Attorney General Pam Bondi just gave one of the most chaotic testimonies during the House Judiciary Committee hearing to question the Justice Department’s handling of the release of the Epstein files. Even though she has admitted they botched the release, her testimony went beyond just arguing against the questions posed to her. It was instead marked by bizarre distractions, desperate shrieking, and embarrassing, vicious attacks when she was losing ground.
The explosive testimony took place on February 11, 2026, when Democrats assailed the Attorney General for failing to prosecute alleged co-conspirators of the accused sex trafficker. According to USA Today, her strangest deflection in the questioning began when Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, pointedly asked Bondi how many accomplices she had indicted, a number which currently sits at zero.
Bondi didn’t take the criticism well. Instead of addressing the Epstein issue, she completely pivoted, arguing that Congress should focus instead on the booming economy and falling crime rates under President Trump. It was an insane and senseless defense tactic, pulling stock market numbers to prove economic growth, when you’re being questioned about a massive trafficking case.
Honestly, I am still struggling with how she even got to that argument
“That’s what we should be focused on – all the great work that this president has done,” Bondi insisted. She went on to scold the lawmakers, telling them, “You all should be apologizing.” She added that she wasn’t going to stand for attacks on the president, saying, “You sit here and you attack the president. I’m not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it.”
The antagonism only escalated when Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, the current top Democrat on the committee, took his turn. Raskin accused Bondi of stunning failures regarding the release of the Epstein files. Raskin charged that Bondi had acted with “some mixture of staggering incompetence, cold indifference and jaded cruelty toward more than 1,000 victims raped, abused and trafficked.” He concluded that her “performance screams coverup.”
The representative, who is a Harvard Law School graduate and a former 25-year professor of constitutional law, told Bondi she needed to answer the questions directly rather than filibustering. Bondi snapped back with a completely unprofessional personal insult. “You don’t tell me anything, you washed up loser lawyer,” Bondi stated. “You’re not even a lawyer.”
The tension between Bondi and these specific Democrats isn’t new. Nadler previously served as chairman of the committee and investigated Trump during his first term. Bondi, meanwhile, was one of the key lawyers representing Trump during his first impeachment trial concerning his dealings with Ukraine. Raskin later served as a prosecutor in Trump’s second impeachment trial following the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.
The Epstein documents have been a major flashpoint throughout the first year of Trump’s second term. Congress approved a law directing the DOJ to release all of the documents with redactions to protect the victims. However, as Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal noted, not only was victim information released, but the DOJ hasn’t even talked to many of the victims. Their reactions are perhaps the most telling sign of the value of Bondi’s testimony.
Published: Feb 15, 2026 01:10 pm