, Pam,’” said Roberts. “We are done with excuses, we are done with delays. No more lies, no more deflection. We want answers—and we want accountability.” 

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