Indian origin Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Attorney General Pam Bondi engaged in a pointed exchange on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a hearing, highlighting anger on both sides over how Congress and the administration were handling the Epstein scandal. Jayapal began by praising the “incredible courage” of Epstein survivors who were in the room. She said the Epstein Files Transparency Act required the DOJ to redact the information of survivors, but said the DOJ showed a pattern of redacting the names of “powerful predators”. She said the names, identities and in some cases “nude images” of survivors were released, including some whose identities had been protected “for decades”. Jayapal then asked the survivors in the room to stand and raise their hand if they had not been able to meet with the DOJ, which all of them did. Bondi was asked if she would apologise to these victims. Jayapal asked Bondi to apologise directly to Epstein victims in the hearing room, BBC reported. Bondi refused, leading to a near-shouting match. “I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics,” Bondi said, later adding, “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman.” Jayapal responded that the DOJ was engaged in a “massive coverup” regarding the release of millions of files connected to Epstein.
