[House Hearing, 119 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED NINETEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2026
__________
Serial No. 119-56
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT
Available via:http://judiciary.house.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
62-874 WASHINGTON : 2026
=======================================================================
COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
JIM JORDAN, Ohio, Chair
DARRELL ISSA, California JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland, Ranking
ANDY BIGGS, Arizona Member
TOMMcCLINTOCK, California JERROLD NADLER, New York
THOMAS P. TIFFANY, Wisconsin ZOE LOFGREN, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
CHIP ROY, Texas HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin Georgia
BEN CLINE, Virginia ERIC SWALWELL, California
LANCE GOODEN, Texas TED LIEU, California
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas J. LUIS CORREA, California
BARRY MOORE, Alabama MARY GAY SCANLON, Pennsylvania
KEVIN KILEY, California JOE NEGUSE, Colorado
HARRIET M. HAGEMAN, Wyoming LUCYMcBATH, Georgia
LAUREL M. LEE, Florida DEBORAH K. ROSS, North Carolina
WESLEY HUNT, Texas BECCA BALINT, Vermont
RUSSELL FRY, South Carolina JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE, California
BRAD KNOTT, North Carolina JARED MOSKOWITZ, Florida
MARK HARRIS, North Carolina DANIEL S. GOLDMAN, New York
ROBERT F. ONDER, Jr., Missouri JASMINE CROCKETT, Texas
DEREK SCHMIDT, Kansas
BRANDON GILL, Texas
MICHAEL BAUMGARTNER, Washington
CHRISTOPHER HIXON, Majority Staff Director
ARTHUR EWENCZYK, Minority Staff Director
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C O N T E N T S
----------
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
The Honorable Jim Jordan, Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary
from the State of Ohio......................................... 1
The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on
the Judiciary from the State of Maryland....................... 4
WITNESS
The Hon. Pamela J. Bondi, Attorney General, United States
Department of Justice
Oral Testimony................................................. 7
Prepared Testimony............................................. 10
LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC. SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING
All materials submitted by the Committee on the Judiciary, for
the record..................................................... 97
Materials submitted by the Honorable Jasmine Crockett, a Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Texas, for
the record
An article entitled, ``El Paso airspace reopened after FAA
quickly rescinds 10-day flight restrictions,'' Feb. 11,
2026, The Texas Tribune
An article entitled, ``Donald Trump's Approval Rating
Implodes On His Strongest Issue,'' Feb. 11, 2026,
Newsweek
Material submitted by the Honorable Andy Biggs, a Member of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Arizona, for the
record
An article entitled, ``Bombshell New Docs Show Trump Called
Police About Epstein in 2006: `Thank Goodness You're
Stopping Him,' '' Feb. 10, 2026, Red State
An article entitled, ``Kamala Harris defends Biden
administration decision not to release Epstein files,''
The Hill
An article entitled, ``Why weren't they released during the
Biden administration?'' Nov. 18, 2025, NewsNation Now
An article entitled, ``House Democrat Stacey Plaskett
exchanged texts with Epstein during 2019 congressional
hearing,'' Nov. 15, 2025, CNN
An article entitled, ``N.Y. judge allows Epstein victims'
claims against Plaskett to proceed,'' Mar. 24, 2025,
Virgin Islands Daily News
An article entitled, ``Hakeem Jeffries solicited funding from
Epstein in 2013--after financier was convicted child sex
offender,'' Nov. 18, 2025, The Post Millennial
An article entitled, ``Jeffrey Epstein was invited to Dem
fundraising dinner and to `get to know' Hakeem Jeffries
by firm working with `Brooklyn's Barack,' '' Nov. 19,
2025, New York Post
An article entitled, ``Epstein File Says Biden Was Replaced
in 2019!?'' Feb. 4, 2026, WABC Radio
Materials submitted by the Honorable Thomas Massie, a Member of
the Committee on the Judiciary from the State Kentucky, for the
record
A page of the Epstein Files, FBI, Feb. 23, 2021
A page of the Epstein Files, FBI, Sept. 16, 2021
A page of the Epstein Files, FBI, Mar. 11, 2015
A page of the Epstein Files, FBI, May 29, 2020
A page of the Epstein Files, FBI, Jun. 25, 2020
A page where Les Wexner is mentioned, Epstein Files, FBI,
Jul. 5, 2013
An article entitled, ``The Government Published Dozens of
Nude Photos in the Epstein Files,'' Feb. 1, 2026, The New
York Times
A letter to Director Patel, from the Hon. Pamela J. Bondi,
Attorney General, United States Department of Justice,
Feb. 27, 2025
A list entitled, ``17 People have resigned due to the fallout
of the Epstein Files.''
An article entitled, ``Inside Trump's DOJ: Punitive firings,
public scoldings and pressure to prosecute foes,'' Oct. 16,
2025, MSNow, submitted by the Honorable Ben Cline, a Member of
the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Virginia, for
the record
Materials submitted by the Honorable Lucy McBath, a Member of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Georgia, for the
record
An article entitled, ``Alex Pretti's Friends and Family
Denounce `Sickening Lies' About His Life,'' Jan. 26,
2026, The New York Times
An article entitled, ``JD Vance refuses to apologize to Alex
Pretti's family after spreading ICE `assassin' claim,''
Feb. 4, 2026, Daily Mail--UK
An article entitled, ``FBI Agent Resigns After Trying to
Investigate ICE Officer in Renee Good Shooting,'' Jan.
23, 2026, The New York Times
An article entitled, ``Why Pam Bondi Didn't Publish All the
Epstein Files in 30 Days,'' Jan. 23, 2026, Wall Street Journal,
submitted by the Honorable Tom McClintock, a Member of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of California, for
the record
Materials submitted by the Honorable Steve Cohen, a Member of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Tennessee, for the
record
A letter to the Honorable Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National
Intelligence, from the Honorable James A. Himes, Ranking
Member, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from
the State of Connecticut, and the Honorable Mark R.
Warner, Vice Chair, Select Comittee on Intelligence from
the State of Virginia, Jan. 29, 2026
A letter to the Honorable Mark R. Warner, Vice Chair, Select
Comittee on Intelligence from the State of Virginia, and
the Honorable James A. Himes, Ranking Member, Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence from the State of
Connecticut, from the Honorable Tulsi Gabbard, U.S.
Director, National Intelligence, Feb. 2, 2026
An affidavit from the United States District Court, Northern
District of Georgia, Jan. 28, 2026
A study entitled, ``Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate
Lower Than U.S.-Born Citizen Rate,'' Sept. 12, 2024,
National Institute of Justice
Materials submitted by the Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Maryland,
for the record
An article entitled, ``Why is Trump granting clemency to
convicted fraudsters?'' Jan. 26, 2026, The Guardian
An article entitled, ``Trump's pardons forgive financial
crimes that came with hundreds of millions in
punishments,'' Jan. 20, 2026, NBC News
An article entitled, ``Trump's pardons wipe out payments to
defrauded victims,'' Dec. 19, 2025, The Washington Post
An article entitled, ``Trump Found Guilty by Manhattan Jury
on 34 Felony Counts in Fraud Case,'' May 30, 2024,
Law.com
An article entitled, ``Report: Record-Low Crime During the
Biden-Harris Administration,'' Jan. 17, 2025, The
American Presidency Project
An article entitled, ``Crime down in every category in 2024,
FBI report says,'' Aug. 5, 2025, CBS News
An article enitled, ``Trump takes credit for violent crime
drop where rates were already falling,'' Oct. 16,
2025,Straight Arrow News (SAN)
An article entitled, ``Trump administration targets ATF, with
plans to cut jobs and ease gun restrictions,'' Jul. 2,
2025, NPR
A press release entitled, ``Raskin Joins Call for AG Barr to
Re-open Epstein Case and Publicly Release Acosta
Misconduct Investigation and Documents,'' Mar. 1, 2019,
Representative Raskin's Office
A press release entitled, ``Oversight Committee Plans Hearing
with Acosta on Plea Deal with Epstein,'' Jul. 10, 2019,
Representative Raskin's Office
A press release entitled, ``68 House members Call for
Resignation of labor Secretary Acosta,'' Jul. 10, 2019,
Representative Raskin's Office
An article entitled, ``Fraud focus: why is Trump granting
clemency to convicted fraudsters?'' Jan. 26, 2026, The
Guardian
An article entitled, ``Trump Has Complained About Pam Bondi
Repeatedly to Aides,'' Jan. 12, 2026, Wall Street Journal,
submitted by the Honorable Jesus G. ``Chuy'' Garcia, a Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Illinois,
for the record
Materials submitted by the Honorable Mary Gay Scanlon, a Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of
Pennsylvania, for the record
A Presidential Memoranda entitled, ``Countering Domestic
Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,'' Sept. 25,
2025, The White House
A memo from the Office of the Attorney General, Dec. 4, 2025
An article entitled, ``DOJ Deletes Study Alleging Rise in
Far-Right Terrorism in US,'' Sept. 18, 2025, Newsweek
An article entitled, ``Trump's Directive on `Organized
Political Violence' Could Lead to Increased Surveillance
of His Critics,'' Oct. 3, 2025, NOTUS
An article entitled, ``Trump targets domestic terrorists--but
only mentions the `radical left,' '' Sept. 25, 2025, The
Washington Post
An article entitled, ``Rest Easy Idahoans. The No Kings
Demonstrators are American Patriots,'' Oct. 18, 2025,
Idaho Capital Sun
An article entitled, ``Attacks on Freedom of Speech: What
Nonprofits Need to Know,'' Sept. 29, 2025, Council of
Nonprofits
An article entitled, ``FFRF warns that Bondi memo weaponizes
federal law enforcement against non-Christians and
dissenting viewpoints,'' Dec. 11, 2025, Freedom From
Religion Foundation
A blog entitled, ``Exclusive: ICE's Secret Watchlists of
Americans,'' Jan. 28, 2026, Ken Klippenstein
An article entitled, ``Trump Calls His Enemies Terrorists.
Does That Mean He Can Just Kill Them?'' Feb. 2, 2025, The
Intercept
An article entitled, ``What NIJ Research Tells Us About
Domestic Terrorism,'' Jun. 2024, National Institute of
Justice (NIJ)
QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES FOR THE RECORD
Questions to the Hon. Pamela J. Bondi, Attorney General, United
States Department of Justice, submitted by the Honorable Brad
Knott, a Member of the Committee on the Judiciary from the
State of North Carolina, the Honorable Darrell Issa, a Member
of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of California,
the Honorable Michael Baumgartner, a Member of the Committee on
the Judiciary from the State of Washington, the Honorable
Harriet M. Hageman, a Member of the Committee on the Judiciary
from the State of Wyoming, the Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking
Member of the Committee on the Judiciary from the State of
Maryland, and the Honorable Mary Gay Scanlon, a Member of the
Committee on the Judiciary from the State of Pennsylvania, for
the record
No response at the time of publication
OVERSIGHT OF THE DEPARTMENT
OF JUSTICE
----------
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
House of Representatives
Committee on the Judiciary
Washington, DC
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:05 a.m., in
Room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, the Hon. Jim Jordan
[Chair of the Committee] presiding.
Members present: Representatives Jordan, Issa, Biggs,
McClintock, Tiffany, Massie, Roy, Fitzgerald, Cline, Gooden,
Van Drew, Moore, Kiley, Hageman, Lee, Fry, Grothman, Knott,
Harris, Onder, Schmidt, Gill, Baumgartner, Raskin, Nadler,
Lofgren, Cohen, Johnson, Swalwell, Lieu, Jayapal, Correa,
Scanlon, Neguse, McBath, Ross, Balint, Garcia, Kamlager-Dove,
Moskowitz, Goldman, and Crockett.
Chair Jordan. [Presiding.] The Committee will come to
order. Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a
recess at any time. We welcome everyone to today's hearing on
Oversight of the Department of Justice.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin, Mr.
Tiffany, to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
All. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States
of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all.
Chair Jordan. We will begin with opening statements. The
Chair is now recognized.
Eighteen cities, 11 States, three counties, and the
District of Columbia are sanctuary jurisdictions--accounting
for 31 percent of the population in this country. Thirty-one
percent of the American people, almost one-third of the
American people, live in a city, county, or State where the
Left-wing leadership tells local law enforcement not to work
with Federal law enforcement.
Now, what does that mean in practice? Let's look at Abraham
Gonzalez who, on September 20, 2023, was arrested by Border
Patrol for illegally entering the United States. Of course, the
Biden Administration released him into the country. Five months
later, February 26, 2024, Mr. Gonzalez is charged with assault.
Two weeks later, March 11, 2024, he is charged with felony
motor vehicle theft--stole a car. On March 20, 2024, nine days
later, he is arrested by the Denver police and placed in the
Denver Justice
Center.
Six days later, March 22, 2024, ICE sends a detainer notice
to the Denver Justice Center saying this: If you're going to
release Mr. Gonzalez, can you give us a heads-up? Can you let
us know maybe 48 hours before you're going to release this guy,
so we can apprehend him there at the jail?
Remember, a detainer is a final order of removal from a
court, where this individual has committed some removable
offense.
On February 28, 2025, Abraham Gonzalez is released to the
streets. In fact, we could put that up. I think you can see
this. Released--we got the form from the Denver Justice Center.
What kind of inmate was Mr. Gonzalez for those 345 days
that he was in the Denver Justice Center? We have that, too.
``Violent to the staff; keep separate.'' This guy was so bad,
you had to keep him away from other inmates. He had already
assaulted some staff members. Denver released this guy to the
streets instead of turning him over to ICE agents, who would
have come to the jail and arrested him there.
Of course, we all know what happens. When the officers did
apprehend Mr. Gonzalez out on the street, he assaulted one of
the officers. This is what happens when you have a sanctuary
jurisdiction.
Right now, in Minnesota, there are 1,360 detainer notices
for violent offenders. Governor Walz and others have released
470 criminal illegal aliens back to the streets.
In New York State, it's 7,000. Nationwide, it is over
17,000 that we know of, where a detainer was filed. Since
President Trump has been in office, over 17,000 times a
detainer was filed, and those individuals were released to the
streets instead of turned over to Federal law enforcement.
There has been 17,864 times the illegals who have been
charged with a crime and have been released to the streets, and
thereby, jeopardizing the safety of the public, the safety of
law enforcement, and, of course, the migrants themselves, and
frankly, helping create the environment that results in the
tragic deaths like we saw with Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti.
A few years ago, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said this
in response to the State of Union Address. She said, ``The
divide in America today is normal versus crazy.''
It's true, because it is crazy not to have a border, which
is what we had under the previous administration; it is crazy
to abolish ICE, and it is crazy to release bad guys who are
here illegally to the streets, when--with one phone call--
Federal law enforcement will come to the jail and pick them up.
The mindset that says it's OK to release these guys is the
same Left-wing mindset that thinks it's OK to weaponize
government against your political opponents. That is exactly
what we had in the previous Justice Department.
The Biden-Harris Department of Justice called parents
domestic terrorists. The Biden-Harris Justice Department used
FBI SWAT teams to arrest prolife advocates. The Biden-Harris
DOJ targeted traditional Catholics. The Biden-Harris DOJ
pressured social media companies to censor Americans, and the
Biden-Harris Justice Department launched not one, but two
investigations into President Trump--spending over $35 million
to try to bring down their political opponent.
To further this effort, they sought the phone records of
over a dozen Republican Members of Congress. Even the Democrats
said this was wrong. They got bank records for scores of White
House officials. They even paid at least one confidential human
source $20,000 for information on President Trump. Of course,
while doing all this, they couldn't tell us who planted the
pipe bombs, who leaked the Dobbs opinion, and who put cocaine
in the White House.
Thank goodness the American people saw through it all.
Americans were tired of being targeted for their beliefs, tired
of the lawfare, and tired of the rampant crime throughout this
country. That's why they overwhelmingly elected President
Trump.
What a difference a year makes. What a difference a year
makes. Under Attorney General Bondi, the DOJ has returned to
its core missions--upholding the rule of law, going after the
bad guys, and keeping Americans safe.
The Trump Justice Department has restored the rule of law.
Murders are down nationwide by 20 percent, and D.C. violent
crime is down by 28 percent. The Federal surge in D.C. resulted
in 8,000 arrests, the seizure of 800 illegal guns, and the
recovery of 16 missing kids.
The Trump Justice Department apprehended a suspect in the
pipe bomb investigation, and they have arrested six of the
FBI's top ten most wanted fugitives in just one year.
Of course, they arrested narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro and
they seized a record number of drugs flowing into this country.
The Trump Justice Department put an end to targeting
Americans for their beliefs. Attorney General Bondi rescinded
Attorney General Garland's antiparent memorandum.
The Department of Justice ended the practices of using the
FACE Act to target prolife Americans. They have refused to
tolerate attacks on places of worship and investigations of
traditional Catholics that we saw in the previous
administration.
On her first day, Attorney General Bondi disbanded the
Foreign Influence Task Force that was pressuring social media
companies to censor Americans. The Trump Justice Department has
ended lawfare.
Under Attorney General Bondi, along with Director Patel,
they have worked to expose the political nature of Arctic Frost
and the Jack Smith investigations.
They have turned over hundreds of pages of documents to
Congress, and that is why we know, for example, that Mr. Smith
paid at least $20,000 to some confidential human source.
That's why we know that Jack Smith knew it was
unconstitutional to seek the toll records from Members, but
since the litigation risk was low, and because Members would
never find out about the subpoena until years later, they
charged ahead and violated the Constitution.
The Trump Justice Department has changed DOJ policy to
require prosecutors to tell judges if NDOs relate to Members of
the separate and equal branch of government, the Congress.
To top it all off, the Trump Justice Department opened an
investigation into conspiracy behind the Russian collusion
hoax.
The Justice Department has put commonsense ahead of
politics. They sued to keep boys out of girls' sports. They
secured deals with universities to stop race-based admissions
and antisemitic practices.
After discovering rampant fraud in Minnesota, the Justice
Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi, has
a new National Fraud Division. In fact, I met with Colin
McDonald, who will head that division, last week. I think he is
going to do a great job.
There's a lot of work to be done in that area, but I want
to thank the Attorney General for her great work in the first
year on the job, and I want to thank you for being here.
With that, I would yield to the Ranking Member for an
opening statement.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you kindly, Mr. Chair. Welcome, Attorney
General Bondi. You've got the best lawyer's job in America
because your mission is justice and your clients are the
American people.
To promote justice for the people, you've got to listen to
the victims, like the women seated behind you today. Those are
just some of the hundreds of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's
global sex trafficking ring who are demanding that the truth be
told and are demanding accountability for the abusers who
trafficked and raped them. You still haven't met with these
survivors.
With their permission, let me introduce to you the
survivors and late survivors' family members who are present
today. There's Theresa Helm and Jess Michaels; Lara Blume
McGee, Dani Bensky, Liz Stein, and Marina Lacerda; Sky and
Amanda Roberts, who are the family of the late Virginia
Giuffre; Sharlene Rochard and Lisa Phillips.
Now, you're not showing a lot of interest in the victims,
Madam Attorney General. Whether it's Epstein's human
trafficking ring or the homicidal governmental violence against
citizens in Minneapolis, as Attorney General, you're siding
with the perpetrators and you're ignoring the victims. That
will be your legacy unless you act quickly to change course.
You're running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the
Department of Justice. You've been ordered by subpoena and by
Congress to turn over six million documents, photographs, and
videos in the Epstein files, but you've turned over only three
million.
You say you're not turning over the other three million
because they're somehow duplicative, but we know that there are
actual memos of victims' statements in there. You also took
down the Department of Justice's prosecution memo from 2019.
It's clearly not all duplicative, but even if it were, why not
release it? Just release all the duplicative stuff.
In the half you did produce, you redacted the names of
abusers, enablers, accomplices, and coconspirators, apparently,
to spare them embarrassment and disgrace--which is the exact
opposite of what the law ordered you to do.
Even worse, you, shockingly, failed to redact many of the
victims' names, which is what you were ordered to do by
Congress. Some of the victims had come forward publicly, but
many had not. Many had kept their torment private, even from
family and friends, but you published their names, their
identities, their images on thousands of pages for the world to
see. You ignored the law, and even with over 100,000 employees
at your disposal, you acted with some mixture of staggering
incompetence, cold indifference, and jaded cruelty toward more
than 1,000 victims raped, abused, and trafficked. This
performance screams cover-up.
Convicted sex trafficker and groomer Ghislaine Maxwell
``opened the gates of hell'' to Virginia Giuffre and hundreds
of other victims, as Virginia recorded in her remarkable book
Nobody's Girl. When Maxwell was subpoenaed to come testify
before Congress, you and Todd Blanche quickly moved her from a
higher-security prison to a minimum-security camp in Texas,
where she's enjoyed five-star treatment, including catered
meals, private gym time, and access to a therapy puppy--all
because Todd Blanche, who has utterly failed to investigate the
monstrous crimes of Epstein and Maxwell's coconspirators, spent
nine hours with Maxwell and satisfied himself that she would
have nothing untoward to say about Donald Trump, which is your
only real interest in the matter, based on institutional
performance.
Abandoning victims and coddling perpetrators is what you do
best. When the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the
brutal killing in Minneapolis of Renee Good, a poet and 37-
year-old mother of three, by Trump's masked paramilitary ICE
agents, you shut it down. You claim you're investigating the
cold-blooded murder of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the VA, but
how can we trust the administration, when the President and
Kristi Noem call Pretti a ``domestic terrorist'' and Stephen
Miller called him a ``would-be assassin''? Not only do you
refuse to share evidence with the State and local investigators
and prosecutors in Minnesota, you have blocked their access to
the crime scene and the evidence.
How are you seeking justice for Marimar Martinez, the
Montessori school teacher in Chicago who was shot five times by
a Border Patrol agent, who bragged about it on text? The family
of Keith Porter, a father of two, shot and killed by an off-
duty ICE agent in LA? The family of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez,
shot and killed in Illinois minutes after he dropped his kids
off at school? There's no sign of any movement at the
Department of Justice. You even launched a criminal
investigation into Renee Good's grieving widow. How sick is
that?
