Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill as Jeffrey Epstein survivors stand behind her, February 11, 2026.Tom Brenner/AP
The House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on oversight of the Justice Department devolved into insults and chaos on Wednesday. One telling example: whether Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump administration would apologize to survivors who were named, unredacted, in the department’s Jeffrey Epstein investigation files.
Among the documents released late last month, the Justice Department exposed the names of dozens of survivors, including some who have not disclosed their identities publicly or were minors when they were abused by Epstein. Many survivors remain identifiable as a result of incomplete or missing redactions.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked Bondi whether she would “turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through,” asking the survivors attending the hearing in person to stand up.
“Why didn’t she ask Merrick Garland this twice when he sat in my chair?” Bondi said to Republican committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan as she and Jayapal talked over each other. “I’m not going to get in the gutter with her theatrics.”
Jayapal wasn’t alone in bringing up how survivors have been hurt following years of abuse and inadequate investigation—and how they’ve been denied a voice in the department’s handling of the investigation and release of the files.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) grilled Bondi along the same lines. “How many lives have been derailed because your department was either sloppy and incompetent or willfully trying to intimidate and punish these ladies coming forward?” he asked.
“Your time is up,” Bondi replied.