Attorney General Pam Bondi turned the House Judiciary Committee into a courtroom Wednesday — and Democrats were on the stand. In a combative hearing that centered on the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related files, Bondi clashed with lawmakers from both parties, but reserved her sharpest fire for Democrats she accused of ignoring Epstein for years while obsessing over President Trump.

The headline exchange came when Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) challenged Bondi on her handling of Epstein victims, the NY Post reported. Bondi didn't absorb the hit. She returned it — calling Raskin a:

"Washed-up, loser lawyer — not even a lawyer."

The room didn't cool down from there.

Democrats Discover Epstein — Four Years Late

Bondi's core argument was simple and devastating: Democrats had four years of Merrick Garland's tenure as Attorney General to press for transparency on Epstein. They didn't ask him a single question about it. Now, with a Republican administration that actually released over three million pages of investigative materials on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Democrats suddenly want to grandstand about victims.

"None of them asked Merrick Garland, over the last four years, one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump."

That line landed because it's true. The Epstein Files Transparency Act — co-authored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Rep. Ro Khanna — was signed by President Trump last November. The bill unlocked millions of pages of files that had sat sealed through the entire Biden administration. Democrats had every opportunity to push for that release. They chose not to.

So when Raskin accused Bondi of "siding with the perpetrators" and "ignoring the victims," the charge rang hollow. Bondi pointed the hypocrisy right back at them.

The Plaskett Problem

If Democrats wanted to talk about proximity to Epstein, Bondi was happy to oblige. She drew attention to the fact that Democrats and their donors had associated with the disgraced financier for years before his arrest on federal charges in July 2019.

The most specific example sat on the Democrat side of the dais. Delegate Stacey Plaskett, the Democrat from the U.S. Virgin Islands, texted with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 House Oversight Committee hearing — soliciting tips on how to question ex-Trump legal fixer Michael Cohen. A representative for Plaskett previously acknowledged the texts, saying she received messages from staff, constituents, and the public, including from Epstein.

Former Bondi chief of staff Chad Mizelle connected the dots for anyone still missing the picture:

"Jerry Nadler attacking Attorney General Bondi over Epstein, while his colleague Rep. Plaskett was using Jeffrey Epstein as a confidant and adviser, is the height of hypocrisy."

Democrats questioning Bondi's commitment to Epstein accountability while one of their own was taking real-time advice from the man himself — that's not a contradiction you can spin your way out of.

Nadler Gets the Treatment

Retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) didn't escape the hearing unscathed either. Bondi confronted him directly over past claims about President Trump and the 2016 election:

"You said the president conspired, sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. Robert Mueller found no evidence, none, of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologized to President Trump?"

Nadler had no direct response in the record. Bondi didn't wait for one:

"You all should be apologizing. You sit here and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it. I'm not going to put up with it."

This is an attorney general who understands something her predecessor never did: the hearing room is not a place to be passive. When Democrats use their five minutes to deliver partisan monologues disguised as questions, the appropriate response is to make them answer for their own record.

The Massie Dispute

Bondi didn't reserve fire exclusively for Democrats. Rep. Thomas Massie, who co-authored the very transparency bill that made the Epstein file release possible, challenged Bondi on how the DOJ handled the documents. His complaint: some potential co-conspirators' names were redacted, while some victims' identities were left exposed. Massie held up three documents he described as:

"Emblematic of the massive failure of the DOJ to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act."

He went further:

"Literally the worst thing you could do to the survivors, you did."

Bondi's response to Massie was notably less diplomatic than her responses to Democrats. She called him a "failed politician" with "Trump Derangement Syndrome" — a phrase usually aimed across the aisle. On the substance, though, she offered a clear commitment:

"If any man's name was redacted that should not have been, we will of course unredact it. If a victim's name was unredacted, please bring it to us, and we will redact it."

The redaction issue is legitimate. Over three million pages of documents are a massive undertaking, and errors in that process — particularly ones that expose victims — demand correction. Bondi acknowledged as much without conceding the premise that the entire effort was a failure.

The Real Story Democrats Don't Want Told

Step back from the fireworks, and the picture sharpens. This administration released the Epstein files. The previous one didn't. This attorney general sat in the chair and took questions about it. The last one was never asked.

Democrats spent the hearing performing outrage over an issue they ignored when they had the power to act. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) asked Epstein victims in attendance to stand and raise their hands if they hadn't been able to meet with the Department of Justice — a made-for-camera moment that might have carried weight if her party had shown any interest in those same victims during the four years they controlled the executive branch.

Mizelle summarized it cleanly:

"The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee did nothing to bring justice and transparency to the Epstein saga. Attorney General Pam Bondi has."

Wednesday's hearing was supposed to be an ambush. Bondi turned it into an arraignment — and Democrats were the ones without a defense.