It's even worse. You have turned the people's Department of
Justice into Trump's instrument or revenge. Trump orders up
prosecutions like pizza, and you deliver every time. He tells
you to go after James Comey; Letitia James; Lisa Cook, and
Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve Board, and
Members of Congress, like Adam Schiff, Mark Kelly, Elissa
Slotkin, Chrissy Houlahan, Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, and
Maggie Goodlander, to name a few. You snap to it. You replace
real prosecutors with counterfeit stooges who robotically do
the President's bidding. Nothing in American history comes
close to this complete corruption of the justice function and
contamination of Federal law enforcement.
The good news is many serious lawyers at DOJ, including
some of your own original appointees, have refused your lawless
orders.
Danielle Sassoon, your original pick for Acting U.S.
Attorney in Manhattan, resigned rather than follow your corrupt
order to quash an indictment against Mayor Eric Adams, as a
political favor from Donald Trump. A Federalist Society member
who clerked for Justice Scalia, U.S. Attorney Sassoon refused
to participate in this blatantly corrupt scheme.
Her top assistant, Hagan Scotten, an Iraqi War vet and two-
time Bronze Star recipient who clerked for Chief Justice
Roberts and then-Judge Kavanaugh, promptly resigned, too,
writing to your office, quote,
I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a
fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was
never going to be me.
You and the President nominated Erik Siebert, a 15-year
career prosecutor, to be your U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of Virginia. After five months of investigating
Letitia James and James Comey, he found no evidence to justify
criminal charges. You forced him out. You replaced him with
Lindsey Halligan, Trump's personal lawyer from the Mar-a-Lago
documents case, who had zero prosecutorial experience and no
qualifications. Then, you were humiliated when a Federal judge
found that this corrupt appointment was blatantly unlawful and
threw out Halligan's indictments entirely.
Grand juries of American citizens have repeatedly rejected
your vendettas and baseless indictments brought by the hacks
left at DOJ now--with two different grand juries in Virginia
voting down indictments against Letitia James in a single week.
Just yesterday, another grand jury shut down your vendetta
factory by rejecting indictments against the six Members of
Congress who had spoken out to remind all service members that
they have a duty to refuse illegal orders. You tried to get a
grand jury to indict six Members of Congress who were veterans
of our Armed Forces on charges of seditious conspiracy, simply
for exercising their First Amendment rights. I hope you will
heed the wisdom and the constitutional patriotism of those
grand jurors and not try it again by doubling down on that
humiliation.
As your best lawyers are sacked for having participated in
the January 6th case or just fled for the exits now, your new
lawyers keep lying in court. In dozens of cases, they have been
excoriated for lying to Federal judges.
Chief Judge Boasberg, right here in D.C., suggested your
Department of Justice perpetrated ``a fraud on the court.''
Other judges found your statements to be, quote, ``inexplicably
misleading,'' ``patently incredible,'' ``totally
inconsistent,'' and ``so disingenuous that the court is left
with little confidence that the [government] can be trusted to
tell the truth about anything.''
Now, as Ranking Member, I asked the Chair to add a few
extra rounds of questions today, because we each have five
hours of questions, not five minutes, but we're stuck with five
minutes. That's clearly insufficient to give voice to America's
victims and survivors and to demand answers about all the
corruption and cover-ups that we see at DOJ right now. We've
got just one round.
We ask you politely, but firmly, Madam Attorney General,
please do not waste 1 second of our precious time by evading
questions, by changing the subject, or engaging in personal
attacks against Members of Congress. We saw your performance in
the Senate and we're not going to accept that. This isn't a
game.
In the Senate, you brought something with you called ``a
burn book,'' a binder of smears, to attack Members personally
for doing the people's work of oversight. Please set the burn
book aside and answer our questions.
When you hear us reclaim our time, that means it's time for
you to stop speaking. We only have five minutes. When we
reclaim our time, that means you stop. If you don't, we will
ask the Chair to stop the clock and let you go on his time.
The quality of justice in America depends on the character
of our government. Please do your job and bring the Department
of Justice back from the brink. The survivors seated behind
you, and the American people watching everywhere, deserve a
Department of Justice worthy of its name.
I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. Without objection, all other opening
statements will be included in the record. We will now
introduce today's witness.
The Honorable Pamela J. Bondi has served as the Attorney
General of the United States since February 5, 2025. She
previously served in the Office of the White House Counsel, two
terms as the Florida Attorney General, and spent more than 18
years as a prosecutor.
We welcome our witness and thank her for appearing today.
We will begin by swearing you in. Would you please rise and
raise your right hand?
Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the
testimony you're about to give is true and correct to the best
of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God?
AG Bondi. I do.
Chair Jordan. Let the record show that the witness has
answered in the affirmative. Thank you. You can be seated.
Please know that your written testimony will be entered
into the record in its entirety. Accordingly, we ask that you
summarize your testimony.
Madam Attorney General, you may begin.
STATEMENT OF THE HON. PAM BONDI
AG Bondi. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Jordan, Ranking
Member Raskin, and the distinguished Members of this Committee.
Thank you for hosting me here today. I'm grateful for the
opportunity to answer your questions, highlight the work of our
Department, and discuss the most important topic all--keeping
the American people safe.
A little over a year ago, I was sworn into office as the
87th Attorney General of the United States. I came into office
with a goal of refocusing the Department of Justice on its core
mission after years of bloated bureaucracy and political
weaponization. The Department of Justice's core mission is to
fight violent crime, protect the American people, and defend
the rule of law above all else.
While our work is never done, we have made tremendous
progress to make America safe again. In 2025, we saw the lowest
murder rate in 125 years. That's nothing short of historic.
If you compare 2025 to 2024, here's what you'll find:
The murder rate is down 21 percent; robbery down 23
percent; carjacking down 43 percent; gun assault down 22
percent; aggravated assault, burglary--could go on and on.
Crime is declining.
This did not happen by accident. The numbers tell an
important, yet straightforward story. President Trump has given
us the resources, the support, and the leadership to protect
the American people. President Trump's policies have saved
lives. I cannot think of a policy outcome more important than
protecting the lives of American citizens. Can you?
This trend has been especially clear in Washington, DC, and
in Memphis. These are two iconic American cities that spent
years in the grip of horrific violent crime. The Department of
Justice surged law enforcement resources, and the results came
quickly. Crime plummeted in both cities. I want to make one
point loud and clear. We achieved those results by working with
Democratic mayors.
Public safety does not have a party registration. When your
constituents call 911, they don't ask for political views of
the responding officer; they ask for help. I have Federal
agents in each and every one of your districts. They're here to
help and I am here to help.
Many cities and States have worked with us and taken
advantage of our Federal support. Some have not. Meanwhile, a
few elected officials have declared that they are, quote, ``at
war with the Federal Government'' and encouraged widespread
obstruction of law enforcement.
This has resulted in avoidable clashes on the streets, as
you've all seen. We have seen rioters storming a Christian
church. Citizens and law enforcement officers have both been
endangered by reckless rhetoric. We have made dozens of arrests
in and around Minneapolis so far, and many of them could have
been avoided by simple compliance with Federal law.
Of course, our efforts reached beyond our urban centers. We
are striking crucial blows against terrorist organizations,
such as MS-13, TdA, the Sinaloa Cartel, and Antifa. As we sit
here--I think you've seen the news this morning--the news is
reporting that cartel drones are being shot down by our
military. That's what we all should care about right now--
protecting America.
As we seek to dismantle these drug-trafficking networks
that poison Americans, in 2025, our DEA agents seized more than
47 million fentanyl pills and more than 9,800 total kilos of
fentanyl. That represents 369 million potentially deadly doses
that can kill Americans.
Meanwhile, our attorneys are fighting for President Trump's
agenda in courtrooms across this country. This administration
has been sued 627 times. We've fought through a nonstop flood
of bad-faith temporary restraining orders from liberal activist
judges across this country. America has never seen this level
of coordinated judicial opposition toward a Presidential
Administration.
It is not only an unlawful attack on the Executive Branch's
authority, but a serious attack on the democratic process. In
spite of this unprecedented judicial activism, we've attained
24 favorable rulings at the U.S. Supreme Court, their emergency
docket, and even more to come.
We've done so while ending the weaponization of the prior
administration by dropping baseless prosecutions, exposing the
Arctic Frost scandal via congressional disclosure--thank you,
Chair--and restoring one tier of justice in this country.
To address the Epstein files, more than 500 attorneys and
reviewers spent thousands of hours painstakingly reviewing
millions of pages to comply with Congress' law. We've released
more than three million pages, including 180,000 images--all to
the public--while doing our very best in the timeframe allotted
by the legislation to protect victims. If you brought us a
victim's name that was inadvertently released, we immediately
redacted it. All Members of Congress, as you know, are invited
to visit DOJ to see for yourselves.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the Epstein
survivors who are here today. I'm a career prosecutor. Despite
what the Ranking Member said, I have spent my entire career
fighting for victims and I will continue to do so. I am deeply
sorry for what any victim--any victim--has been through,
especially as a result of that monster. If you have any
information to share with law enforcement about anyone who has
hurt you or abused you, the FBI is waiting to hear from you.
I want you to know that any accusations of criminal
wrongdoing will be taken seriously and investigated. The
Department of Justice is committed to holding criminals
accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
In 2025, the FBI arrested over 1,700 child predators--a 10
percent increase from 2024. We also located 2,700 victims of
child exploitation and shut down 3.8 million dark web pedophile
accounts--3.8 million.
Please, if you have information to share that needs to be
investigated, contact the FBI.
Today, I look forward to discussing further our shared
obligation to protect the American people, uphold the rule of
law, and keep this Nation safe.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of AG Bondi follows:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Chair Jordan. Thank you, Madam Attorney General. We now
proceed under the five-minute rule. The Chair recognizes the
gentleman from California for five minutes.
Mr. Issa. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Madam General, thank you
for your extensive remarks, particularly on your continued
investigation of those responsible over the years in the
Epstein debacle.
Obviously, you have an amazingly full docket between civil
rights, between criminal, between so-called white-collar crime,
and doing so, as the Chair said, at a time in which both you
and the President are under attack, and our ICE agents and FBI
and others are under attack when they try to enforce law. I
personally want to apologize for those who would embolden
support or even stand with those lawbreakers that sit on this
and other daises here in Congress.
My job generally is to talk about patents and trademarks,
as the Chair of that Subcommittee. I'll forgo that today,
because one of my other jobs is the creation and maintenance of
Article III judges. I work with the Chief Justice on that and
we're trying to expand the court.
Currently, there are only 677 District Court judges. They
have very full dockets as well. You create a tremendous amount
of judges, particularly immigration judges. You do so to save
the court that, but adjudicate, as is the requirement, each of
those people who claim a right to be here in the United States.
That has been going on under Republican and Democratic
administrations for years.
What's unique about the Trump Administration this time is
that you and President Trump have managed to reduce the backlog
of people seeking that for the first time in decades. You are
getting ahead of that tremendous backlog that caused, for
better or worse, the release of millions of people with little
pieces of paper saying, ``Come back later when we call you''--
and often, to no avail, when you call. I want to congratulate
you on that because it's an accomplishment you might not take
credit for, and the other side would never credit for.
I hope you can continue to do that and do more. I say for a
reason. Because much of this hearing will be about Minneapolis
and other places in which the backlog of criminal aliens,
including in my home State of California, people who have hurt
other people, people who have victimized their communities, is
extensive.
Although the overall number through adjudication may be
going on, because of places like my home State, California,
you're unable to apprehend people that my sheriffs want
apprehended. They desperately want to cooperate and they're
prohibited by law.
It is this Committee's opinion on this side of the aisle
that, in fact, you should be given the ability to demand that
participation, and that the release of a known criminal not be
considered to be acceptable, just because a State or a city has
declared itself a sanctuary.
I want you to opine on just one thing that I think has been
misunderstood. As I said earlier, you create and maintain those
judges that adjudicate these cases. You also support so many
that, in fact, have to make decisions as judges. Knowing that
this limitation of so few Article III judges are there, please
educate those who seem to miss the point that Article I judges,
including bankruptcy judges, including immigration judges,
including lots of people with the title, appropriately,
``judge,'' do, in fact, issue documents that look like, act
like, and are normally accepted as warrants, as subpoenas, as
demands for State officials to stand aside and allow the
production of either an individual or documents.
Because people are missing the point that these ICE
retainers and detainers, and so on, they act like they're
nothing, when, in fact, in the ordinary course, Madam General,
you do, in fact, have Article I judges constantly putting those
out, and they are respected normally.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Congressman, for talking about all the
great judges.
If I could add one thing to that, we are always recruiting
and looking for judges. Please reach out to our office for
these judges who are handling all these very important matters.
We've even added some JAG, JAG officers, as immigration
judges.
Mr. Issa. Thank you.
AG Bondi. We're continuing to do that, but we're always
seeking qualified lawyers as well to be part of that. Thank you
for highlighting that, Congressman.
Mr. Issa. Thank you. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentlelady
from Washington is recognized.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Attorney
General Bondi. Right here.
We are joined in this room by some of the thousands of
survivors from Jeffrey Epstein's horrific sex-trafficking ring.
They have shown such incredible courage in speaking out, in
demanding accountability, to bring the predators and pedophiles
to justice.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required your Department
of Justice to disclose the perpetrators connected with
Epstein's criminal activities and to redact the information of
survivors to protect their identities.
Let me show you what actually happened.
First, in violation of the law, your Department has shown a
pattern of redacting the names of powerful predators. Here,
behind me, is one example of an email from Epstein to a man
whose name was redacted. The email reads, quote, ``Where are
you? Are you OK? I loved the torture video.''
Only after Members of Congress demanded that we see the
unredacted files did the world learn the name of this
individual, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the Chair and CEO of a
company that had financial ties to President Trump's business
and personal ties to Trump's advisor Steve Bannon.
Second, the survivors were not similarly protected--also in
violation of the law. Here is another email titled, ``Epstein
Victim List.'' We have blurred the names of the survivors for
their protection, but your Department of Justice initially
released this list of 32 survivors' names with only one name
redacted, along with numerous files that disclosed not only the
names, the emails, and the addresses of survivors, but also
nude photographs and even the identities of Jane Does who have
been protected for decades--until your Department released
their names.
Survivors are now telling us that their families are
finding out for the first time that they were trafficked by
Epstein. In their words, quote,
This release does not provide closure. It feels like a
deliberate attempt to intimidate survivors, punish those who
came forward, and reinforce the same culture of secrecy that
allowed Epstein's crimes to continue for decades.
To the survivors in the room, if you are willing, please stand.
If you are willing, please raise your hands if you have
still not been able to meet with this Department of Justice.
Please note, for the record, that every single survivor has
raised their hand.
Attorney General Bondi, you apologized to the survivors in
your opening statement for what they went through at the hands
of Jeffrey Epstein. Will you turn to them now and apologize for
what your Department of Justice has put them through with the
absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their
information?
AG Bondi. Congresswoman, you sat before--Merrick Garland
sat in this Chair twice--twice--
Ms. Jayapal. Attorney General Bondi--
AG Bondi. No, can I finish my answer?
Ms. Jayapal. No, I'm going to reclaim my time, because I
asked you a specific question--
Chair Jordan. The Attorney General can answer--The Attorney
General can respond to your question.
Ms. Jayapal. --that I would like you to answer, which is,
will you turn to the survivors--this is not about anybody that
came before you; it is about you taking responsibility for your
Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the
survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for
you to turn to them and apologize for what your Department of
Justice has done.
Chair Jordan. Members get to ask the questions. The witness
gets to answer in the way they want to answer. The Attorney
General can respond.
Ms. Jayapal. That's not accurate, Mr. Chair.
AG Bondi. Because she doesn't like the answer.
Ms. Jayapal. It is my time.
AG Bondi. Mr. Chair, why didn't she ask Merrick Garland
this twice when he sat in my Chair.
Ms. Jayapal. Mr. Chair, I have asked a question. I am
reclaiming my time and when I reclaim my time--
AG Bondi. I will continue to answer--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair the gentlelady is reclaiming her
time.
Chair Jordan. I'm--
Ms. Jayapal. It is my time.
AG Bondi. I'm not going to get in the gutter for her
theatrics.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the--the time belongs to
the gentlelady. The gentlelady has 17 seconds.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. You're not going to answer this
question. Let me just say this.
AG Bondi. Chair, I'll direct it to you.
Ms. Jayapal. What a massive cover-up--
AG Bondi. No, I'm answering a question.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, will you restore her time?
AG Bondi. I'm not going to get in the gutter with this
woman.
Mr. Raskin. The witness is interrupting.
Ms. Jayapal. Stop the time. Stop the time.
AG Bondi. She's doing theatrics.
Ms. Jayapal. Now, let me have my time.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady from Washington controls the
time. The gentlelady has 17 seconds. You can proceed with your
final 17 seconds.
Ms. Jayapal. Thank you. What a massive cover-up this has
been and continues to be. Donald Trump made the release of the
Epstein files the center of his political campaign because he
thought it would benefit him. Then, you got into office,
Attorney General, claimed to have a client list, only to then
say that there was no list.
Mr. Issa. Regular order.
Chair Jordan. The time--
Ms. Jayapal. Your Deputy Todd Blanche met alone with--
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady has--
Ms. Jayapal. --Ghislaine Maxwell and transferred her to a
minimum-security prison. Now, you continue the cover-up.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady has expired. The
time of the gentlelady has expired.
Ms. Jayapal. I wish that you would turn around to the
survivors who are standing right behind you, and on a human
level apologize to them for what you have done.
Chair Jordan. The Chair now recognizes--the Chair now--the
time of the gentlelady has expired.
Ms. Jayapal. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady--you have no time to yield
back but we appreciate that.
AG Bondi. Theatrics.
Chair Jordan. We appreciate the thought. I would argue the
central issue in the last election, the Presidential election,
was securing the border.
The gentleman from Arizona, who knows something about
securing the border, is up for five minutes.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Attorney
General Bondi, for being here today.
In 2022, Lafarge, which is a French cement company, pled
guilty in U.S. Federal Court to participating in a criminal
conspiracy with ISIS. That conspiracy contributed to the deaths
of U.S. service members fighting in Syria during Operation
Inherent Resolve. As part of the plea agreement, Lafarge was
required to pay more than $775 million into DOJ's Asset
Forfeiture Fund.
In February 2025, my colleagues and I sent you a letter
urging the Department to review the petitions for remission
submitted by the families of those fallen service members,
including several of my constituents. The previous
administration ignored these victims and our request and left
their petitions unresolved.
My question for you on this particular issue is, if you are
willing to work to ensure that families that their petitions
will be removed--oh, excuse me--reviewed and brought to a
resolution?
AG Bondi. Congressman, we are aware of that, and we're
committed to doing everything we can to support the victims and
work with you. Thank you for that question.
Mr. Biggs. Yes, I appreciate your answer. Now, let's go to
something that is also pressing that I've been working on for
years. This is the FISA Section 702 and Arctic Frost.
In January 2025, you testified before the U.S. Senate and
agreed with Senator Lee that, quote,
Anytime an American citizen's private communications are
intercepted or stored, whether through incidental collection or
otherwise, those communications should not be searched without
some showing of probable cause.
You still hold that view today, I assume?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Biggs. During the most recent FISA reauthorization, I
offered an amendment to establish a clear warrant requirement
for searches of Americans' data, while preserving every
publicly cited operational exception, including emergencies,
defensive queries, and cybersecurity threats. My intent was to
ensure that the Department of Justice could continue to keep
Americans safe while also ending warrantless searches of U.S.
persons' data.
Are there any additional circumstances or exceptions that
you believe must be included to ensure DOJ can continue to
operate effectively while still protecting American citizens'
data and privacy?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman, we are committed to working
with Congress to uncover weaponization and other misconduct by
Jack Smith, by others, Arctic Frost, everything that happened
under the past administration.
We are committed to working with you on that, and we are
working with Chair Jordan, with the House Intel, with all my
fellow Cabinet members on resolving that issue.
Mr. Biggs. Well, thank you. I'm glad you brought up Arctic
Frost. Because Section 702 was used in the Arctic Frost
investigation.
AG Bondi. It was.
Mr. Biggs. Information derived was used by Special Counsel
Jack Smith.
My question has always been--and no one has been able to
answer this--what was the legal predicate for using a foreign
intelligence authority in the Arctic Frost investigation? Have
you been able to ascertain any legal predicate?
AG Bondi. Congressman, what I can tell you today is that
has been referred to my office. I can't discuss anything
regarding that because it is very active and ongoing.
Mr. Biggs. You probably can't answer this one, either, but
I really want to know if Section 702 queries related to that
matter involved Members of Congress, which we know on some
level it did; congressional staff, which we know at some level
it did. We've heard that journalists or other U.S. persons not
suspected of acting as foreign agents were also caught up in
that. Can you answer that question and say whether queries did
cover all those groups I just identified?
AG Bondi. It is a very active pending investigation within
my office. However, I believe many Members of Congress have
stated that their phones were part of Arctic Frost. We are well
aware of that, and we are taking this very seriously, and this
is a very active investigation.
I would keep going and say, if any Member of the Democrat
Party, if any of them had that happened to them, we would take
that just as serious as we do, and they should be jumping up
and down, screaming, supporting you and what you want to do,
because this should be a bipartisan issue.
Mr. Biggs. Well, I hope it is a bipartisan issue.
I'll just leave with these last couple of questions, which
I'm sure fall into the same investigation privilege, but that's
this: How many such queries were actually conducted overall--
this is outside of the Arctic Frost--in the prior year by the
FBI or other intelligence community? Particularly, we really
need to know, what were the legal standards applied? Did they
use probable cause? Did they use reasonable articulable
suspicion? Did they have no individualized suspicion and just
were gathering up information? That's beyond the investigation
regarding Arctic Frost.
