WATCH LIVE: Pam Bondi appears at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Justice Department oversight
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Pam Bondi will face questions from lawmakers Wednesday about the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein that revealed sensitive private information about victims despite redaction efforts.
The Attorney General will testify before the House Judiciary Committee beginning at 10 a.m. EST. Watch the live stream in our video player above.
Bondi is facing a new wave of criticism stemming from the political saga that has dogged her tenure following the release of millions of additional Epstein depositions that victims criticized as sloppy and incomplete.
He watches: Rep. Khanna says Epstein files were wiped to protect ‘elite and powerful men’.
It will be the first time the attorney general has appeared before Congress since a tumultuous October hearing, where she repeatedly fielded questions and countered Democratic criticism of her actions with political attacks.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are expected to question Bondi about how the Justice Department decides what should and should not be released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed after the department suddenly announced in July that no more files would be released even though they raised the hopes of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
Bondi has consistently struggled to overcome backlash over her handling of the Epstein files since distributing the folders to a group of social media influencers at the White House last February. The folders did not include any new information about Epstein, leading to further calls from President Donald Trump’s base to release the files.
The hearing comes days after some lawmakers visited the Justice Department office to look at unredacted versions of the files. As part of an arrangement with the Justice Department, lawmakers were given access to more than 3 million release files in a four-computer reading room and were also allowed to take handwritten notes.
Democrats accused the Justice Department of withholding information that should have been made public, including information that could lead to scrutiny of Epstein’s associates. Meanwhile, victims criticized the administration for inconsistent or non-existent redactions that allowed the inadvertent release of nude photos and other private information about victims.
He watches: Lutnick downplays the relationship with Epstein during his Senate testimony
The administration defended the recent release of more than 3 million pages of documents along with more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 photos. The Associated Press and other media organizations are still reviewing millions of pages of documents, many of them previously classified.
An AP review of records shows that while investigators collected sufficient evidence that Epstein sexually abused underage girls, they found little evidence that the well-connected financier led a sex trafficking ring serving powerful men. The prosecutor wrote in one of his 2025 memos that videos and photos seized from Epstein’s homes in New York, Florida and the Virgin Islands did not depict victims being abused or implicate anyone else in his crimes.