I don't expect you to have that information today, but if
you can help get that information, so we can understand the
extensive nature of this continued misuse of 702, it would be
very particularly helpful.
AG Bondi. It was extensive. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. Crockett. I have a UC, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. That is gentlelady from Texas.
Ms. Crockett. I ask unanimous consent to enter into the
record, ``El Paso airspace reopened after FAA quickly rescinds
10-day flight restrictions.'' This was published by The Texas
Tribune on February 11, 2026. It says it was because of an
impasse with the DOD over the use of unmanned military aircraft
and not triggered by Mexican cartel drones.
Chair Jordan. Without objection. Without objection.
Mr. Raskin. Point of order, Mr. Chair. I didn't hear back
about the second round of questions. I assume that's not
happening. I just want to be able to assure the Members,
certainly on my side, if not both sides--
Chair Jordan. That's not a point of order, but a question
you had.
Mr. Raskin. No, that every Member will get five minutes
with the witness. Will there be five minutes for each?
Chair Jordan. Yes. You'll get give minutes, yes.
Mr. Raskin. With the witness?
Chair Jordan. Yes.
Mr. Raskin. OK. Very good.
Chair Jordan. Yes. OK. Are you up next? The gentleman from
New York is recognized.
Mr. Nadler. Mr. Chair, I want to begin by acknowledging the
survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's horrific abuse who are in the
room with us today.
I want to thank all of you for your bravery in speaking
out, and I want to say that you and the other survivors of
these heinous crimes deserve better from this Department of
Justice. In particular, it is shocking that the Department did
not redact the names of Epstein's victims, but it did redact
the names of their abusers. I don't know whether this was done
out of incompetence or whether it was deliberate and malicious.
Either way, it is completely unacceptable.
Even more troubling, the DOJ has failed to bring any of
these perpetrators to justice. Instead, it has engaged in a
relentless pursuit of Donald Trump's perceived enemies. I want
to focus on just one example.
The Attorney General of my home State of New York, Tish
James. This DOJ has been hell-bent on securing an indictment
against Ms. James for something, anything, simply because she
held Donald Trump's companies accountable for years of
financial fraud.
Indeed, the Department manufactured an investigation
against her for alleged, quote, ``mortgage fraud.'' The U.S.
Attorney leading the investigation, Erik Seibert, a Trump
appointee, refused to bring charges against Ms. James because
there was simply no evidence. Unfortunately, a prosecutor who
refused to do Trump's bidding has no place in this DOJ. Mr.
Seibert was forced out.
Trump could not contain his fury that he expressed to you
in a social media post addressed to you by name. I'm sure
you've seen it, quote, ``I fired him and there was a great
case,'' he wrote to you about Mr. Siebert. Then, we move down,
``You can't delay any longer. It's killing our reputation and
credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me five times
over nothing. Justice must be served now.'' Obviously, you
followed that order.
Lindsey Halligan, Trump's former defense lawyer who had
never prosecuted a case in her life, was installed to replace
Mr. Siebert, and it was clear that part of her mandate was to
go after Ms. James.
Halligan immediately sought an indictment, which the court
dismissed because Halligan was illegally put into the role.
Your Department was undeterred, and not once, but twice tried
to indict Attorney General James in separate courts. Both grand
juries rejected you and refused to indict her.
It is practically unheard of for a grand jury to refuse an
indictment. In 2016, it happened in just six cases out of over
150,000 offenses. You had it happen twice in the same week in
two different courts. That must have been humiliating.
Now, there are reports you are continuing to investigate
her. The amount of resources that have gone into targeting
Attorney General James--months of investigations and multiple
failed indictments is astounding.
Since your own prosecutors told you that there is not
enough evidence to support a conviction, it's clear that you
were going after her simply because she held President Trump
accountable, and he wants to punish her.
She is just one name on a long list of Trump political
enemies that DOJ is reportedly targeting. From Jerome Powell
and Lisa Cook at the Federal Reserve to James Comey, numerous
Democratic Members of Congress, John Brennan, Jack Smith,
Democratic officials in Minnesota, Chris Krebs, Miles Taylor,
and more. Those are just the ones we know about.
In contrast to these politically motivated investigations,
grasping at something they can charge their enemies with, we
now have concrete evidence of disgusting criminality revealed
in the Epstein files. I really have just one question for you.
How many of Epstein's coconspirators have you indicted? How
many perpetrators are you even investigating?
AG Bondi. First, you showed a--I find it--
Mr. Nadler. How many have you indicted?
AG Bondi. Excuse me. I'm going to answer the question.
Mr. Nadler. Answer my question.
AG Bondi. No, I'm going to answer the question the way I
want to answer the question.
Mr. Nadler. No. You are going to answer the question the
way I asked it.
AG Bondi. Your theatrics are ridiculous.
AG Bondi. Chair Jordan--
Mr. Nadler. How many have you indicted?
AG Bondi. I'm not going to get in the gutter with these
people.
Mr. Nadler. How many have you--
AG Bondi. I'm going to answer the question.
Mr. Nadler. How many of you indicted?
Chair Jordan. Again, the time belongs to the--
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time--
Chair Jordan. The time belongs--
AG Bondi. Well, I think it's very interesting--
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time--
AG Bondi. I think it's very interesting that he talks
about--
Chair Jordan. You can reclaim your time, but--
AG Bondi. --they indicted the President said they indicted
him twice.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time, Mr. Chair--Close the time.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, please, will you stop the clock
and--
AG Bondi. They sure did.
Mr. Raskin. Stop the clock and restore his time.
Chair Jordan. Restoring his time--
AG Bondi. They indicted--oh, OK, here we go with the
theatrics.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time--
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from New
York.
Mr. Nadler. --and yielding to me, please--
Chair Jordan. We will give you a few more seconds. We will
do that, but--
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my--
Chair Jordan. --when you ask a question, the witness gets
to--
Mr. Nadler. The question was--
Chair Jordan. You may not like the answer, but she gets to
answer.
AG Bondi. Right.
Mr. Nadler. The question was, how many of Epstein's--
AG Bondi. They don't like the answer, Chair because it's
honest.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time. Reclaiming my time--
AG Bondi. He asked a four-minute question.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time--
Mr. Raskin. Restore 45 seconds to Mr. Nadler please, Mr.
Chair.
AG Bondi. I am going to answer.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time--
Mr. Raskin. You can let her filibuster all day long, but
not on our watch.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming--
Mr. Raskin. Not our time, no way.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming--
Mr. Raskin. I told you about that, Attorney General, before
you started.
AG Bondi. You don't tell me anything you washed-up--
Mr. Raskin. Yes, oh, I did tell you because we saw what you
did in the Senate.
AG Bondi. --loser lawyer. You're not even a lawyer.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Mr. Nadler. She took my time and I should get back at least
45 seconds.
Chair Jordan. We will give you a few more seconds; I said
that already.
Mr. Nadler. Not a few more. Give me 45 seconds.
Chair Jordan. OK. I'm timing right now, Mr. Nadler.
AG Bondi. All right.
Mr. Nadler. Reclaiming my time, the answer to my question,
how many of Epstein's coconspirators has she indicated, is
zero.
You have been the Attorney General for a whole year, and
your DOJ fired the lead prosecutor of this case, sat on
evidence this entire time, and claimed--falsely--last July that
there were no more leads. It took an act of Congress for you to
finally release part of the Epstein files, and when you did,
you included personal information about the victims, while
protecting the names of the abusers.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. Nadler. None of the perpetrators have been brought to
justice. Enormous resources have been dedicated to this.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Obviously, there was--
Mr. Nadler. It's clear that under your leadership, the
Department of Justice no longer works for the American people.
Chair Jordan. There was no question in there for her to
respond to.
Mr. Nadler. It works for Donald Trump. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back.
AG Bondi. May I answer?
Chair Jordan. I think our next questioner, Madam Attorney
General, is going to give you time to respond to all kinds of
things.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Chair.
Chair Jordan. We will turn to the gentleman from Texas for
five minutes.
Mr. Gooden. Ms. Bondi, you go right ahead. I'm over here.
The time is yours.
AG Bondi. Thank you. First, he brought up the President
saying, ``They indicted me twice.'' They sure did. They tried
to impeach him twice.
You, Mr. Nadler, were one of the leads on the impeachment.
I was on the other side. I lived that with you. During
impeachment, 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?
Have you apologized to President Trump? All of you who
participated in those impeachment hearings against Donald
Trump, 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.
All they want to do, all American people need to know this.
They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around
since the Obama administration. This administration released
over three million pages of documents--over three million.
Donald Trump signed that law to release all those documents. He
is the most transparent President in the Nation's history.
None of them--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, the Dow, the Dow
right now is over 50,000.
I don't know why you're laughing. You're a great stock
trader, as I hear, Raskin.
The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000,
and the NASDAQ smashing records. Americans 401(k)s and
retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be
talking about.
We should be talking about making Americans safe. We should
be talking about--what does the Dow have to do with anything?
That's what they just asked. Are you kidding?
Mr. Gooden. Mr. Jordan? Mr. Jordan?
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Mr. Gooden. Mr. Jordan, am I going to get an extra 45
seconds added to my time?
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order. The time
belongs to the gentleman from Texas. Ms. Bondi, the Attorney
General, can respond.
AG Bondi. Thank you. The Dow has shattered 50,000 for the
first time. This is crazy. They said it couldn't be done in
four years. Yet, President Trump has done it in one year.
National median rents have fallen to a four-year low,
thanks to Donald Trump. That's why they want to focus on
Epstein and our most transparent President in the Nation's
history. The murder rate, as I said, has plummeted to a 125-
year low, thanks to Donald Trump.
For an unprecedented--unprecedented--nine straight months,
there were zero illegal border crossings at the Southern
border. That's what we should be focused on, all the great work
that this President has done and will continue to do to keep
America safe and to make Americans safe.
Mr. Gooden. Thank you, Attorney General Bondi. I agree with
you totally. I think you've done a fine job.
I think the Democrats, in fact, should be apologizing to
the Epstein victims for doing nothing during the 4-years that
they were running the government. We did not hear about this,
and it took you and President Trump to finally provide
transparency and give answers to the American people. I want to
thank you for that.
I want to thank you, also, for standing up for truth today
and for fighting back against the theatrics and the time waste
that you will endure over the next hour or two. I want to
apologize on behalf of my colleagues on the Left. They're not
all that bad, but they've got to put on a show. I'm sorry that
you have to go through that.
I would like to yield the last, I'd say 40--it isn't even
40--it's 80 seconds. The clock says 40, but I've got 80 seconds
since I was so rudely interrupted, and I'll give all 80 seconds
to Chair Jordan.
Chair Jordan. I would just yield to the Attorney General,
if she has anything to add.
AG Bondi. I'm fine to continue. Thank you, Chair.
Chair Jordan. OK. All right. The Chair now recognizes--the
gentleman yields back. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
California.
Ms. Lofgren. I thank you, Mr. Chair. I would note that Mr.
Nadler's question has not yet been answered.
I want to start by asking, out of respect to the American
public and the Epstein survivors, some of whom, of course, are
here today, that we can have a transparent conversation and get
the public the answers they deserve.
I want to briefly direct your attention to two documents
I'm hoping we will put up on the screen.
In the first, an individual emails Jeffrey Epstein asking
whether a woman identified as ``M'' was pro or civilian.
Epstein responds that she was a civilian, Russian, and fun.
In the second email, Epstein writes to Steve Tisch about a
Ukrainian girl, noting that she was, quote, ``a little freaked
out'' by the age difference, and stating that he would try to
convince her not to return to Ukraine. He then instructs Mr.
Tisch to call him, adding, ``I don't like records of these
conversations.''
I'd like to ask a straightforward question that really is
either a yes-or-no answer. Do these emails constitute credible
evidence--not proof--but credible evidence warranting further
investigation into whether Steve Tisch was involved in
Epstein's criminal conduct? Do you think yes or no?
AG Bondi. I'm not going to play a yes/no game with you, but
I will answer the question to the best of my ability.
As I said, we will look and investigate any case involving
any victim. I'm not familiar--there were three million pages,
of course--with that email, but, of course, we will look into
anything.
The documents have been released, three million. With the
redacted versions, we left them open for all you to come. Have
you--I believe you've viewed them. If not, well, you have some
copies--
Ms. Lofgren. I'd like to--
AG Bondi. Yes, but can I finish, please? I'm not being
rude. Please.
Ms. Lofgren. I only have five minutes. Attorney General
Bondi, no. Yes, and I only have 30 seconds, based on your
filibustering. You didn't give a yes-or-no answer.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentlelady from
California.
Ms. Lofgren. Let me just go further. Director Patel
testified in this Committee room that there was no credible
information indicating that Epstein trafficked victims to
anyone else. In glancing at the documents, that proves that's
not the case.
In July, your Department issued a memo stating that it had
conducted an exhaustive review of the Epstein files and
concluded that no additional individuals would be charged.
I did go over to the Department of Justice yesterday.
AG Bondi. No.
Ms. Lofgren. I would note that 400-and-all-our-35 Members
are in the House, and there's four computers. It would take
many months to actually have the time. You know, I only had a
few hours.
The transparency argument is really kind of a sham because
it's not really--
AG Bondi. Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Ms. Lofgren. It is possible to really go in.
AG Bondi. Did you have to wait to get a computer?
Chair Jordan. Hang on. Hang on.
Ms. Lofgren. I did, however, see a U.S. Attorney
information for the Southern District of New York indicating
that there were additional survivors and probable
coconspirators. Other Members of Congress have uncovered likely
coconspirators whose names were blocked-out.
Now, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which all but one
Member of this House voted for, and the President signed,
requires the Department to release everything, except that it
needs to be redacted to protect the victims or an ongoing
prosecution, which, apparently, there is none, from the
testimony that we have received.
I am concerned that this Act has not been fully complied
with. When Director Patel came to the Committee, he admitted
that up to a thousand FBI agents had gone through the files and
redacted President Trump's name from them.
It's pretty clear that what has been transmitted from the
FBI continues to redact President Trump's name, even though he
is mentioned thousands of times in these files.
The credibility of the Department in terms of complying
with the Act has been damaged. The Department's credibility has
been damaged in other ways. I think we all saw the horrible
video of American citizens being killed by ICE agents in
Minneapolis. How the Department has handled these cases raises
a lot of doubt about the Department.
State and local police in Minnesota got a court order to
get access to the crime scene to be sure evidence would be
properly preserved by Federal agents, but they took--the agents
defied the court order. In a departure from general policy, DOJ
is not collaborating with State and local law enforcement on
these homicides. I really think that is a disgraceful approach
to the homicides of American citizens, and it really does
nothing to bring credit to your Department.
Mr. Chair, I would yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back.
AG Bondi. May I answer?
Chair Jordan. The Attorney General can respond.
AG Bondi. I find it interesting that she keeps going after
President Trump, the greatest President in American history. If
they could maintain their composure, this isn't a circus. This
is a hearing.
I find it interesting she keeps going after Donald Trump.
She doesn't say how much money she took from Reid Hoffman--did
you?
Ms. Lofgren. None.
AG Bondi. Nor did she post anything--
Mr. Raskin. Well, Mr. Chair regular order, please.
AG Bondi. She posted nothing on her X account--
Mr. Raskin. Regular order.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady--
AG Bondi. --on her Twitter account during the Biden years.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady--
AG Bondi. Now, all of a sudden she is going after--
Ms. Jayapal. Mr. Chair, there is no question asked.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Ms. Jayapal. Can we have order? There was no question asked
of the Attorney General.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Ms. Jayapal. She doesn't just get to speak.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Ms. Lofgren. I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Ms. Lofgren. Point of order, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady can State her point of order.
Ms. Lofgren. When a witness attacks--
Chair Jordan. That's not a valid point of order. You've got
to state--
Mr. Raskin. She hasn't completed her point of order yet.
Ms. Lofgren. I haven't yet--
Mr. Raskin. Please let her speak, Mr. Chair. Let's have
some regular order here.
Chair Jordan. Regular order is you've got to State the
rule, and she didn't do it.
Ms. Lofgren. I am trying to make a point of order; that the
witness--
Chair Jordan. What rule are you referring to?
Ms. Lofgren. --without responding to a question, has
attacked me personally. It's pathetic that she can't answer the
questions and, instead, is attacking Members of the Committee.
Chair Jordan. First, that is not even close to a point of
order. The gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized.
Mr. Tiffany. In August of last year, I sent a letter to the
Department of Justice asking for assistance in seeking
compensation for the town of Lac du Flambeau. The town of Lac
du Flambeau is in my District. Your office replied that it was
an ongoing matter and unable to comment on it, which I
understand. That is just fine.
I want to set this up, just as a reminder. Three years ago,
it was at this time of year that four roads were blockaded in
the town of Lac du Flambeau, and the temperature was 25 below
zero. People had to park their cars at a neighbor's place, take
the snow mobile across the lake to get their car, and then, be
able to drive into town. There were people 80 and 90 years old
that could not--were very concerned that they would be able to
get emergency medical services.
The perpetrators of this, the tribe out there, they
demanded compensation from the town. I would call it
``extortion.'' They, ultimately, got $600,000 from the town of
Lac du Flambeau.
The unfortunate part, Mr. Chair, is that the Biden
Administration took the side of the perpetrators who closed
those roads off, and the Biden Administration made it clear to
the town of Lac du Flambeau that ``we are not on your side in
regards to this.''
Well, fortunately, there was a Federal judge that said,
``No, this is wrong, what happened, and these roads should be
left open and they should continue to be left open.''
My question to you is, are you willing to work with my
office and with the town of Lac du Flambeau to further
investigate this matter and seek compensation from the Tribal
Government after their extortion of $600,000 from this little
town in Northern Wisconsin?
AG Bondi. Congressman, you do a great job representing your
District. Yes, we would more than welcome working with you, and
we are familiar with that investigation.
Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Chair, I would just add, we're
highlighting these miscarriages of justice in the previous
administration. This is just another one of those small
examples, no different than the Catholic Diocese in Richmond,
and many others that you have retold so many times. Here's
another instance of what they did to a small town and nearly
bankrupted them as a result of it. Fortunately, there was a
Federal judge that saw through it and has fixed it.
I want to move on to fraud enforcement. You have
established a National Fraud Enforcement Division, is that
correct, Madam Attorney General?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Tiffany. Has this new division begun any investigations
and getting after those individuals that have committed the
rampant fraud we have seen, like in Minnesota?
AG Bondi. Well, it's not only rampant in Minnesota; it's
rampant throughout this country. Much of it is in California,
as you know, and other places.
Yes, we are working on it actively. Our Criminal Fraud
Division has been working on it. We are expanding that. It was
the Vice President's idea to come up with this amazing separate
Fraud Division, which we are establishing and going nonstop--
not only to expose the fraud in Minnesota, but around the
country. It's taxpayer dollars that have been stolen from the
American people, and we are committed to recovering that money
and holding those people accountable.
Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Chair, I would remind everyone here, why
did this happen in Minneapolis? Why did Federal law enforcement
have to go to Minneapolis? Because of industrial-scale fraud.
It was an Assistant United States Attorney that said, ``This is
industrial-scale fraud that's going on in Minnesota at this
point.''
I sent a letter to our Governor in Wisconsin. We're right
across the border there. My District is only 20 miles from the
city of Minneapolis. I asked him to open the books for a
Federal audit on Food Stamps and Medicaid. Don't you think it
would be a good idea for every Governor to do that at this
point?
AG Bondi. It protects the citizens, and I can't understand
why that's not happening, and, yes, I do think that's a great
idea. It's happening around this country.
When our new division with Colin McDonald is established--
it's established, but when Colin is confirmed--he's amazing.
You've met with him, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. I have.
AG Bondi. When that is established, we're going to work on
both sides of the aisle. That's what we want to do--to stop
fraud in every city in every State in this country. We will
continue to fight for the American people.
Mr. Tiffany. You would encourage every Governor across the
United States, after what we have seen in Minnesota, what we
almost certainly know is happening in other States--you
mentioned California. You would agree that every Governor
should avail themselves of Federal resources to make sure that
this industrial-scale fraud is rooted out to protect the
taxpayers of the United States, is that correct?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Tiffany. Mr. Chair, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
Tennessee is recognized.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I would like to thank you for holding this hearing
and holding it in a proper fashion, as you have.
Second, I would like to thank all the victims of the
Epstein case who have come here to attend this hearing for
doing it and for being brave.
I've been trying to move this justice ball, and I apologize
I can't do it. The Attorney General did not recognizing it,
that's embarrassing.
I am from Memphis, General Bondi. Memphis does have the
task force there. The Memphis Safe Task Force has been
operating in Memphis for several months. We do have a
Democratic mayor, Paul Young, and he's not against the task
force, but he is against ICE being in Memphis and he's not in
favor of the National Guard being in Memphis. I concur with him
on those positions.
The DEA being there; the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms;
and the FBI, who have been in Memphis in other ways--having
more people there is good for Memphis.
Crime has gone down in Memphis, but it went down 25 percent
before the task force got there under the direction of Mayor
Young and Director Davis--Chief Davis. It's gone down about 15
percent more since then, and that's good.
I would like to comment that Mexico City's homicide rate
has gone down 40 percent during the same time when Memphis' has
only gone down 25 percent. That's not necessarily because of
the task force, although the mayor says he thinks it's helped.
I thank you for that.
You would agree, I presume, that violent crime in
communities across our country is critically important, and
that's why the task force is there. Is that not true?
AG Bondi. Yes, if I can just add to that, I think the
surge, the FBI, our FBI, under the leadership of Director
Patel, came in and did a surge in Memphis prior--
Mr. Cohen. Earlier?
AG Bondi. Yes, prior--right, prior to the task force.
Mr. Cohen. Yes. Yes, Biden.
AG Bondi. Thank you for saying that about Mayor Young. He's
been great to work with, and thank you.
Mr. Cohen. He's a good guy.
AG Bondi. He's a very good guy.
Mr. Cohen. One problem I've got with where we are in
priorities here. A recent Department of Justice National
Institute of Justice report, based on arrest records in Texas
and in California, found that undocumented immigrants were less
than half as likely as U.S.-born Americans to be arrested for
homicide. This pattern holds for assault, sexual assault,
robbery, burglary, theft, and arson. Half as likely to be
arrested for drug offenses.
I ask you--and I've written to you about this--there are TV
ads that run that say to local law enforcement, specifically,
just: Are you tired of having your hands handcuffed because you
can't do the things you wanted to do when you joined? If you
want to do something different, join ICE and you'll get a
$50,000 bonus and payoff your debts, student debts, and we'll
help you with pensions, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
They're encouraging local law enforcement to leave local
law enforcement and go to work for ICE. We need people working
in the front lines in local law enforcement to protect our
citizens from the worst of the worst. The worst of the worst
are not the immigrants. The worst of the worst, records show,
are native-born Americans, and they are committing crimes that
hurt our citizens and our cities.
You're working against it and thank you for that. By trying
to get our local law enforcement, where we have an undercount
of officers in Memphis, to leave Memphis and go to work for ICE
to deport people, is a wrong priority. Why are we trying to get
people, policemen, who are working on the front lines to leave
the front lines, take the $50,000, and go to work for ICE,
instead of working to fight the worst of the worst?
AG Bondi. Congressman, I have not yet seen that commercial,
that ad. I would argue that we need strong people in both local
law enforcement, State law enforcement, and all our Federal
agencies--working together.
I've seen some of the worst of the worst violent
criminals--violent crimes--who were in this country illegally.
We both know that.
In Memphis, working hand-in-hand--I want to stick with
Memphis and your mayor and what you discussed, because there
have been nearly 6,000 arrests as of February 8th--and I think
you agree with this--in your District, in your District, and
almost 600 gang members.
What we found in Memphis that a lot of the gangs are local
gangs, but 600 gang members were taken off the streets--
Mr. Cohen. Let me reclaim my time because I've only--
AG Bondi. One hundred forty-eight--
Mr. Cohen. I'm going to agree with you.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Cohen. Thank you for that.
AG Bondi. One hundred forty-eight missing children were
recovered by all of us working together, and nearly--I'm
sorry--1,000 illegal guns were seized as a result of us working
together.
Mr. Cohen. I would like to reclaim my time.
I don't disagree with some of the things you said, but
there are questions about those children, but it's a different
thing.
The fact is, ICE is running rampant and you have not
investigated it. When they killed Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good, that
was an execution, and you did not investigate it. You tried to
investigate her--Ms. Good's widow, and you tried to investigate
Mr. Pretti. They were executed, like Kristi Noem executed her
dog. That was wrong, and you should investigate those people,
and you should investigate anybody that uses a weapon, Federal
official or not, for civil rights violations.
I yield back the balance.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back his time. Madam
Attorney General, anytime you need a break, just let us know.
AG Bondi. Oh, I'm great. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. I will just--we'll just keep going. The Chair
is now recognized for five minutes.
Madam Attorney General, you're not allowed to exercise your
constitutional rights in a way that tramples on someone else's,
are you?
AG Bondi. No.
Chair Jordan. No, you can't do that. You have a right to
petition the government under the First Amendment. That doesn't
mean you can come into this room and start screaming at Mr.
Raskin or me, or anybody else, and disrupt a Congressional
hearing. You have a right to protest on the street, but that
doesn't give you a right to go into the Capitol and disrupt
Congress--something these guys talk about every day. You can't
do that.
When Don Lemon said that he was exercise his First
Amendment free press rights, freedom-of-the-press rights,
that's not really accurate because he was trampling on other
individuals' rights. Is that true?
AG Bondi. Chair, we will always protect our churches and
the freedom of religion. Yes, that's accurate.
Chair Jordan. The first right mentioned under the First
Amendment--
AG Bondi. Right.
Chair Jordan. --freedom of religion, freedom to practice
your faith the way you think the Good Lord wants you to. Right?
AG Bondi. That's right, under the Federal Government.
Chair Jordan. Isn't it true that Mr. Lemon met at a
shopping center with the rioters who entered Cities Church in
St. Paul, met with them prior to marching to the church?
AG Bondi. He did meet--and this is a pending case right
now. I will only stick to what is in the four corners of the
unsealed indictment, if I could, Chair.
Chair Jordan. Yes, I'm focusing--
AG Bondi. There's a lot, a lot more that will come out.
Under the four corners of the indictment, yes, he did. They had
an operation called ``Operation Pullup.'' They said they were
gearing for a resistance. They met in a parking lot, and they
caravanned to a church on a Sunday morning, when people were
worshiping together.
Chair Jordan. Mr. Lemon said that--he livestreamed before
entering the church with the rioters. Didn't he say, ``We're
going to head to the operation''? Didn't he say this on--he
said this on camera, is that right?
AG Bondi. Yes, Chair and more.
Chair Jordan. Yes. That he was in Minnesota and that, as
you said, they were gearing up for an operation. Again, you
can't do that. This is why this is so important, that this guy
be held accountable, and I think why you guys have charged him
and indicted him.
Moving on to a second subject here, will John Brennan be
indicted? Mr. Brennan lied to the Committee, which you're not
supposed to do. Last Congress, when we deposed him, he
definitely--18 U.S.C. 1001, we're all familiar with it. He lied
to the Committee, and the Committee, the Congress, and I think
the country would like to know if, in fact, he's going to be
indicted for lying.
Here's why it's so important, and I'll give you a chance to
respond. Here's why it's so important. It wasn't just that he
lied to us; it's what he lied to us about. He lied to us about,
when all this weaponization against the President of the United
States started, he lied to us about the dossier, and
specifically, what role the dossier played in the intelligence
community assessment.
Because we know, back when President Trump was first
elected, first term, this is when it all started, which led to
the Mueller and to the impeachment and to the Jack Smith, and
all the stuff that's happening in the last decade. It began
here and he lied to Congress about the role he played.
I just want to read a couple of things he said during that
deposition before I give you a chance to respond.
Mr. Brennan, when asked the question, said, ``The CIA was
not involved at all with the dossier.'' He said it was their
purview, ``the FBI's purview, and not ours.'' He also said,
``the CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or
inclusion of the Steele dossier in the intelligence community
assessment.''
Well, that's interesting because information that was
declassified this past summer by the CIA says something
entirely different. It says, ``Brennan''--and I want to put
this one up, if we have it says, ``Brennan, ultimately,
formalized his position in writing stating that''--quote; this
is released by the CIA Director Ratcliffe--``My bottom line is
that what I believe, that that information warrants inclusion
in the report.''
He was further asked by an IC--a CIA official, the same
officer said, when he approached the Director and asked--``that
the Director refused to remove it after being explained this
wasn't good.'' With the dossier's many faults, he said, ``Yes,
but doesn't it ring true?''
This is John Brennan using that document to change the
intelligence community assessment, which I think led to all the
stuff we have seen over the last decade. This Committee and the
country, Congress and the country would like to know if Mr.
Brennan is going to be indicted.
AG Bondi. What I can confirm is that we have received a
referral from you, Chair Jordan, to investigate John Brennan.
His attorneys have made some public statements, but the
Department is still bound, of course, by our longstanding
policy of not discussing matters.
What I will say today, I can't confirm, nor deny, whether
there's a pending investigation, but what I will say is no one
is above the law.
Mr. Goldman. Mr. Chair, a point of order.
AG Bondi. Weaponization has ended.
Chair Jordan. Yes.
Mr. Goldman. A point of order, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman from New York is recognized for
a point of order.
Mr. Goldman. If we want to know whether Mr. Brennan will be
indicted, you should just ask the President.
Chair Jordan. It's not a point of order, but I appreciate
trying to make it one. The gentleman from Georgia is
recognized.
Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Chair. General Bondi, it's been
reported that there were at one point 1,000 personnel assigned
to the task of identifying and scrubbing Donald Trump's name
from the Epstein files. Were those reports accurate?
AG Bondi. I believe his name has appeared countless times
in the documents that have been released.
Mr. Johnson. How many people were assigned--
AG Bondi. --if I could--if I could finish I'm going to read
you the stats.
Mr. Johnson. I just simply asked whether or not it was true
that it was 1,000 folks who were assigned that task. Were those
reports accurate?
AG Bondi. There are more than 500 attorneys and reviewers.
I cannot give you an exact number.
Mr. Johnson. OK, I wanted to ask you about that also,
because--
AG Bondi. I trying to answer. I'm answering the question,
sir. Who were assisting with this project--
Mr. Johnson. --this is a different question that you're
getting to now. There were 500 DOJ lawyers--
AG Bondi. At least.
Mr. Johnson. --and others assigned the task of redacting
the appropriate information, including identities of the
Epstein victim survivors from the Epstein files prior to their
release. Five hundred, is that correct?
AG Bondi. If I could have finished my answer--
Mr. Johnson. Well, I'm just--
AG Bondi. --there were more than 500 attorneys and
reviewers who assisted with the--
Mr. Johnson. OK. All right. OK. That answers my--that
answers--
AG Bondi. They ask a question and they don't want an
answer.
Mr. Johnson. That answers my question, ma'am and I'm going
to move on.
AG Bondi. Congressman, let me continue--more than from
multiple districts--
Mr. Johnson. I'm going to move on. General Bondi, would you
agree--
AG Bondi. This is ridiculous.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from
Georgia.
Mr. Johnson. General Bondi, would you agree that your eight
years of service as the State of Florida's Attorney General,
the third largest State in the Nation, served as an excellent
preparation for your current role as Attorney General for the
United States of America?
AG Bondi. Not only that, I was a career prosecutor for 18
years--
Mr. Johnson. Yes, for 18 years, and for eight prior to
being--for 18 years you prosecuted--
AG Bondi. He asked a question and doesn't want an answer.
This is theatric.
Mr. Johnson. Well, well, no. For 18 years--
AG Bondi. Come on.
Mr. Johnson. --you prosecuted serious felony cases,
including drug cases, correct?
AG Bondi. Oh, I prosecuted homicides. I prosecuted capital
cases. I prosecuted domestic violence cases. I prosecuted
multiple cases and that's why I feel for all these victims.
Mr. Johnson. You--and you also--
AG Bondi. Did you ask Merrick Garland this when you were
sitting before him, sir?
Mr. Johnson. You also prosecuted sexual assault cases and
child sex trafficking cases, correct?
AG Bondi. I answered that question earlier.
Mr. Johnson. OK. All right.
AG Bondi. I prosecuted multiple cases when I was a
prosecutor.
Mr. Johnson. The bottom line, you are an experienced and
seasoned--
AG Bondi. If I can answer the question--for 18 years--
Mr. Johnson. You're a seasoned--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, will you remind her of the rules?
The time belongs to the Member of the Committee.
Mr. Johnson. You are seasoned and experienced prosecutor,
correct?
Chair Jordan. I think I've said that a few times. I think
we've established that.
Mr. Johnson. Yes or no?
AG Bondi. Does he want an answer or not?
Chair Jordan. I think he wants a--
Mr. Johnson. I want a yes-or-no answer.
AG Bondi. When I did try to--
Chair Jordan. I think he wants the same answer.
Mr. Johnson. I want a yes-or-no answer, but--
AG Bondi. Well, yes, I can name my experience.
Mr. Johnson. --I'll live with what you have already said.
AG Bondi. I would love to explain my experience.
Mr. Johnson. Let me ask you this question--
AG Bondi. Clearly, you don't have any.
Mr. Johnson. --in the prosecution of sexual assault cases,
you are acutely aware of how important it is to protect the
identity of victims of sexual assault, correct?
AG Bondi. I have addressed this multiple times. I think
others were cutting me off when I was trying to.
Mr. Johnson. Well, I just simply asked, are you aware of
the fact that it's vitally important to protect the identity of
sexual assault victims, as you prosecute their--the people they
accuse of assaulting them? Isn't that correct?
AG Bondi. As we have said multiple times protection of all
victims are protected.
Mr. Johnson. Protection of the identity of the victims is
so very important.
AG Bondi. You are protected under--do you want me to answer
or do you want to interrupt?
Mr. Johnson. Well, because you're not answering the
question. You do a Jekyll and Hyde kind of routine around here,
and I just want you to answer my questions.
AG Bondi. What does Jekyll and Hyde mean? Can you explain
that?
Mr. Johnson. Well, it means you're nice to the Republicans
and you turn like Hyde on, on Democrats.
AG Bondi. Explain that.
Mr. Johnson. Let me ask you this, ma'am. We have the
Epstein victim survivors here today. Representative Jayapal
asked a simple question: If you would be so kind and honorable
as to turn around and face them and apologize to them for
outing them? How many lives have been derailed because your
Department was either sloppy and incompetent or willfully
trying to intimidate and punish these ladies from coming
forward.
AG Bondi. Your time is up.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman--
Mr. Johnson. Which was it?
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired. The
gentleman yields back. The Chair now recognizes the gentleman
from Wisconsin for five minutes.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Attorney General Bondi, my colleagues on
the other side of the aisle have spent the past several months
attacking the administration for doing exactly what the
American people wanted when they overwhelmingly elected
President Trump--securing our border and enforcing our
immigration laws.
I find it a bit ironic, because this is the same party who
just a few years were openly supporting strong immigration
enforcement after witnessing criminal illegal aliens wreak
havoc on the American communities.
I have a short video I just wanted to play.
[Video played.]
Mr. Fitzgerald. Attorney General Bondi, what's the Trump
Administration DOJ doing to end the open-border policies of the
prior administration that saw dangerous drugs and criminal
aliens flood our communities?
AG Bondi. Congressman, President Trump has worked
tirelessly, as you know, to close our border--which is what the
Democrats had asked for in that video. President Trump closed
our borders on day one. He is protecting Americans.
He is protecting our kids from the influx of drugs that
were flowing into this country from Mexico, the fentanyl
precursors that were coming from China. These precursors were
taken from China into Mexico, and in Mexico they were mixed and
freely taken right into our country, along with gang members,
MS-13, TdA freely coming into our cities around our country,
thanks to Joe Biden's open-border policy.
That has stopped under Donald Trump. It will no longer
happen under this administration, and he is doing everything to
keep Americans safe.
Let me continue. When he was elected overwhelmingly by the
American people. The majority of the American people wanted
Donald Trump. One of the main reasons was border security and
keeping Americans safe. That's exactly what he did.
That's why today the other side sits here; they yell; and
they cut me off. They want to yell. They want to ask a question
and don't want answers--because they want to distract from all
the great things that this President and this administration,
working hand-in-hand--and that includes Secretary Noem, who has
closed our borders, and Tom Homan, who has closed our border to
keep Americans safe.
They're trying to distract from that, and they're not going
to do it because the American people are smarter than that, and
they see through their theatrics.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you. Just quickly, yesterday, Senator
Grassley reached out to my office to tell me that I was one of
the 20 Members that was now disclosed and were under
surveillance from Jack Smith. This brings up the question of
nondisclosed orders and whether or not they should apply to
Members of Congress. With my phone records being surveilled, as
well as, it looks like, 19 other Members of Congress, I'm just
wondering how DOJ views that.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired, but
the gentlelady can respond.
AG Bondi. As I stated earlier, Congressman, anyone's
records who are illegally obtained--Democrat or Republican--we
will fight vigorously to stop that. Anything with Arctic Frost
I can't discuss right now.
Chair Jordan. Isn't it true, Madam Attorney General, that
the DOJ has changed their policy? You can't do that now?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Chair Jordan. The DOJ is not going to go do that and ask
the judge for an NDO?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Chair Jordan. Yes. Good. That, in and of itself, tells you
why this was--how wrong it was. The Chair now recognizes the
gentleman from California for his questions.
Mr. Swalwell. Madam Attorney General, you acknowledged
earlier to Mr. Johnson that President Trump was mentioned in
the release ``countless times,'' you said, in the Epstein
files.
I just want to play a video, though, for you that I think
speaks to the frustration that many of these victims have.
[Video played.]
Mr. Swalwell. I understand why the victims are frustrated,
and the Attorney General acknowledged what Mr. Patel would not
acknowledge--that it was way more than a thousand times.
I want to move, Madam Attorney General, to weaponization of
government. Yesterday, it was reported that six Members of
Congress had indictments sought against them, and they were not
returned by a grand jury.
My colleagues have spoken about their frustration of being
in subpoenas and having cell phone records combed through.
Well, in 2017 and 2018, Adam Schiff and I had our cell phone
records and email records combed through--not by you, but a
different Department of Justice under the President. It was in
retaliation for our role in the Russia interference campaign.
The Inspector General report would find this improper, and that
the predicate for it was absurd.
In 2020, after sitting on two Committees that were a part
of the President's first impeachment, an FBI agent leaked my
cooperation in a national security case where my campaign was
targeted. The President's FBI's senior leadership authorized
two statements to the press that said,
I was never suspected of wrongdoing and only helped the
investigation, but that didn't stop the death threats or my GOP
colleagues from referring me to an ethics investigation,
where Kevin McCarthy's Chair on the Ethics Committee would find
the same thing as the FBI.
Our current FBI Director would then write a book called,
``Government Gangsters,'' and it identified a long list of
enemies. About a quarter of them have either been investigated
or indicted. He listed me at the very top, along with Adam
Schiff, and during that same testimony, refused to recuse
himself when asked if he would recuse if any case came across
his desk involving me or people on that list.
Since that testimony, his Department has put me under
investigation with Senator Schiff for the nonsense mortgage
fraud cases that we're seeing. I get it. This is what the
President does. I priced it in. We have a bingo card at home
that my kids have made of what will come next. I expected that
the President would come after his enemies.
What I want to talk to you next is serious, and I did not
expect this would happen. I would like your help on it. The
President has inspired death threats against me and many
sitting up here with me. ``In June 2025, an individual left 11
voicemails at my District office.'' On the voicemails, they
said, ''Get the message to him. I'm going to hunt him, that
mother fucker, and toss his ass over the Golden Gate Bridge by
my fuckin' self.'' Donald Trump's Department of Justice in the
Northern District of California declined to prosecute it.
On May 14, 2025, on Twitter, responding to something I had
posted, an individual said, ``No, it wasn't, Eric, and now I'm
going to kill you.'' The Department of Justice from the
Southern District of Texas declined to prosecute it.
May through December 2025, we received messages at my
office that said, ``I hope somebody shoots you and your
children and your wife in the head. Pew, pew, mother fucker.
Pew, pew. I would stay indoors as much as possible.'' My
children, unfortunately, have to do that.
The Department of Justice has not charged this individual
and cited that he's prolific caller and has health conditions,
although what we have found in our own investigation and his
voicemails is that he said he will employ others to do this.
The President can come after me; that's fine. I'm in the
arena, so are these folks. We never expected that the
Department of Justice would not seek to prosecute and
investigate those who are making threats against us. That would
include those on that side of aisle.
I'm just asking for your help to protect life because life
is at risk with the environment we're in right now.
AG Bondi. Congressman, I completely agree with you. I know
about several of those personally involving you. I believe one
has been charged publicly.
There's something I would be happy to talk to you about
off-camera, but I can assure you that they are very serious.
They are being looked into. I can give you more details on
those.
None of you should be threatened ever. None of your
children should be threatened. None of your families should be
threatened. I will work with--you can come into my office any
day--I will work with all of you on both sides of the aisle, if
you are ever threatened.
I would gladly talk to you after this hearing about your
cases, but I can tell you some of them are very active.
Mr. Swalwell. Appreciate that and yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. We're sorry for
what the gentleman and his family have had to go through. We
appreciate what the Attorney General said. Some of the things
that the gentleman from California related, we can relate to,
and it's unfortunate and it's wrong, as the Attorney General
said. We appreciate the help we get from the Justice
Department.
With that, we will now recognize the gentleman from New
Jersey, Mr. Van Drew.
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you, Chair. I don't know where to
begin. Thank you for being here, General. See me. I'm right in
front of you.
I have to mention this first. I used this word before, and
my friends on the other side of the aisle got mad at me, but
hypocrisy. ``Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.''
For years on the other side of the aisle, we heard
nothing--crickets, not a word. Nothing was said when they were
in control. Nothing was mentioned, basically, until last
summer, and the Ranking Member points out that he did do
something last year. Yes, he did a letter complaining about the
plea deal for Maxwell. It wasn't a big deal.
Then, we get a new administration, and all of a sudden,
it's a big deal and they feign concern. They're upset. They're
investigating. They had all these years and this time.
In fact, Stacey Plaskett--and we all know that name--when
they had a Congressional hearing, a Democratic Member, were
taking texts from Epstein on questions to ask to go after
Trump. Epstein was using her, a Democratic colleague, as a tool
to go after President Trump. Just everybody keeping that in
mind.
Then, we talk about ICE and how horrible it is, and there
were concerns. Everybody wants everything to go right. Nobody
ever wants to see somebody die. They complain about it.
At the same time, hypocrisy, they encourage constituents to
go after the ICE agents--to challenge them, to hurt them, and
to attack them. That doesn't make sense. It's hypocrisy.
Then, we hear about the concern of going after Democrats,
that the legal system, that judiciary and the Department of
Justice is going after Democrats. They literally rework the
legal system under Alvin Bragg and Letitia James to go after
Republicans and those sympathetic to Republicans.
Be careful, when you accuse others, that you're not guilty
yourself. Be careful of what you say. Because you've got a
history and it's easy to go over it.
I just want to talk about where we were and where we are
now. We had over 10 million illegal crossings in the past
between 2020-2024, over 10 million. It's probably a much bigger
number. I'm being conservative.
We were told the people weren't dangerous, but they were,
General. They were dangerous, many of them. More than 300
individuals on the Terror Watch List during that time, violent
criminals came across, as we saw consequences where mothers and
fathers, daughters and sons, children were raped, murdered,
hurt, abused, beaten, and trafficked. From the drugs, my God,
the drugs they brought into our babies in this country.
Seventy-three thousand illegals with criminal histories;
20,000 with convictions of assault, robbery, and sex offenses;
13,000 convicted murderers in our beautiful country; and 15,000
convicted sexual assault offenders. It was madness. It was
insanity. It's bizarre. It's perverse. What in God's name were
you doing?
We finally are cleaning this up now. We're finally trying
to make it right and safe for our people.
My questions are this: General, do you believe removing
criminal illegal aliens from our communities will save American
lives?
AG Bondi. Yes, given the cases that you just discussed,
that's proof of it. Every single day, President Trump is
committed to that. This entire Cabinet is committed to that and
making and keeping Americans safe.
Mr. Van Drew. Thank you. Would you agree that--and thank
you for doing that. Would you agree that allowing individuals
with known criminal histories to enter and remain in the United
States--we knew this back then; they knew it--would you agree
that creates serious risk to our public safety? I know the
answers, but let's just say them clearly.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Van Drew. Would you agree that, when dangerous
individuals are released instead of detained--they were
released over and over and over again, and these are the real
issues. This is really what America cares about. They want
their children and their families to be safe. Do you think if
you release them instead of detaining them, that crimes will
happen because of that?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Van Drew. Would you agree with that--I'm sorry.
AG Bondi. It did.
Mr. Van Drew. It did. Thank you. Would you agree that
cooperation between--and this is a biggie, and I'm going to ask
you to elaborate on this. This is a big deal. This is why some
of the problems we're seeing in some of the places like
Minnesota are happening. That cooperation between Federal and
local enforcement, which we always used to have, helps remove
violent offenders from our communities, that we should be a
team?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Van Drew. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? In
other words, when the local enforcement is forced by the
politicians--not their fault--not to do their job and not
cooperate, why does it create situations that we see where we
have the need for crowd control? By the way, they're not
peaceful. Those are not peaceful protesters. We know what a
peaceful protester is. When you spit on law enforcement, when
you push them, when you hit them, when you beat their car--if
you can answer the question, thank you.
Mr. Biggs. [Presiding.] The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Van Drew. I yield back.
Mr. Biggs. You may answer the question.
AG Bondi. Thank you. Yes, I spent four days myself in
Minnesota and Minneapolis. What I will say about some of these
sanctuary cities, some of these Democratic cities, law
enforcement, is that they quietly want to work with us. I've
spoken to law enforcement in multiple cities who want to work
with us.
Yes, we're going to do everything we can to keep our
citizens safe, whether or not these Democrat-controlled
sanctuary cities do or don't.
Mr. Van Drew. Damn it, that's what really matters. I yield
back.
Mr. Biggs. The gentleman's time has expired.
Ms. Crockett. Mr. Chair, I have a UC.
Mr. Biggs. Ms. Crockett from Texas is recognized for a UC.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you so much, ``Donald Trump's approval
rating implodes on his strongest issue.'' This is from Newsweek
today. It says 40 percent of people approve of Trump's handling
of immigration and border security, while 60 percent
disapprove.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you. You don't need to read the article to
us.
Mr. Biggs. Without objection, admitted.
Ms. Crockett. That is a net drop of negative 20.
Mr. Biggs. Now, I recognize the gentleman from California,
Mr. Lieu
Mr. Lieu. Thank you, Attorney General Bondi, for being here
today. I'm going to show you two photos--
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Lieu. I'm going to show you two photos of former Prince
Andrew.
Prince Andrew attended various parties with Jeffrey
Epstein. Under the law Congress passed, you are allowed to
redact photos to protect the victims of Epstein's sex
trafficking operation. You redacted the photos of this victim's
face because you were following the congressional law, is that
correct?
AG Bondi. I'm sorry, that we redacted the victim's face?
Mr. Lieu. Because you were following the Congressional law,
correct?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Lieu. OK. You have now established that we--please put
the photos back up--are looking at a sex trafficking victim.
Under the Federal Victims Trafficking Protection Act, not only
is Jeffrey Epstein guilty, but anyone who patronizes Epstein's
sex operation is also guilty of a crime.
That's why I find it absolutely despicable that you sought
to protect Epstein's clients, like former Prince Andrew. Last
July, you closed the case on Epstein's abusers. The July 2025
memo from your Department of Justice stated, quote, ``We did
uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against
uncharged third parties.''
These two photos--please put the photos back up--these two
photos staring you in the face are evidence of a crime and more
than enough evidence to predicate an investigation against
former Prince Andrew.
I ask you, Attorney General Pam Bondi, why did you shut
down this investigation last July, and why have you not
prosecuted former Prince Andrew?
AG Bondi. I don't believe you asked Merrick Garland these
questions when he was Attorney General and sat before--
Mr. Lieu. I agree with you.
AG Bondi. You tried?
Mr. Lieu. I'm reclaiming my time.
AG Bondi. Did you? Never mentioned it.
Mr. Lieu. I agree with you. I agree with you.
AG Bondi. Did you not hear me?
Mr. Lieu. During the Biden Administration, I called for
people looking at Epstein files. Merrick Garland dropped the
ball, as did Attorney General Bill Barr, as did Alex Acosta--a
whole string of failures.
You are in charge. You have the power to change things and
hold these men accountable, and you're doing the opposite.
You're protecting them. I want to move on to another man Donald
Trump.
AG Bondi. Can I answer that, though?
Mr. Lieu. I want to move on to another question.
AG Bondi. Can I answer your question about protecting
Prince Andrew?
Mr. Lieu. You answered the question.
AG Bondi. You're saying no. I love this.
Mr. Lieu. I want to discuss another man, Donald Trump, who
is all over the Epstein files, like former Prince--we have a
video.
[Video played.]
Mr. Lieu. Like former Prince Andrew, Donald Trump attended
various parties with Jeffrey Epstein. I want to know, were
there any underage girls at that party or at any party that
Trump attended with Jeffrey Epstein?
AG Bondi. This is so ridiculous. They are trying to deflect
from all the great things Donald Trump has done.
There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a
crime. Everyone knows that. This has been the most transparent
presidency. He's the one that asked that those files be
released.
Mr. Lieu. I'm reclaim--yes, I'm reclaiming my time. I got
your answer. You said there's no evidence.
AG Bondi. President Trump asked that--he signed the
legislation.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, please stop the clock.
Mr. Lieu. I'd like to reclaim my time.
Mr. Raskin. Please stop the clock.
Chair Jordan. [Presiding.] It's his time.
AG Bondi. This is ridiculous.
Chair Jordan. The time to the gentleman from California.
Mr. Lieu. OK. I'm going to put up another document from a
witness who called the FBI National Threat Operation Center,
because I believe you just lied under oath. There is ample
evidence in the Epstein files--
AG Bondi. Don't you ever accuse me of a crime.
Mr. Lieu. I believe you just lied under oath, and this is
all on videotape. You said, ``There's no evidence of a crime.''
I'm showing you, here is a witness statement who called
into the FBI's Threat Operation Center. He drove Donald Trump
around in a limo. He overheard what Donald Trump said to
Jeffrey on his cell phone. He was so angry, he was going to
stop the limo and hurt Donald Trump.
He met a girl who said she was raped by Donald Trump and
Jeffrey Epstein. She later had her head blown off, and the
officers at the scene said that it could not have been suicide.
No one at the Department of Justice interviewed this
witness. You need to interview this witness immediately.
Epstein should rot in hell. Should the men who patronized
his operation. As we sit here today, there are 1,000 sex
trafficking victims, and you have not held a single man
accountable.
Shame on you. If you had any decency, you would resign
right after this hearing concludes.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman--The time of the
gentleman has expired. I don't know--
AG Bondi. May I respond?
Chair Jordan. Yes, I don't know how you respond. No one
could--
AG Bondi. Well, I can respond.
Mr. Lieu. I did not ask a question, Mr. Chair.
AG Bondi. He doesn't want to talk about the horrific--
Chair Jordan. Go ahead. You're allowed to.
Mr. Lieu. I did not ask a question.
AG Bondi. --crime in California. He does not walk to talk
about crime in his State.
Mr. Lieu. I did not ask a question.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman--
Mr. Lieu. She can't--stop. I did not ask a question.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order. The gentleman
has yielded back his time.
I think our next witness will be more than happy to let the
Attorney General respond.
Mr. Moore. Madam Attorney General, would you like to--
Chair Jordan. The gentleman from Alabama is recognized for
five minutes.
Mr. Moore. You have a few minutes to respond.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Congressman.
This is what Congressman Lieu didn't want to talk about. He
didn't want to talk about all the crime that is happening in
his State. California refuses to honor detainees because of its
dangerous sanctuary city policies.
The refusal means California has released 4,561 criminal
illegal aliens--criminal illegal aliens--onto its streets. The
crimes of these aliens include 31 homicides, 661 assaults, 574
burglaries, 184 robberies, 100--1,489 dangerous drug offenses,
379 weapons offenses, and 234 sexual predator offenses. That's
why they are deflecting. That's why they're trying to talk
about the Epstein files. That's currently happening in his home
State.
Mr. Moore. Attorney General, thank you for being here, and
I wanted to make sure you had time to respond.
I'm going to change gears a little bit. In October, when
you were testifying before the Senate, I know you and my friend
Senator Katie Britt discussed concerns and infiltration of the
illegal Chinese vapes into our country. As a father of three,
obviously, I'm worried a little bit about this, and I believe
that many parents in the country share our similar concerns.
Can you provide an update on DOJ's work in this space over the
past few months?
AG Bondi. Yes. Thank you for bringing that up. We are
talking about the vapes. This should be an issue where both
sides of the aisle can work together on parents need to
understand, children need to understand that so many of these
are being manufactured in China, sent to our country, and have
the potential to be laced with lethal drugs. We have seen an
overdose. We need to get on the front end of this before we
have another crisis and children are dying. I have partnered
with Secretary Kennedy, of course, at HHS on this matter, but
thank you for bringing it up. They are selling these things as
flavored vapes, illegally, in many stores around the country.
Secretary Kennedy and I actually did a--we went and did
something on this, and it was sadly the day that Charlie Kirk
was assassinated. It didn't get a lot of attention, nor should
it have after that happened. Yes, we are continuing to work on
that and thank you bringing that up. That is happening in all
our States and I would ask everyone here, I know Congresswoman
Ross was just nodding, it is happening in every State and not
only are they laced with THC, many of these vapes, but they
could be laced with fentanyl. We have had a child--I wish I
could think of the State it was in, but we have already had
someone overdose and we have to get together on this and we
have to get on the front end of this and I would love to work
across the aisle on this to protect our kids.
How many school kids do you see now vaping? It is not
only--I believe a vape has 20 cigarettes, but one vape is 20
cigarettes, I believe it is, but also what they could be laced
with because so many of them, the majority of them are
manufactured in China.
Mr. Moore. If you need additional resources, please let us
know as you are going through the process.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Moore. I am going to change gears one more time on you.
Under the Biden Administration, there was a lot of confusion
created when parts of the DOJ began treating software
developers like financial institutions, even when they did not
hold or control anyone's money, they were simply building the
technology. That uncertainty made it harder for Americans to
innovate here at home. Earlier this year, the Deputy Attorney
General issued a memo entitled Ending Regulations by
Prosecution, a clear break from the Biden Administration's
approach, and it is important that is a good step in the right
direction. Can you talk a bit about how the DOJ is now putting
that memo into practice, especially when it comes to making
sure that people are just writing the software and don't
control the users' funds and we don't want them treated as an
unlicensed money because they are not money transmitters.
AG Bondi. Yes, and we are doing everything we can to
protect the American people on that and would refer everyone to
Deputy Attorney General Blanche's memo and we are working as
hard as we can on that topic.
Mr. Moore. We want to lead the way in the space on that, so
we would appreciate the help.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Moore. With that, Mr. Chair, I yield back 10 seconds.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. We will recognize
the gentleman from Arizona for unanimous consent.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a number of UCs.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman can proceed.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
First, ``Bombshell New Doc Showed Trump Called Police About
Epstein in 2006.''
Second, ``Kamela Harris Defends Biden Administration
Decision Not To Release Epstein Files.''
Third, ``Why Weren't They Released During the Biden
Administration.''
Fourth, ``House Democrat Stacey Plaskett Exchanged Texts
With Epstein During 2019 congressional Hearing.''
Fifth, ``New York Judge Allows Epstein Victims' Claims
Against Plaskett To Proceed.''
Sixth, ``Hakeem Jeffries Solicited Funding from Epstein in
2013 After Financier Was Convicted as a Child Sex Offender.''
Seventh, ``Jeffrey Epstein Was Invited To Dem Fundraising
Dinner and to Get to Know Hakeem Jeffries by Firm Working with
Brooklyn's Barack.''
Eighth, an email from Leslie Groff to Jeffrey Epstein
Concerning Hakeem Jeffries.
Nineth, ``Epstein Files Says Biden Was Replaced in 2019!?''
Chair Jordan. Without objection.
Mr. Biggs. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields?
Mr. Biggs. Yes.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman from California is recognized,
Mr. Correa.
Mr. Correa. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and welcome Attorney
General Bondi. I agree with you. Our top priority should be
protecting Americans. My past life in the California State
Legislature, I did a lot of work on solving sex crimes, passing
legislation to update our codes, and I found that the biggest
challenge to solving sex crimes is reporting them. Victims have
to have the guts to stand up to report those sex crimes. It is
not easy. It is the most unreported sex crime there, crime
there is, that is sex crimes. It is painful, humiliating and a
lot of times the victims don't think anything is going to come
out of their reporting these crimes.
Then, we have adults, who as children were molested, boys
and girls, who will live in silence for the rest of their life.
I believe the Epstein Files are just one of many sex rings, sex
crimes taking place in our society today. I hear 1,200 Epstein
victims, some additional victims as young as 9-10 years old.
The challenge I have today, what bothers me today about
this hearing, Madam Attorney General, is what is the message we
are sending out there on Main Street? Shouldn't ask the
question I don't know an answer to, but I am going to ask the
victims behind you right now, first, can you please stand up,
and then can you please raise your hand if you think after
everything you have heard today you feel that the Attorney
General, the Feds have your back? Do we have your back? Raise
your hand if you are confident that we have got your back?
That is the issue, Madam Attorney General. We have got to
make sure that victims stand up and report the crimes,
otherwise, we are going to take a step backward.
Today, AI, cyber, and social media, the new realm for
people to be hurt, attacked sexually, these are the areas I
would welcome the opportunity to work with you on. It is not
your problem. It is not my problem. It is our problem. To have
redacted files that are not showing us the names of these
predators is wrong. These are very powerful people. This was a
very expensive business. We don't know who they are. I would
imagine there are very prominent Republicans and very prominent
Democrats, and we are covering up for them. We have got to know
what is going on out there, Madam AG.
It looks like you want to say something. I am going to give
you an opportunity to address my statement.
AG Bondi. I look forward to working with you on any crimes
involving child sex predators, children, and also cybercrimes.
That is a tremendous problem now throughout our country. AI,
you are correct, AI is causing great problems online
regarding--we are working on that though. AI is an incredible
tool, but it also can be fraught with peril with victims of
crime. I have experienced that with someone I know who we have
been trying to help. I look forward to working with you on that
and on cybercrime--can I--
Mr. Biggs. Please, go ahead.
AG Bondi. As I said before, to any victims, we ask them to
come forward to our office, and we want to work with them. I
have never not worked with a victim, and I believe I have
actually spoken to several of the attorneys sitting behind me.
Mr. Biggs. Madam, if I can reclaim my time. If I can
reclaim my time? I just think we start out by making sure those
redactions are unredacted, those Epstein Files to make sure
that the public, according to the law, following the law, that
those names in those files are made public.
We have to make sure we tell those predators there is no
place for them to hide and if they commit the crime, they are
going to fry for it. It starts with showing us the names of the
perpetrators in the Epstein Files.
AG Bondi. May I respond to that?
Mr. Biggs. Sure.
AG Bondi. OK. If any man's name was redacted that should
not have been, we will, of course, unredact it. If a victim's
name is unredacted, please bring it to us and we will redact
it. We were given 30 days to review and redact and unredact
millions of pages of documents. Our error rate is very low, but
there are always going to be errors on both sides.
Mr. Biggs. The victims are right behind you. You have got
to convince them that we are doing a good job of protecting
them.
AG Bondi. We are doing everything we can to help them. We
will do everything we can to help the victims. We will do
everything we can.
Mr. Biggs. I am out of time.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
California, Mr. Kiley, is recognized.
Mr. Kiley. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Madam
Attorney General. I wanted to return to a point that the
chairman raised at the beginning of this hearing which is the
jurisdictions that refused to offer--to honor or obtain a
request from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement often
called sanctuary jurisdictions.
Now, I know that you are not involved directly in
immigration operations, per se, but you do deal with the legal
issues surrounding these jurisdictions. Let's say we have
someone who is here illegally, who has committed a crime, like
the thousands of people you mentioned in California, murderers,
sexual predators, and drug traffickers. If that individual is
in detention in a jurisdiction that has a sanctuary policy
where they do not honor ICE detainers versus in any other
jurisdiction where they do, how does the nature of apprehending
that person, how does the nature of ICE's involvement in that
operation differ in those two circumstances?
AG Bondi. Well, we have seen that in Minnesota where people
were not cooperating with us. I believe there are a lot of
local law enforcement that did want to cooperate, but we are
doing everything in our power to arrest and deport the illegal
criminal aliens and that is not going to stop under Donald
Trump's Administration. You know why sanctuary cities are so
dangerous, what we have seen in Minneapolis, where do all the
criminals go? The gangs, TDA, MS-13, where are they going to
go? They are going to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction because
they believe they are protected and that is not fair to the
citizens of those cities.
Mr. Kiley. Yes, this is a point that there--at least used
to be a lot of consensus on, the idea that it is better to do a
handoff to the immigration authorities in a custodial setting
rather than releasing them where they have to be apprehended in
the community. This is Alejandro Mayorkas, when he was before
this Committee, not exactly a paragon of border security, but
he said I do not consider it in the service of public safety to
release an individual into the community when that individual
can be released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for
prompt removal. Now, his words are one thing. His actions are
another. When you have jurisdictions across the country,
including my State of California, doing systematically
precisely the thing that even Alejandro Mayorkas said threatens
public safety, I mean what does that say to you?
AG Bondi. It is a danger to the citizens of the community
and thank you for fighting to protect them.
Mr. Kiley. Absolutely. We are having this conversation
right now in relation to Homeland Security funding and I
believe there are some commonsense reforms that have been
proposed that folks on both sides would agree makes sense, but
those reforms have to go hand-in-hand with reforming this
reckless practice of refusing to cooperate, refusing to honor
detainers, and declaring oneself to be a sanctuary. I am hoping
that we can find bipartisan support for what has long been a
bipartisan principle.
I want to go to a second topic which is the School Board
Memo which I know that you have rescinded, and it was initially
promulgated by Attorney General Garland when he came into
office with President Biden, essentially opening an
investigation into parents who were showing up at school board
meetings and expressing their views on COVID policies, masks,
and various other issues, and using the full apparatus of
Federal law enforcement and counterterrorism to go after these
parents. You said that this was because there was an increase
in threats, but when even his own FBI Director, Christopher
Wray, was before this Committee, he said there was no evidence
of an increase in threats. Yet, nevertheless, when I asked him
if he regretted the memo, Attorney General Garland said,
``there was absolutely nothing wrong with the memo.''
Now, I take it you disagree with that, having now rescinded
it?
AG Bondi. Absolutely. That was one of the main focuses of
President Trump in this administration. We will protect parents
at school boards. We will protect children in schools. We will
protect parents' rights for their children's education in our
school system in this country. We will protect Christians. We
will protect everyone who wants to really protest. If
Christians want to protest in front of an abortion clinic
without being arrested, they will do so.
Mr. Kiley. Thank you very much. Finally, I thank you for
your efforts to step up the detection and rooting out of fraud.
My home State is California. Any idea if there might be any
fraud going on in California?
AG Bondi. Well, we are establishing, as you have heard, a
fraud unit and I am sorry you are having to deal with that in
your State, but the cavalry is coming and we have Colin
McDonald who hopefully will be confirmed soon. We are working
in Minneapolis. I don't know if you were sitting here when I
said that, but California was right up there, I am sorry to say
for both sides of the aisle, that California is right up there
with fraud. It is out of control. We are coming to the rescue.
Donald Trump is coming to the rescue.
Mr. Kiley. Thank you very much and unfortunately, I think
you will find that what is happening in California pales in
comparison to what has been going on in Minnesota. Thank you. I
yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
Maryland is recognized.
Mr. Raskin. Actually, I think the gentlelady from
Pennsylvania.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady from Pennsylvania is
recognized.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Bondi, I'm here.
On September 25th, President Trump signed a memorandum
known as NSPM-7 purporting to address domestic terrorism, but
Americans across the political spectrum were immediately
alarmed by the memo's blurring of the line between unlawful
conduct and constitutionally protected speech and activity, as
well as its call to investigate, prosecute, and dismantle
groups that the President and Stephen Miller described, without
evidence, as ``an organized campaign of radical left
terrorism.''
Now, counterterrorism experts were further alarmed by the
administration's singular focus on Left-wing extremism combined
with the sudden deletion from the DOJ website of decades of
research and law enforcement analysis which had concluded that
Right-wing extremism poses the greatest terrorism threat to
Americans. The President's memo broadly and vaguely links
violent conduct to ideologies, and it targeted specifically
anti-American, anti-Christian, and anticapitalist beliefs, as
well as ``hostility to so-called traditional American views on
family, religion, and morality.''
President Trump has repeatedly and openly, however falsely,
tried to brand his political opponents with these sentiments
listed in his memo. As you know, as a lawyer, holding beliefs
that the White House disagrees with is not a crime, and the
statute defining domestic terrorism requires criminal acts, not
just thoughts and ideas. That is why legal experts, nonprofit
leaders, religious freedom and civil rights advocates
immediately raised the alarm that the new Presidential
directive was a politically motivated attack on civil society
designed to silence those who disagree with the administration.
Ms. Bondi, Section 3 of that memo directed you as Attorney
General, to submit to the President and Stephen Miller a list
of groups or entities whose members are engaged in acts that
meet the definition of domestic terrorism. Then, on December
4th, you directed the FBI to work with a variety of law
enforcement entities to compile a list of groups and entities
engaged in such acts by January 3, 2026, to update that report
every 30 days thereafter.
Can we assume that you or persons under your direction at
the Department of Justice have prepared that list of groups or
entities who are designated as domestic terrorist
organizations? I just reminded that is a yes or no question.
AG Bondi. I am not going to answer it as yes or no, but
what I will say is I know Antifa is part of that. I will talk
to you about--
Ms. Scanlon. I am reclaiming my time. I asked you whether
you prepared a list.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. On February 6, 2025,--
Ms. Scanlon. I asked you whether you prepared a list.
AG Bondi. --an Antifa member was arrested in Minneapolis--
Ms. Scanlon. I am reclaiming my time.
AG Bondi. You asked a question and don't want an answer.
Ms. Scanlon. The answer is yes or no.
Chair Jordan. Time to move along. The gentlelady from
Pennsylvania, the gentlelady can proceed.
Ms. Scanlon. OK, so will you commit to providing this
Committee with any list of organizations that you have
recommended be designated as domestic terrorist organizations?
AG Bondi. We will comply with the law in all matters.
Ms. Scanlon. Will you commit to provide this Committee with
your list of entities that you recommend be designated as
domestic terrorist organizations?
AG Bondi. I am not going to commit to anything to you
because you won't let me answer questions.
Ms. Scanlon. OK, well, then we do understand that your
current position is that you have a secret list of people or
groups that you are accusing of domestic terrorism, but you
won't share it with Congress. I would remind you that when the
U.S. Government designates an entity as a foreign terrorist
organization, it must report that to Congress and to the entity
because the Government can make a mistake and the entity has
the opportunity to contest it. Your position seems to be that
if you falsely designate an American or an American
organization as a terrorist group, there is nothing they can do
about it. I think we got it. You don't want to answer the
question.
AG Bondi. No, you don't get anything regarding public
safety. Nothing.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you for the insult. It is clear you
didn't come to Congress prepared to answer questions that the
American people have every right to have answered, but if you
were prepared to answer truthfully, here is what we expect the
facts to show. The administration is keeping lists of Americans
who the White House says are engaged in domestic terrorism.
Those lists could include Americans who have not committed any
acts of terrorism, but simply disagree with this
administration, people like Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Your
list may include clergy, elected officials and members of
indivisible groups across the country and those lists likely
don't include Proud Boys or Oathkeepers who were actually
convicted.
Americans have never tolerated political demagogues who use
the Government to punish people on an enemies list. It brought
down McCarthy. It brought down Nixon and--
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady is expired. The
time of the gentlelady is expired.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. Scanlon. --it will bring down this administration as
well. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. You are right. That is why we are so glad
they rescinded the memorandum targeting parents as the
gentleman from California just pointed out in his five minutes.
The gentleman from Kentucky is recognized for five--
AG Bondi. May I respond very briefly to her statement?
Chair Jordan. I think we can do that probably on one of our
Members' time.
AG Bondi. Thank you. I don't want that to get away. Thank
you.
Mr. Massie. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Behind me I have three
documents from the DOJ production that are emblematic of the
massive failure of the DOJ to comply with the Epstein Files
Transparency Act. To my right is an email that was sent by the
victims' lawyers to the DOJ. It was a list of names not to
redact, sorry, a list of names not to release. What did the DOJ
do with this email? They released this email in the document
production, literally, the worst thing you could do to the
survivors you did. They are getting phone calls. A lot of these
people didn't want to be known, and we know you touched the
document because you redacted one name and you redacted the
lawyer's name, but you left the survivor's name there.
The next document I want to show you--that was in the
title, the victims survivors' names, right? The title of this
one is ``Child Sex Trafficking Co-conspirators.'' Fully
redacted. By the way, you didn't redact him here. Les Wexner is
in this. Your Deputy Attorney General said, ``oh, well, he
appears hundreds of times in the files,'' but he doesn't appear
in this file until I forced you to release it where he is
listed as a coconspirator, not to tax evasion, but to child sex
trafficking. Not to prostitution, not to money laundering, or
child sex trafficking.
Then, finally, what we have here is the third exhibit that
I have is emblematic of the FD-302 release. These are the
documents that we need that you are holding on to and over
redacting because they have the names of the men who are
implicated. How do we know? Because the survivors gave
testimony to the FBI and it is in there. What happens when you
go to the portal at the DOJ to look at what is behind this
redaction? Another redaction, so we can't even see them. Then,
there is some of these files you pulled down from the website
that we will never see because we can't search the redactions.
I have several questions for you. Who is responsible? Are
you able to track who in your organization made this massive
failure and released the victims' names? Are you able to track
who it was that obscured Les Wexner's name as a coconspirator
in an FBI document? Do you have that kind of accountability?
AG Bondi. I believe Wexner's name was listed more than
4,000 times.
Mr. Massie. Yes, I already told you that. This is where he
is listed as a coconspirator.
AG Bondi. Can I finish my answer? Come on. Let me finish my
answer. We corrected that within 40 minutes. You are acting
like everybody was trying to cover up Wexner's name.
Mr. Massie. Reclaiming my time.
AG Bondi. I am going to answer this question.
Mr. Massie. Reclaiming my time.
AG Bondi. I am going to answer this question.
Mr. Massie. Reclaiming my time. Mr. Chair, can I have my
time back?
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady can give her answer. The time
belongs to the gentleman from Kentucky.
Mr. Massie. I am reclaiming my time. I am going to put the
language of the bill up on the screen.
AG Bondi. Chair, I cannot answer on that. It is a political
joke, and I need to give my answer.
Chair Jordan. We will get the Attorney General respond and
then the gentleman can move to his next question.
Mr. Massie. Chair, it is my time.
AG Bondi. Without 40 minutes. You asked me a question.
Within 40 minutes, Wexner's name was added back--
Mr. Massie. Within 40 minutes of me catching you red
handed.
AG Bondi. Red handed? It was one redaction of over 4,700
and we invited--
Mr. Massie. He is listed as a coconspirator.
AG Bondi. --and we invited you in. This guy has Trump
Derangement Syndrome. He needs to--you are a failed
politician--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Chair Jordan. The gentleman restored his time and remind
the witness of the rules here.
Mr. Massie. There is no credible information. None. If
there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked
to other individuals. Is that your position as well?
AG Bondi. My position is any victim who comes forward, of
course, we would love to hear from them. 1-800-CALLFBI. Did you
ask Merrick Garland that the last four years? Did you talk
about Epstein at all?
Mr. Massie. I am reclaiming my time. I am glad you are
asking about Merrick Garland.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. You don't get to reclaim time when I don't answer
a question the way you want.
Mr. Massie. This goes over four administrations. You don't
have to go back to Biden. Let's go back to Obama. Let's go back
to George Bush. These cover-ups spans decades and you are
responsible for this portion of it.
AG Bondi. That is what we are doing--
Mr. Massie. I want to know at what point, at what point did
the FBI and the DOJ decide that Les Wexner was not a
coconspirator? Because our Epstein Files Transparency Act
requires you--please put it back on the screen--to release the
internal decision about whether to prosecute him or not and it
is not in the file and it is not in the files for any of these
other men.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. Massie. May she answer?
AG Bondi. He is a hypocrite because he voted against the
ban that we were talking about on deepfake AI porn. Only two
people voted against it, and you were one of them. Hypocrite.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Massie. Mr. Chair, she didn't answer the question. Mr.
Chair, could she answer the question?
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady is allowed to--the Attorney
General is allowed to respond the way she wants to respond to
any Member's questions, Republican, Democrat--
Mr. Massie. I have unanimous consent request.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman is recognized for an UC.
Mr. Massie. All right. This is an example. I am submitting
these 302 forms that are entirely redacted even when you go to
look at them.
I am submitting a witness statement that implicates Les
Wexner; an article from The New York Times, the ``DOJ Released
Nude Photos and Identifiable Pictures of the Victims.''; a
letter from AG Bondi to Kash Patel imploring him to quit
keeping the files when you found out that they were keeping
files from you. Because they are still redacting files.
Mr. Fitzgerald. Mr. Chair, are we going to recess for
votes?
Mr. Massie. I am submitting for unanimous consent a
document of 17 individuals who have resigned because of the
Epstein Files.
Chair Jordan. Without objection. I am checking on what
time, how much time do we have left for votes, but one thing I
have learned here of late that don't wait on it. How much time
do we have? Oh, it was just called.
The Chair now recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to start by saying
I appreciate what you said, Attorney General Bondi and you said
it to me personally that you take the personal security of
every Member of Congress seriously and that people can contact
you about that. In these times, that is a very serious matter,
so I thank you for that.
Article 2, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution, is the
domestic emoluments clause and it says that the President is
limited to his salary in office and cannot receive any other
money from the Federal Government while he is in office. It
cannot be increased by one dollar.
This President is the first President in U.S. who has
repeatedly sued the Federal Government--to the Federal
Government for $230 million for the judicial search warrant at
Mar a Largo which was perfectly lawful and was never struck
down. Now, he is suing the IRS for $10 billion. He is suing the
IRS for $10 billion which I think is around 80 percent of its
annual budget because his tax returns were leaked and they were
illegally leaked by a private contractor who actually is in
prison now, Charles Littlejohn. He wants $10 billion.
Now, I want to ask you the question of whether you think it
would violate the domestic emoluments clause for you to settle
that $10 billion case or any of the other claims that the
President has made against the Government? He himself has
remarked it is interesting because I am the one that makes the
deal, right? He says I kind of have to work it out with myself.
Do you think it would violate the domestic emoluments
clause for the President to work out a deal from people who are
his subordinates under his unitary executive theory to get
money in one of these cases?
AG Bondi. I am not going to discuss pending litigation.
Mr. Raskin. OK, so theoretically, you are saying because
his privacy rights were violated in that tax case, and they
were. I am with the President on that. His Mar-a-Largo thing is
ridiculous, but there is no doubt that his tax returns, despite
the fact that promised to released them, despite the fact that
every other President released their tax returns, he suffered
embarrassment when it showed that he hadn't paid taxes for
several years and he had a right for that not to happen.
Now, I want to turn back to the Epstein survivors because
President Trump may have been a little bit embarrassed by the
release of those tax returns. How much do you think the claims
of these survivors are worth? As the good Congressman from
Kentucky just pointed out, there were lots of survivors who had
decided, for reasons of their own, never to release their
names. That determination was representative of people in
Congress, and we built it into our Federal law that their names
could not be released and yet, you published their names, their
phone numbers, their addresses, and personally identifying
information. If Donald Trump can get $10 billion theoretically
from the Department of Justice, how much should these people
get for a far worse violation of their privacy rights and a far
greater danger established to them in their lives?
AG Bondi. Do you even know who Chase Mulligan is? You are
so obsessed with--you don't, do you?
Mr. Raskin. You are the Attorney General. We have rules
here.
AG Bondi. You are obsessed with him.
Mr. Raskin. You are the Attorney General of the United
States.
AG Bondi. You are obsessed with Donald Trump. You have
Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, I would like my time restored. I
would like my time restored.
AG Bondi. Chase Mulligan will be next week in your
district. In your district, you don't even know about it, about
keeping children safe from online predators.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from
Maryland. The gentleman can proceed.
Mr. Raskin. I want the whole country to look at this. This
is the Attorney General of the United States whose job is law
enforcement. We have never had a witness who has misunderstood
our rules and been unable to conform his or her conduct for our
rules before. We have only five minutes and so we use our time
to ask you specific questions.
AG Bondi. How long will you give me to answer?
Mr. Raskin. Excuse me, I am not yielding to you right now.
I would like that second restored, too.
Ms. Bondi, the way it works is we ask you a question and
you answer it and if you go off on a wild goose chance, another
tangent and you start reading statistics or you start talking
about stuff going on in our district and by the way, I invite
you to my district. Come to my district, but that is not what
we are here to do today. OK? You do that and then we are
allowed to say we reclaim our time. At that point, you have to
be quiet. You have no choice. You have to be quiet. I hope you
understand the rule at this point.
Now, here is what I want to ask you, you are law
enforcement. We have seen all kinds of evidence of crimes and
when we go over to the Department of Justice for the four
computers for every Member of Congress, we see more evidence of
crimes. Will you create a joint task force of the Department of
Justice and Governors and State Attorney Generals and District
Attorneys across the country to investigate the crimes that
have taken place against these victims and more than a thousand
like them. The DOJ is not doing its job. Will you create a task
force with State and local law enforcement to make that happen?
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady can respond if she wants to.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Chair. He called Chase Mulligan a wild
goose chase and didn't even know who he was. He is a defendant
in your own district who preyed on girls.
Mr. Raskin. Well, you know what, if he were part of the
Epstein investigation, you wouldn't do anything about it.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. On an online chat room and committed sextortion,
yet he didn't even know in your tiny little district who he
was.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, she is embarrassing you. This is
your Committee and she is embarrassing you.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired. I
would remind the Committee that last Congress, Secretary
Mayorkas was here numerous times and he wouldn't answer our
questions even when we sent them to him ahead of time in
writing. That is what we have had to deal with. The Attorney
General is doing just fine.
We have votes shortly. I will go to the gentleman from
Virginia and then we will take a break to head to the floor.
Mr. Cline. I thank the Chair. Attorney General Bondi, thank
you for being here. I wanted to thank you for your work at DOJ
in restoring the rule of law, encouraging transparency
surrounding Jack Smith's partisan investigations into President
Trump, declassifying information about the Russia collusion
hoax, cracking down on sanctuary jurisdictions, and
establishing the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
Let me first go to securing the border and immigration
enforcement. Our new Governor has recently rescinded 287(g)
cooperation between the State and ICE. Can you talk about, have
you evaluated the public safety impact how that would affect
safety in Virginia to withdraw that support and what that would
do to activity, criminal activity involving illegal immigrants
in Virginia?
AG Bondi. Yes, it would be detrimental and as you know,
Congressman, one of the top members of MS-13 in the entire
country was living in Virginia in a suburb among all of us,
living not even half an hour away from where we are now and the
cooperation previously with the Governor, with the members of
the State of Virginia helped catch him and take him off our
streets. An illegal MS-13, one of the heads for the entire
country was living in Virginia and it is a shame that that is
happening now and thank you for talking about it because we are
going to keep America safe and when people feel like they can
flee to these cities and states and be safe, they can't because
Donald Trump is going to protect Americans. We are going to
protect the citizens there whether or not the Governors, the
mayors, are going to do it or not but President Trump is. We
are going to keep Americans safe from violent gang members like
he has been doing this last year.
Mr. Cline. We appreciate that. We appreciate your work to
make that happen in Virginia and keep Virginia safe.
I want to move on to the Fraud Enforcement Division that
you have established. My understanding is that this initiative
is intended to centralize coordinate enforcement of fraud laws
related to government programs. You talked about Minnesota. You
talked about California. Would this affect Virginia as well,
because we have fraud in Virginia as well?
AG Bondi. Absolutely, and we look forward to working with
you.
Mr. Cline. Would this affect things like long-term care
accountability, senior living facilities engaged in Medicaid
fraud, including systemic over billing practices and
misappropriation of taxpayer funded benefits?
AG Bondi. That is exactly what it is set up to help.
Mr. Cline. OK, I know that whether it was related to fraud
specifically or another subject that under the Biden
Administration there was a sitting member of the Virginia
General Assembly under investigation. Is that investigation
still ongoing? Can you speak to that?
AG Bondi. I can't discuss that.
Mr. Cline. OK. I am going to move on to the Second
Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. Last year, President
Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law which included
the Hearing Protection Act, part of it that was sponsored by
myself and Congressman Clyde. It reduced the national firearms
tax, $200 tax on suppressors and short-barrel firearms to zero
and while the tax has been eliminated, the NFA's registration
and paperwork requirements remain in effect and your DOJ has
said that would--even though the tax was reduced to zero, that
the registration requirement is still somehow necessary even
though with regard to Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, when
that mandate was--when that tax penalty was reduced to zero,
you decided that the mandate was no longer necessary. How are
you justifying the existence of this registry?
AG Bondi. Congressman, that is pending litigation right
now.
Mr. Cline. It is. It is. I hope you would reconsider that.
I yield back.
Chair Jordan. Does the gentleman yield.
Mr. Cline. I yield to the Chair.
Chair Jordan. Attorney General Bondi, why did Jack Smith
have to pay some secret source $20,000 of taxpayer money? Do
you know the answer to that?
AG Bondi. I can't discuss anything on that matter, but that
is a good question, Chair Jordan.
Chair Jordan. Well, it is a good question because he
subpoenaed just about every Republican in this town, got half
of Congress' phone numbers if you were a Republican. You have
to pay a secret source a bunch of taxpayer money. We would like
to know, the Committee would like to know, how many other
sources he paid? Was it more than $20,000? Why did he have to
do those things. We would like to know when you can, if you can
get that information to the Committee. When you think about the
guy who was trying to put the President of the United States in
prison, ridiculous as that whole thing was, we would kind of
like to know the answer to that if you could.
With that, we are going to stand in recess. We will go as
quickly as we can and vote. we have two quick votes on the
floor and we will be back. There is actually some lunch if you
all need it. We have for our Members and since you are back
here, you can have some. We normally have plenty. We will take
a recess.
Mr. Cline. Mr. Chair, before we go, can I ask for unanimous
consent to enter into the record the article entitled, ``Inside
Trump's DOJ,'' dated October 16, 2025.
Chair Jordan. Without objection. We stand in recess.
[Recess.]
Chair Jordan. The Committee will come to order. The
gentleman from Colorado is recognized for five minutes.
Mr. Neguse. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Attorney General Bondi,
six days ago you posted online, ``If you come for law
enforcement, the Trump Administration will come for you.'' I
want to show you just a brief video, it's about 30 seconds and
I'll ask you a couple of questions about it.
[Video plays.]
Mr. Neguse. Attorney General Bondi, that man works for you
now, right?
AG Bondi. Who was that, Congressman?
Mr. Neguse. The man in that video, the one who is in the
police-worn body-cam footage, the one allegedly yelling, ``kill
'em at police officers,'' on January 6th, his name is Jared
Wise.
AG Bondi. He does work for us, yes.
Mr. Neguse. He works for you at the Department of Justice?
AG Bondi. Yes, he does.
Mr. Neguse. This is an individual whom a Federal grand jury
indicted for two felonies and four misdemeanors related to his
participation in the attack on January 6th. One of those
charges was forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding,
intimidating, and interfering with police with the intent to
commit another felony. This is who you choose as the Chief Law
Enforcement Officer of the United States of America to hire at
the Department of Justice. Someone on video yelling, ``kill 'em
at police officers,'' right?
AG Bondi. I believe he was pardoned by President Trump.
Mr. Neguse. Oh, he was pardoned, you're right, you're
right, pardoned by President Trump for his offense, pardoned
for yelling, ``kill 'em at police officers,'' and yet you
expect hard-working police officers across the country to
believe that you take law enforcement seriously. You could
imagine the reaction of so many folks across the country
hearing the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States
refuse to even condemn what that individual, whom you've now
hired, did, but in any event, let's talk a little bit about
some of the other divisions within the Department of Justice
and what's happened over the last year.
You're familiar with the Public Integrity Section of the
DOJ's Criminal Division, it's referred to as PIN. Is that
right?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Neguse. OK. Do you know under which Presidential
Administration the PIN was first created?
AG Bondi. I can tell you what administration that the
weaponi-zation was ended under.
Mr. Neguse. I'll reclaim my time. This wasn't a trick
question.
AG Bondi. You don't get to reclaim your time. It was--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Mr. Neguse. Madam Attorney General--
AG Bondi. Excuse me, because I don't like--
Mr. Neguse. Mr. Chair--
AG Bondi. I don't answer a question the--
Mr. Neguse. Can you explain to the witness--
AG Bondi. The way you like it?
Mr. Neguse. That he does reclaim his time.
AG Bondi. Because I don't answer a question to your
satisfaction.
Mr. Neguse. Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. Madam Attorney General, the time belongs to
the gentleman from Colorado.
Mr. Neguse. The President under which PIN was created was
Gerald Ford. It was created after Watergate--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Mr. Neguse. I'm not asking you a question, Madam Attorney
General. The administration under which it was created was
Gerald Ford. When you first started as the Attorney General of
the United States, there were 35 people working in that office.
There are now two people working in that office because you
have gutted it. How many people work for the National
Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team in the Criminal Division today?
AG Bondi. Can I answer the question about PIN?
Mr. Neguse. I've asked you a question. How many people
work--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. You asked me a question, but you don't let me
answer.
Mr. Neguse. How many people work--
AG Bondi. I'm not going to answer your questions--
Mr. Neguse. For the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement
Team? You won't answer how many--
AG Bondi. I'll answer PIN. PIN will not be weaponized.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Mr. Neguse. You know what? Actually--you know what, Madam
Attorney General--
AG Bondi. What's funny about this?
Mr. Neguse. I'll say to the Chair.
AG Bondi. What's funny about this?
Mr. Neguse. Mr. Chair, you know what the answer is and I
think I understand why--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. What's funny about this?
Mr. Neguse. This witness does not want to answer the
question, because you eliminated the National Cryptocurrency
Enforcement Team last year. I understand why you don't want to
tell the American people who works there. No one works there
anymore--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. Yes, I understand why you don't want to talk
about Mohamed Soliman--
Mr. Neguse. Madam Attorney General.
AG Bondi. In your district--
Mr. Neguse. In any event, I would--
AG Bondi. Who murdered people.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, will you stop the clock, so his time
is not wasted by the witness?
Chair Jordan. I've been very generous with allowing extra
time when we have these little disputes.
Mr. Neguse. I understand.
Chair Jordan. You've got the time, Mr. Neguse.
Mr. Neguse. I might as well ask the Chair these questions--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Chair Jordan. I'd be happy to answer some of your
questions.
Mr. Neguse. Because what's profound, the questions I've
asked--
AG Bondi. Profound?
Mr. Neguse. The questions I've asked--
AG Bondi. The crime in your district--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair.
Mr. Neguse. Are not trick questions. They're not gotcha
questions. They're actually basic questions about how the
Department of Justice functions and the unwillingness of this
Attorney General to answer them in good faith when a Member of
Congress asks how many people work at the National
Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and the Attorney General
refuses to answer it--it is not a coincidence. It's because she
eliminated the team. Why? Because her boss, the President of
the United States, is making money hand over fist, 1.4 billion
dollars over the course of the last year, through
cryptocurrency holdings. What is happening at the Department of
Justice is a disgrace, Mr. Chair, and I would urge you to gain
control of this hearing. With that, I yield back the balance of
my time.
Chair Jordan. Yes, I would ask the gentleman, does he agree
with the standing up of the Deputy Attorney General for dealing
with fraud? That's something that's happened in this
administration first time. You talked about PIN, that happened
with this Justice Department.
Mr. Neguse. We're talking about this Committee.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair.
Mr. Neguse. Had you answered the question--the Attorney
General answered the question in that way perhaps this hearing
would have some modicum of resembling something that has
typically been fairly conventional, an oversight hearing of the
Department of Justice.
Chair Jordan. Mr. Neguse, the gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Neguse. That is not this.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady from Wyoming is recognized for
five minutes.
Ms. Hageman. Attorney General Bondi, I want to express my
gratitude to the President, you and your tea for your continued
efforts against extreme anti-energy policies taken by states
and cities that serve only to increase costs on the American
people. This is an issue of great concern for Congress as well
as the consumers.
At the behest of networks of nongoverned metal
organizations and antigrowth activists, Democratic controlled
States and cities are enacting laws and pursuing coordinated
lawsuits that would impose retroactive liability on energy
producers for past global emissions based on speculative future
climate change harms. The proponents of these plans call them
climate super fund laws, but in reality, that is simply window
dressing for taxes and fees imposed on consumers and businesses
that don't even have a presence in these States or communities.
If you look at the billions of dollars they hope to gain
from these efforts, the real goal here is to increase their
already mismanaged State budgets by imposing fees on consumers
and businesses in energy producing States, such as the State of
Wyoming. I would describe this as the tobacco litigation on
steroids. Vermont has enacted such a law, and another has
recently gone into effect in New York. Similar laws are under
consideration in a number of other States. Clearly, this
problem is spreading.
Would you agree that Congress has not authorized States to
impose retroactive liability against energy producers and
lawful carbon emissions?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Ms. Hageman. Would you also agree that protecting consumers
is a core part of the DOJ's mission?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Ms. Hageman. Would you further agree that combating State
policies that seek to hide and shift the true cost of programs
like these onto consumers fits within your mission?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Ms. Hageman. Attorney General Bondi, fossil fuels are the
foundation of the U.S. economy and the recent winter storms
underscore that gas, coal, and oil remain essential to grid
reliability and heating our homes. Can you confirm that the DOJ
is fully committed to using all available legal tools to stop
the State and local level attacks on domestic energy
production?
AG Bondi. Congresswoman, we are committed to that and so is
the entire administration. We talk about that a lot.
Ms. Hageman. Thank you.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Ms. Hageman. The President's April 2025 Executive Order
directed the DOJ to identify and act against State laws that
burden U.S. energy production. What concrete actions have the
DOJ and the administration more broadly taken to carry out this
directive?
AG Bondi. Well, we filed four lawsuits. We are filing
multiple lawsuits; many things are pending within this office
to carry that out.
Ms. Hageman. States continue to invent new causes of action
to pursue State climate lawfare as is evidenced by Michigan's
recent novel claim related to antitrust violations. The city of
Boulder, Colorado, has also filed such a lawsuit, despite
refusing my challenge that they actually forego the use of
fossil fuels if they disagree with them so much. Does the
Department of Justice agree that these novel approaches require
a Federal response and will the Department pursue such an
approach?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congresswoman, and we'd be happy to talk to
you more about that.
Ms. Hageman. Wonderful. Thank you. Multiple climate
lawsuits are now advancing toward trial, even in States that
rely on those energy forms to provide heat and electricity for
their citizens. In fact, in any community they all rely on
fossil fuels in some fashion. Is the Department actively
considering intervention to protect Federal supremacy over
interState emissions and energy policy?
AG Bondi. Yes. We'd be happy to discuss that with you.
Ms. Hageman. Thank you. Clearly, this is an area in which
Congress has a role to play, to that end, I'm working with my
colleagues in both the House and the Senate to craft
legislation tackling both the State laws and the lawsuits that
could destroy energy affordability for consumers. To that end,
are there any authorities or tools that DOJ and the
administration don't currently have at their disposal that
would be helpful in that effort that Congress could adopt?
AG Bondi. Well, we work with multiple agencies throughout
the administration, but I'd be happy to talk to you about that
more.
Ms. Hageman. Wonderful.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Ms. Hageman. Thank you. I appreciate your effort in this
regard.
AG Bondi. May I have 20 seconds of your time--
Ms. Hageman. Please.
AG Bondi. To address something?
Ms. Hageman. Yes.
AG Bondi. Thank you. Your colleague, Senator Neguse, didn't
want to talk about crypto because he said I was a disgrace,
talking about crypto because he didn't want to talk about the
tremendous crime in his jurisdiction. He voted no on preventing
violence against women by illegal aliens.
On June 1, 2025, Mohamed Soliman attacked members of the
group ``Run for Their Lives'' in Boulder, Colorado, where an
82-year-old woman sustained burns on over half of her body and
eventually died from her injuries.
Ms. Hageman. I believe that she was a Holocaust survivor.
AG Bondi. She was.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady has expired.
Ms. Hageman. Yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back and the gentlelady
from Georgia is recognized.
Ms. McBath. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Bondi, as the Florida
Attorney General, attorneys from your office handled the appeal
of my son, Jordan Davis' murderer, which was denied. As a
result of the efforts of those attorneys under your watch, the
court actually upheld the life sentence for a man who used
prejudice as his defense for murdering my son and scarring his
friends for life.
Attorneys from your office, under your management, worked
hard to remove a dangerous man from the community, who
terrorized innocent people, like my son and his friends. The
compassion and respect that my family received throughout that
ordeal were critical in helping us keep faith in the rule of
law and justice.
Based on my experiences, I've seen how strong victims'
services, sustained investigations, and well-supported
prosecutors can make a meaningful difference in the lives of
families who are grieving and suffering. Ms. Bondi, just yes or
no, would you agree that government officials should be
respectful and supportive of victims' families as they mourn?
AG Bondi. First, Congresswoman, thank you for talking about
that and I am so very sorry about what happened to your family.
Ms. McBath. Thank you.
AG Bondi. Yes, I agree with that with all victims including
the ones sitting behind us today. I absolutely do.
Ms. McBath. Thank you.
AG Bondi. Also, thank you for voting yes on the Laken Riley
Act.
Ms. McBath. Thank you for that.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Ms. McBath. OK, so your answer is why the recent treatment
of families in Minnesota raises really serious concerns for me
because shortly after Mr. Alex Pretti was murdered,
administration officials referred to him as an assassin and
called Mr. Pretti the definition of domestic terrorism. They
also lied about Mr. Pretti holding a gun and threatening
officers. After Ms. Renee Good was murdered by ICE officials in
Minneapolis, administration officials also accused her of being
a domestic terrorist and investigated her wife in a clear act
of retaliation.
The statement Mr. Pretti's mother made after the murder
resonated with me more than you'll ever imagine. She said that,
and I'm quoting, ``the sickening lies told about our son by the
administration are reprehensible and disgusting.'' I assure
you, I know how it feels to hear lies that are told to justify
the taking of someone's son. They were used by my son's
murderer as a defense and those lies still affect me today. He
was called a thug, and he was called a gangbanger and the
attorneys from your office actually defended my son's name, his
memory, and defended his honor.
I'm certain that Mr. Pretti's mother watched videos of her
son, Alex, an ICU nurse at the VA hospital, using his phone to
record Federal agents. She also watched him getting pepper
sprayed, kicked, hit in the head, and surrounded by at least
seven agents before having his gun removed from his waistband,
which he legally carried, and she watched seconds later as two
of those agents shot her son, Alex, at least 10 times.
The administration was quick to spew an incorrect narrative
and call him so many things that they wanted us to ignore the
truth that we actually saw with our own eyes. Ms. Bondi, will
you denounce the statements that were made to tarnish the names
of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and will you protect their names
like those attorneys back in Florida, under your watch,
protected my son's name?
AG Bondi. What I will say is we are looking at everything
to shed light on what happened that day and it is an ongoing
and active investigation, both of those cases and I assure you
they will be investigated.
Ms. McBath. Investigating we understand that, but will you
do everything in your power, as you have done for my case, as
you are asked to do, as you have sworn an oath to do, it is
your responsibility to make sure that you are following the
rule of law. Those families in Minnesota deserve the same
respect. They deserve a full investigation which you have not
even begun to do yet, so what you are saying is that they don't
deserve any respect for a full investigation into their
murders?
AG Bondi. Well, that's not accurate.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. McBath. That is incompetence on your behalf.
AG Bondi. Well, that is not accurate.
Ms. McBath. The American people do deserve better.
Noncommitment to defending the rule of law is what we see from
you.
AG Bondi. I told you--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. McBath. I will always stand--
AG Bondi. We were investigating.
Ms. McBath. Up for survivors and I heard you say earlier
when you told us that you will fight for them as well and based
on the information before us, these families have not received
the same commitment to investigate what happened to their loved
ones, nor have they received the respect that I would expect
from the Nation's top law enforcement officer. Investigations
have been slow walked. They've been canceled and the special
agent assigned to Renee Good's investigation resigned following
pressure from your officials to reclassify Ms. Good's case--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady--
Ms. McBath. For families seeking answers and
accountability--
Chair Jordan. Time of--
Ms. McBath. The withdrawal of investigative resources--
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentlelady--
Ms. McBath. This is simply unacceptable.
Chair Jordan. Has expired. The gentlelady yields back. The
gentleman from California is recognized.
Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Madam Attorney
General, I get the sense that we've lost a little perspective
here. The most fundamental responsibility of government is to
protect the lives and property of its citizens. Now, you cited
some crime figures in your opening statement, and I wonder if
you could repeat them, because I think it's one of the most
extraordinary achievements of the Department of Justice in our
history and I don't think some of my colleagues heard you
clearly.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Congressman. Would you mind if I
address something that--
Mr. McClintock. Go right ahead.
AG Bondi. Congresswoman McBath wouldn't let me address
first?
Mr. McClintock. Go right ahead.
AG Bondi. The reason that she wants to continue to talk
about Minnesota, which we will all day long, is she doesn't
want to talk about her own jurisdiction in Atlanta because she
doesn't want to talk about Christopher Welcher, who traveled
across State lines to try to meet--and nothing is funny about
this--to meet and molest a 14-year-old girl in Georgia. That's
why they're watching the clock, the American people should
know, for the second it runs out because they don't want to
address anything in their jurisdiction. They're elected to
represent people in their jurisdiction. We prosecuted illegal
aliens who ran a large-scale meth operation in the Atlanta
Metro area.
Mr. Neguse. You understand, we don't prosecute, right, Ms.
Bondi?
Chair Jordan. Madam Attorney General, time's allotted for
Mr. McClintock.
AG Bondi. I'm sorry. Thank you. So, yes, the statistics I
spoke of earlier, Congressman, under the leadership of the FBI,
historic work has been done. A drop of 20 percent in the
nationwide murder rate in 2025. The least murders in our
country since 1900 and that is to the work because of the
President, Donald Trump.
Mr. McClintock. It's not just homicides, is it? It's also
other violent crimes and robbery. Could you go through that
list really quick?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman. A 100 percent increase in
violent crime arrests in 2025 compared to 2024.
Mr. McClintock. What's that done about the violent crime
rate in the country?
AG Bondi. It's plummeting, 1,800 gangs--
Mr. McClintock. Wait a second, wait a second. Do you mean
to honestly tell us, and you're under oath, that if we take
violent criminals off the streets, we end up with less crime?
AG Bondi. I certainly hope so, Congressman, and that's our
goal and that's President Trump's goal.
Mr. McClintock. That's an extraordinary concept and I'm
afraid it may be lost on some of our Democratic colleagues. I
look at these numbers and they're absolutely staggering. It
didn't happen by accident, it happened because of specific
policies that you've implemented this year, and you mentioned a
few of them. Would you continue?
AG Bondi. There are over 6,000 child victims located, 22
percent increase; over 1,700 child predators arrested, 10
percent increase; and over 300 human traffickers arrested. Let
me jump down to DEA right now, that was just the FBI. Under
Terry Cole's leadership and I talked to these people almost
daily, our directors, and the amazing work that they're doing
in all your jurisdictions on the Left and the Right, working
together to take drugs off our streets.
Mr. McClintock. Right and I assume that our Democratic
colleagues, some of whom represent some of our most crime
plagued cities and communities, have thanked you for this
extraordinary accomplishment.
AG Bondi. Thank you, Congressman. We've seized more than
9,800 kilos of fentanyl and 47 million fentanyl pills. That
affects every single person in this room. It doesn't matter
what political party you are. Everyone in this room knows
someone who's died from fentanyl--a parent, a child, a sister,
a brother, a friend, a neighbor, or a relative. Everyone here
knows someone who has been impacted by that. That is the common
ground that I wish we could find to work together in this
country. To take these drugs off the streets and someone nodded
with vapes.
Mr. McClintock. In your opening statement, you said this
historic success in protecting lives and property of Americans
has occurred when local governments are cooperating with you.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. McClintock. Let me ask you, what are the greatest
impediments you're facing in bringing down crime across the
country?
AG Bondi. Well, when local governments, of course, do not
cooperate with us that's where criminals flee in jurisdictions
where they know they will be protected by local governments.
This is all about working together and we have shown that what
we did in D.C., and what we're doing in Memphis. Working
together with Democrat mayors in these cities, right here in
D.C.
Mr. McClintock. Very quickly if you could tell us about the
Safe Cities Program and give us your read on what cities avail
themselves of this program can expect.
AG Bondi. Yes, so far, of course, we've been working in
Washington, D.C., right here, to do everything we can, working
hand-in-hand with the Mayor, with the Metro PD to keep everyone
safe in D.C., and it's been a tremendous effort. Now, we're in
Memphis working with the Mayor in Memphis as we talked about
earlier, doing everything we can. These are iconic cities in
our country, and we want to help every city in this country,
who wants and asks for President Trump's help to make America
safe again.
Chair Jordan. Gentlemen--
Ms. McBath. Mr. Chair, I have--
Chair Jordan. Let the record show that a Democrat was
applauding the Attorney General's answer there. A Unanimous
Consent?
Ms. McBath. Yes, please.
Chair Jordan. All right, the gentlelady is recognized.
Ms. McBath. Mr. Chair, I have a few Unanimous Consent
requests. I would like to submit into the record this The New
York Times article titled, ``Alex Pretti's friends and family
denounce sickening lies about his life.''
I also would like to submit this Daily Mail exclusive
interview with Vice President JD Vance titled, ``JD Vance
refuses to apologize to Alex Pretti's family after spreading
ICE assassin claim.''
One more, my last submission request is a The New York
Times article titled, ``FBI agent who tried to investigate ICE
officer in shooting resigns.''
Chair Jordan. Without objection.
Ms. McBath. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The Chair now recognizes the gentlelady from
North Carolina.
Ms. Ross. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Attorney General Bondi, you
and pretty much everybody else here and throughout the country
believes that convicted sex offenders don't deserve special
treatment or privileges in prison and yet Ghislaine Maxwell,
Jeffrey Epstein's coconspirator, received perk after perk in
prison.
In July, she had a two-day interview with your deputy and
President Trump's former defense attorney, Todd Blanche. Just
days after that, Maxwell was transferred from a Federal
correctional institution in Florida to a minimum security camp
in Texas, which she as a sex offender would normally be
ineligible for. At this new facility, as the Ranking Member
talked about, and by the way, it's nicknamed Club Fed, we've
heard reports that she's been afforded special privileges,
puppy time, private workouts, personal mail, and secretarial
services.
Attorney General Bondi, does a convicted sex offender like
Ghislaine Maxwell deserve special treatment and privileges in
prison? Yes or no.
AG Bondi. Let me be crystal clear on this, no and let me
tell you--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. Ross. Thank you. Perfect.
AG Bondi. No, no, let me keep going.
Ms. Ross. Perfect. Well, I--
AG Bondi. I did not know she was being transferred.
Ms. Ross. Have a few more questions. I asked you yes or no.
AG Bondi. She was not transferred to--
Ms. Ross. I'm retaining my time.
AG Bondi. A lower level--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, please stop the clock and remind the
witness of the rules. One rule she needs to understand--
Ms. Ross. I'm glad that we're agreeing, so when we're
agreeing, we can move onto some other things.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. I would agree--
Ms. Ross. I want you to say that everytime she does get
these perks and it's publicly reported, that the folks she's
abused, the survivors who are sitting here, they see themselves
as being denied justice. They feel retraumatized and I'm glad
that we agree on that, but she should not be in that prison.
She needs to be moved back to a maximum-security prison as soon
as possible, but what she has told another Committee here is
that she won't cooperate with them unless she gets clemency
from Donald Trump. It's just crazy to consider that she can be
wielding this kind of influence within the administration, but
that begs the question, who ordered her to be transferred to
the minimum-security prison that she was ineligible for? Who
signed off on the special privileges? Was it Mr. Blanche? Was
it one of your other subordinates? Please, can you tell us who
sent her there since you don't agree she should be there?
AG Bondi. I said I do not agree she should receive special
treatment. She was transferred--I learned after the fact to the
same level facility and that is a question for the Bureau of
Prisons. I was not involved in that at all. The same level
facility, I don't know why, but you know instead of talking
about Ghislaine Maxwell who, hopefully, will die in prison.
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. Ross. You should have--
AG Bondi. Talking about Iryna Zarutska.
Ms. Ross. I have a couple of add on questions.
AG Bondi. Who died on a subway.
Ms. Ross. Right and I absolutely--
AG Bondi. You don't talk about that.
Ms. Ross. I have been talking about it and actually helping
with these issues, but we're going to move back to you.
AG Bondi. I bet we are.
Ms. Ross. Yes, of course, because you're here to testify.
[Laughter.]
Ms. Ross. That's what the whole point of this endeavor is,
so of course we're moving back to you. It is all about you. As
we heard, she took the 5th in response to every single question
in that Committee hearing and her lawyer dangled the offer of
clemency. Should Donald Trump pardon or commute her sentence?
Should she be released from prison, yes or no? You said you
hope she dies there, so I'm hoping the answer is no.
AG Bondi. I already answered that question.
Ms. Ross. Good. I'm very glad. I really like this
bipartisan agreement about what--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
AG Bondi. --but you don't want to talk about Iryna
Zarutska. You don't want to talk about--
Ms. Ross. I talk about her all the time.
AG Bondi. Her being murdered by a violent criminal--
Ms. Ross. I am not here to testify--
AG Bondi. In your jurisdiction.
Ms. Ross. Before Congress, you are, that is your job today.
AG Bondi. You are obsessed.
Ms. Ross. That's what you're getting paid for.
AG Bondi. With attacks--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentlelady.
Ms. Ross. I want you to know that your own DOJ employee,
he's recently been demoted and had some other problems, advises
on pardons. Do you think he will be advising Mr. Trump on any
kind of clemency or pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell?
AG Bondi. I'm not going to speculate, and you couldn't even
identify properly, that's why you don't want to talk about
Iryna Zarutska. You couldn't properly identify--
[Simultaneous speaking.]
Ms. Ross. I absolutely--
AG Bondi. Her relative.
Ms. Ross. I absolutely--
AG Bondi. It's embarrassing.
Ms. Ross. Have been and her family, by the way, appreciates
all the condolences, all the help, and everything that our law
enforcement in North Carolina has been doing to help her
family. Her family feels well treated. Thank you and I yield
back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back. The gentleman
from California is recognized.
Mr. McClintock. I'd ask Unanimous Consent to enter into the
record an article by former Attorney General William P. Barr,
entitled, ``Why Pam Bondi didn't publish all the Epstein files
in 30 days: The answer is simple: it was not possible,'' from
the Wall Street Journal.
Chair Jordan. Well said. Without objection. The gentlelady
from Florida is recognized.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
AG Bondi. Madam?
Ms. Lee. I'm sorry.
AG Bondi. May I respond 20 seconds to something that
Congresswoman Ross said, please?
Ms. Lee. Go right ahead.
AG Bondi. Thank you. She also opposed a sex offender
registry as head of North Carolina ACLU. Thank you.
Ms. Lee. Thank you, Madam Attorney General, and I'd like to
pick up where you left off a moment ago because we convene here
today as a Committee for the stated purpose of conducting
oversight of the Department of Justice. It's critical for us to
focus first on the mission of the Department and assess your
success in discharging it.
The mission of the Department is to enforce Federal law,
defend the rule of law, and protect the American people from
violent crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud and
exploitation, and to promote public safety. What we have heard
today unequivocally is that President Trump's Department of
Justice, under your leadership, Attorney General Bondi, is
doing exactly that. Just a moment ago, you shared with us some
incredible statistics that the United States, under your
leadership, has achieved the lowest murder rate in 125 years,
that in the first year of this administration, murder is down
21 percent, robbery is down 23 percent, carjacking down 43
percent, and gun assault down 22 percent. That is what public
safety looks like.
Under your leadership and that of President Trump, you've
located more than 6,000 child victims of trafficking and
exploitation, arrested 1,700 child predators and apprehended
more than 300 human traffickers, significant increases and
those aren't just statistics, those are precious lives that
your Department and the men and women of Federal law
enforcement have saved.
Madam Attorney General, you've mentioned a couple of
specific criminal trends during this hearing that I'd like to
discuss with you further because one of our important roles in
Congress is making sure that our laws and law enforcement stay
ahead of predators as technology evolves. I lead legislation in
the House along with bipartisan cosponsors on this Committee to
make sextortion a clearly defined criminal offense. We actually
passed that out of the House of Representatives. We have a bill
to promote Operation Renewed Hope to help rescue more child
victims and the Defiance Act to provide legal recourse to
victims of deepfake AI intimate images.
I would love to hear your perspective and what you are
seeing related to these technology-based criminal trends,
sextortion and AI deepfakes. What are you seeing at the
Department of Justice and why do you believe that efforts to
combat these types of crimes are important?
AG Bondi. Sextortion. Thank you for supporting that,
Congresswoman. That was a bipartisan effort, actually. Many of
you on both sides of the aisle supported that. Thank you for
that.
As a career prosecutor, it's horrible seeing that and
seeing that young women, and often young boys, have been
exploited with sextortion.
I see--thank you--both sides of the aisle nodding on that.
It's horrific. The suicide rates go up, and that's why we have
to do everything in our power to protect not only young girls,
adult women, boys, and men from sextortion--because it is
happening and we're doing everything in our power--thanks to
your legislation, all you--to stop that.
Ms. Lee. I'd like to hear a little bit more about some of
the Department of Justice programs, like Project Safe Childhood
and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces,
partnerships that bring together Federal, State, and local law
enforcement. Sometimes the work between those law enforcement
groups together really creates some incredibly powerful
outcomes and some great success stories.
I know you, as Florida's Attorney General, had a tremendous
amount of leadership in our State, trying to make sure we were
taking care of children; also, the elderly, protecting them
from fraud; and ending drug trafficking.
Tell us a little bit about some of those departments within
DOJ.
AG Bondi. Yes. When you talked about Project Safe
Neighborhoods, we have done a lot of that in Florida when I was
State AG, and actually, back when I was a State prosecutor
prior to being Attorney General. That is so important.
I feel like what we've been doing in D.C., too, with the
``Take Back D.C.,'' and ``Make D.C. Safe Again'' is similar to
that. Going into the neighborhoods, working with the community,
seeing law enforcement officers out there playing basketball
with kids who live in the neighborhood--it's pretty remarkable
what we've seen firsthand.
Citizens in Memphis that they appreciate they can walk
outdoors now, and they feel safe. People coming up, thanking
law enforcement and working hand-in-hand with them.
We will continue all these programs, and working jointly
with both sides of the aisle to keep our families safe.
Ms. Lee. Thank you for that, Madam Attorney General. Mr.
Chair, I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back. The gentleman
from Tennessee is recognized.
Mr. Cohen. I'd like to introduce for the record a letter to
Director Gabbard from Mr. Warner and Mr. Himes, and a letter of
response from her to them about who invited her to Atlanta.
Chair Jordan. Yes.
Mr. Cohen. A copy of the search warrant. I'd also like to
just State here for the record, the reason people in Memphis
weren't going out was because ice was on the ground and we were
afraid we'd fall. Other than that, we go out all the time.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman, without objection, there is
unanimous consent. The gentlelady from Vermont is recognized.
Ms. Balint. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Attorney General Bondi, according to your Department, a
child is sexually abused in the United States every nine
minutes. The vast majority of survivors never get justice.
That's one of the reasons why I think the Epstein case has
resonated so deeply with so many Americans.
The other reason, is because it has revealed a two-tiered
system of justice, and the powerful are protected and the
survivors rarely get any accountability.
The Epstein files contain evidence of a multidecade
international criminal conspiracy involving some of the
wealthiest and the most powerful people in the world. There's
evidence of financial crimes, political corruption, sex
trafficking, and, of course, horrible sexual abuse.
I want to remind everybody this isn't a game. These are
real people--people who have suffered, who are sitting here
with us today, and they deserve answers and they deserve
accountability. I'm here to try to get some for them.
Now, I've seen some of the unredacted Epstein files, and
obviously, as you know, President Trump's name is all over
them, but so are the names of other senior Trump officials:
Howard Lutnick, the Secretary of Commerce; John Phelan, the
Secretary of the Navy; and Steven Feinberg, the Deputy
Secretary of Defense.
These men were appointed by President Trump to senior
positions in his administration. All of them have clear and
confirmed ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Attorney General Bondi, yes or no, has the Justice
Department asked Secretary Lutnick about his ties to Epstein?
AG Bondi. Excuse me. Secretary Lutnick addressed those ties
himself.
Ms. Balint. I'm asking you, has the Justice Department
specifically asked Secretary Lutnick about his ties to Jeffrey
Epstein?
AG Bondi. He has addressed those ties himself.
Ms. Balint. Has the DOJ asked Secretary Phelan about his
ties to Jeffrey Epstein?
AG Bondi. I don't know whether he has addressed those or
not.
Ms. Balint. Has the Deputy Secretary--has Deputy Secretary
Feinberg talked to the Department of Justice about his ties to
Jeffrey Epstein? Yes or no? Has the Department of Justice
talked to Secretary, Deputy Secretary Feinberg about his ties
to Jeffrey Epstein, which are clearly spelled out in the files?
It's a very simple question. It's not a trick question. I'm
just asking you.
AG Bondi. Yes, I'm stunned that you want to continue
talking about Epstein instead of--
Ms. Balint. Oh, my gosh, OK. I'm reclaiming my time.
AG Bondi. --of a Border Patrol agent murder--
Ms. Balint. I am not asking you a trick question, a simple
question.
AG Bondi. Done.
Ms. Balint. OK. What is clear is we have evidence--
AG Bondi. Do you know who Chris Maland is?
Ms. Balint. --that three senior--we have evidence that
three senior officials within the Trump Administration have
ties to Jeffrey Epstein. What I can conclude--
AG Bondi. What does ``ties'' mean?
Ms. Balint. I can conclude from what you are saying that
you have not talked to them.
AG Bondi. What does ``ties'' mean?
AG Bondi. What does ``ties'' mean? Can you define that?
Ms. Balint. Americans would be shocked to learn that you
are not interested in talking with these officials who have
ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
AG Bondi. What does ``ties'' mean? Can you define that?
Ms. Balint. Across the world--across the world prominent
men--
AG Bondi. Can you define ``ties''?
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to--the time belongs to the
gentlelady.
Ms. Balint. --who have been exposed in the files have
resigned their jobs in disgrace, and that's a good first start.
That same standard--
AG Bondi. She's still not saying the word ``Chris Maland.''
Ms. Balint. The same standard should apply here. Americans
want accountability.
AG Bondi. Who is Chris Maland?
Ms. Balint. Was the President aware--
AG Bondi. Who is he?
Ms. Balint. Please stop talking. It is not your time to ask
questions.
AG Bondi. Who was he?
Ms. Balint. It is not your time. I'm reclaiming my time,
Mr. Chair.
AG Bondi. One second.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentlelady from
Vermont.
Ms. Balint. Was the President aware of Secretary Lutnick's
ties to Epstein when he chose him to lead the Department of
Commerce? Was he aware?
AG Bondi. Chris Maland was a Border Patrol agent.
Ms. Balint. OK. I'm going to conclude that--
AG Bondi. He was shot, which she never mentioned him in her
District. Shame on you.
Ms. Balint. --the President, in fact, did know about his
ties because he was the next-door neighbor
Ms. Balint. Oh, for goodness' sakes, this is time--
AG Bondi. You're from a tiny, beautiful State.
Ms. Balint. This is pathetic This is pathetic, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Ms. Balint. I am not asking trick questions here. The
American people have a right to know the answers to this. These
are senior officials in the Trump Administration. This is not a
game, Secretary.
AG Bondi. I'm Attorney General.
Ms. Balint. My apologies, I couldn't tell.
By 2008, we knew that Epstein was a convicted sexual
abuser. We now know that Lutnick went to Epstein's island in
2012. How was that not a deal-breaker for the President, and
why aren't you asking questions of the Commerce Secretary about
what he saw when he was at the island, which he lied about not
ever going to? Why are you not asking these questions? I see
that my time is almost expired. I will say this.
AG Bondi. It's a game.
Ms. Balint. Do the right thing, Attorney General. Meet with
the survivors. They have been asking for a year. Meet with the
survivors. Do the right thing.
I yield back.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields back. The gentleman
from South Carolina is recognized for five minutes.
AG Bondi. May I have 20 seconds of his time?
Chair Jordan. That would be up to the gentleman, but--
Mr. Fry. Absolutely, Madam--
AG Bondi. Thank you. Thank you. I was curious if you,
Congresswoman, asked Bill Clinton that? I didn't hear--I didn't
see one tweet, not one, I didn't see one tweet when Joe Biden
was in office about Bill Clinton. Didn't ask Merrick Garland
anything about Epstein, not once, when he was--
Ms. Balint. Weak sauce. Weak sauce.
AG Bondi. Also, I want the record to reflect that with the
antisemitic culture right now, she voted against a resolution
contempt--condemning--
Ms. Balint. Oh, do you want to go there, Attorney General?
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentle--
Ms. Balint. Do you want to go there? Are you serious?
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from South
Carolina. The lady will--
Ms. Balint. Talking about antisemitic to a woman who lost
her grandfather in the Holocaust. Really?
Mr. Fry. I reclaim my time.
Ms. Balint. Really?
Mr. Fry. I reclaim my time.
Chair Jordan. The Committee will be in order.
Mr. Fry. I reclaim my time.
Mr. Raskin. Talk to Jared Weiss about antisemitic.
Chair Jordan. The Ranking Member knows that--
Mr. Fry. I'm going to--can I get 30 seconds back, you know?
Chair Jordan. Yes, I've been--
Mr. Fry. Since Ms. Balint took 30 of mine.
Chair Jordan. The whole Committee knows I've been very
generous in making sure everybody--
Mr. Fry. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. --gets their five minutes, and the same will
apply to the gentleman from South Carolina.
Mr. Fry. Very generous. I'm going to talk about sanctuary
cities for a second, which limit the Federal Government's
ability to enforce immigration law. They're kind of a new thing
that Democrat jurisdictions are doing. They're in violation of
Federal law.
During President Trump's first term, he rightly targeted
sanctuary jurisdictions to try to force them to cooperate with
Federal immigration law. Federal immigration law, mind you,
that was voted on in 1996, most recently, in a bipartisan
Congress, signed by a Democrat President.
They are in violation of that law. These States and
jurisdictions feel entitled to certain grants, of course. We
are combatting that.
Do sanctuary policies limit the Federal Government's
ability to accurately estimate how many criminal illegals are
in the country?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Fry. Thank you. This means that the number of illegals
could be higher? Are probably higher. Does this hurt the
Federal Government's ability to carry out immigration laws
designed by Congress?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Fry. In your opinion, do you believe that the Biden-
Harris Administration and Democrat sanctuary policies make our
communities safer and--for the American taxpayer? Do they
make--do sanctuary policies make our communities safer?
AG Bondi. No, Congressman.
Mr. Fry. I want to play a brief video to highlight
sanctuary cities.
[Video played.]
Mr. Fry. What's strange to me, if you look at this board
behind me, in New York, there are 7,000 criminal illegal aliens
since January 20th of last year that have been released into
the public. Because New York is not honoring detainers
requested by ICE. California, similarly, has released 4,500
criminal illegal aliens. There are 33,000 under the detainers
in California alone.
Of the people released, I think it's remarkable that those
released in New York, 29 homicides, 2,500 assaults, almost 200
burglaries. These are people that are released into our
community by these States that refuse to cooperate.
Last August, Michael Jordan Castellano Fonseca, a criminal
illegal alien with ties to Tren de Aragua, shot two people in
front of five children in the sanctuary State of Colorado. DHS
lodged a detainer on him. He's awaiting trial. The question is
whether Colorado's sanctuary policies will prevent him from
being removed from the country.
Yes or no, do you think that sanctuary jurisdictions, if
they cooperated with ICE, those illegals in custody could be
transferred to ICE properly, instead of being held in taxpayer-
funded jails, and then released into our community?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Fry. Wouldn't it be more efficient and safer than if
Democrats simply cooperated with the Federal Government, if
these sanctuary jurisdictions cooperated with the Federal
Government, and honored ICE detainers? Why? Why do you think?
AG Bondi. Of course. Because so many criminals are running
to sanctuary jurisdictions. Many of your colleagues across the
aisle, who we've seen speaking today about Epstein, don't want
to talk about the illegal criminals in their own jurisdiction
for that reason. Yes, we need to do everything we can to work
together to make America safer, and they're not doing that.
Mr. Fry. This is not a partisan issue.
AG Bondi. They're deflecting.
Mr. Fry. People want to feel safe in their communities.
Nobody wants a criminal illegal alien released into the street.
The thing that maybe the American people don't quite
understand is that, when you do not honor a detainer, as we've
seen, an illegal is released into the public. Now, it's up to
ICE to maybe apprehend them, rather than behind the courtroom
passing them off from one law enforcement to the next. Is that
true?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Fry. What do you think the--what do you think? What is
the Department of Justice doing right now to combat sanctuary
policies in our country?
AG Bondi. We're doing everything in our power, obviously,
to combat that. Donald Trump is doing everything he can.
Because we are going to make America safe. We are going to get
illegal criminal aliens out of this country. We're going to get
the gangs out, TdA, MS-13, all the gangs in this country. We're
going to get the drug dealers out and the drugs, and that's
what we've been fighting to do. I wish we could do it on a
bipartisan basis, but they just can't do it.
Mr. Fry. The decrease in the numbers speak for themselves.
Thank you for your work.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman's time--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, we have some UCs, if that's OK?
Chair Jordan. That is OK.
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Cohen?
Mr. Cohen. Thank you. I have a UC on National Institute of
Justice's study on undocumented immigrants having an offender
rate lower than U.S.-born citizens. I'd like to enter this in
the record from 2024.
Chair Jordan. Without objection.
Mr. Raskin. I have several myself, Mr. Chair.
First, The Guardian, January 26, 2026, ``Why is Trump
granting clemency to convicted fraudsters?''
Second, January 20, 2026, NBC, ``Trump's pardons forgive
financial crimes that came with hundreds of millions of dollars
in punishment.''
Third, The Washington Post, December 19, 2025. ``Trump's
pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims.''
Fourth, May 30, 2024. ``Trump found guilty by Manhattan
jury on 34 felony counts of fraud.''
Chair Jordan. Without objection. The gentleman from
Illinois is recognized.
Mr. Garcia. Thank you, Chair. Attorney General Bondi, glad
you finally made it here after hiding for four months from this
Committee.
AG Bondi. Whoa. I thought you were--
Mr. Garcia. I understand why you're hiding from us.
AG Bondi. Hiding, Mr. Chair?
Mr. Garcia. You're one of the worst Attorney Generals in
our history and an instrument of Donald Trump's lawless
authoritarian agenda. I'm glad the American people are seeing
who you are; how you act, and the lack of good values.
You weaponized the Department of Justice to target
immigrants, working families, and anyone that Trump deems an
enemy of the State--all to protect real powerful criminals,
including in your administration.
My Democratic colleagues have focused on your cover-up of
the Epstein files and your passion for protecting pedophiles
and child traffickers. That alone is grounds for impeachment,
but there's so much more to your corrupt tenure as the Attorney
General.
You directed prosecutors to investigate elected officials
in welcoming jurisdictions, and you got thrown out of court
when you sued Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois.
You directed prosecutors to prioritize low-level
immigration cases, while gutting enforcement against corporate
criminals and public corruption. You revived Draconian law of
1798--
AG Bondi. You're talking about public corruption to me?
Whoa.
Mr. Garcia. --which should be repealed, to illegally send
people to a torture prison in El Salvador.
You fired over a hundred immigration judges, including the
Assistant Chief Immigration judge in Chicago without cause and
installed unqualified military judges, whom you instructed to
deny asylum, in violation of the law.
You prosecute the President's enemies, like Jim Comey and
Tish James, while giving impunity to Federal agents who are
murdering, brutalizing, and terrorizing constituents, including
in Chicagoland, in my neighborhood. I saw it last year
firsthand.
You and Kash Patel covered up the murder of Silverio
Villegas Gonzalez in my district by ICE agents. You tried to
investigate Renee Good instead of the ICE agent who murdered
her. You tried to cover-up the murder of Alex Pretti by CBP
agents. You bring fake charges against protestors, like the
Broadview Six and Marimar Martinez, whom your administration
labeled ``a domestic terrorist''--this is the Montessori
teacher who lived in my District--while protecting thugs who
terrorizes and DHS authority.
That's what you do--protect and enable the criminals who
are plundering our society and destroying what's left of
democracy and the rule of law. Epstein accomplices; masked DHS
thugs; corporate criminals; Tom Homan; Eric Adams; and
insurrectionists. The list goes on.
You talk about fighting crime, but you protect any criminal
who helps you and Trump turn our country into an authoritarian
gangster State.
After all this, nobody supports you. I'm not talking about
Democrats. I'm talking about conservative judges who are
condemning the rampant lawlessness at DOJ under your
leadership.
Your prosecutors are quitting in droves over being forced
to prosecute low-level immigration cases, including in
Chicagoland.
Your MAGA base despises you because you're covering up the
Epstein files. How ironic?
Even your own boss has repeatedly complained to your staff
about you, calling you ``weak and ineffective.'' Weak and
ineffective, that's what Donald Trump thinks of you already.
You will not win, however. Chicagoland rejects you. The
American people reject you. Our communities have demonstrated
our strength and resilience in the face of cruelty and
cowardice.
Democrats must impeach and remove lawless officials like
you and Kristi Noem and impose accountability for every
criminal action. You can spare yourself more humiliation.
Resign now and submit yourself to accountability by the
American people.
Mr. Chair, before I yield back, I ask unanimous consent to
submit for the record The Wall Street Journal article, dated
January 12, 2025, and titled, ``Trump has complained about Pam
Bondi repeatedly to aides.''
Thank you, and I yield back.
Chair Jordan. Without objection. The gentleman yields back.
The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
Mr. Roy. I thank the Chair.
AG Bondi. May I have 20 seconds, please?
Mr. Roy. Yes, ma'am.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Garcia. Let's hear the opposition research.
AG Bondi. Thank you. That's absolutely right. They're not
running for--he's not running for office again because--well, I
don't know why you're not running for office again.
After the filing deadline, after the filing deadline, you
publicly announced you would not run, when your Chief of Staff,
Patty Garcia, announced and took your seat.
Mr. Garcia. That's a State matter. That isn't a Federal
matter.
AG Bondi. I believe Democrats got angry about that as well.
Mr. Garcia. You should investigate claims. You should
investigate violations of the law.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from Texas.
The time belongs to the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. Roy. Can I have a little flexibility in the time? I
appreciate the Chair.
Madam Attorney General, am I correct that, under your
leadership, the Department of Justice has prosecuted cases of
noncitizen voting? It's false, as some of my Democratic
colleagues have claimed, that it doesn't happen?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Roy. I ask that today because we're voting on the SAVE
America Act today to enact commonsense policy to ensure only
American citizens vote in American elections and enact in
Federal voter ID laws.
It's true, for example, that in just this month, a Federal
grand jury in New York indicted two men with illegally voting
in a Federal election and making false statements. Muhammad
Muzammal and Muhammad Shakeel were noncitizens at the time they
registered to vote.
This happens; it happens regularly, and you're prosecuting
those crimes, correct?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Roy. Does that prosecution of those criminals overturn
their previously cast votes?
AG Bondi. That's all pending.
Mr. Roy. It does not overturn votes that they've cast,
right? Passing the SAVE America Act would help deal with that
problem?
AG Bondi. Oh, no, Congressman. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. The second question, as Attorney General, you're
in charge of the Executive Office of Immigration Review,
correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. The Biden-Mayorkas regime caused the Immigration
Court case backlog to explode, correct?
AG Bondi. Explode.
Mr. Roy. Does that sound about right, that in September
2020, four months before President Biden took office, there was
a backlog of 1.5 million cases, but by the time President Biden
left office, the backlog reached nearly 4.2 million cases?
AG Bondi. It sounds about right, but I don't have the exact
numbers.
Mr. Roy. It would be accurate to say that most individuals
who filed for asylum have a meritless or fraudulent claim?
AG Bondi. Most. I don't have the numbers.
Mr. Roy. Oh, does it sound correct that, of the asylum
cases adjudicated in Fiscal Year 2020-2023 under the Biden
regime, that only 14 percent resulted in asylum grants and only
12 percent in Fiscal Year 2024? Does that sound correct?
AG Bondi. It sounds correct. I don't--I'm sorry, I don't
have the numbers.
Mr. Roy. Could you get that information to us, to verify
that data?
AG Bondi. Yes, absolutely. I'll get all that information to
you.
Mr. Roy. Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges
complete an average of 65,000 cases per month, the highest
average completion rate in at least a decade. Does that sound
correct?
AG Bondi. That sounds correct.
Mr. Roy. Ms. Bondi, how many new cases under EOIR received
in Fiscal Year 2025 have you all had? Of those, what percentage
have been granted asylum? Do you know?
AG Bondi. I can try to get you those numbers. I thought I
had those.
Mr. Roy. That would be great. Because my question is
whether President Trump's decision to pause asylum in the wake
of the shooting of a National Guardsman by an Afghani here in
Washington, DC, in the Nation's Capital, helped to stop the
backlog in your office. Does that sound correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. My point being that the leadership of this
administration is ending the backlog, reducing the backlog,
making sure that we don't have fraudulent asylum claims
clogging it, and keeping Americans safe. Is that correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. A couple of other quick questions on another
important topic that has been raised by both--colleagues on
both side of the aisle with respect to the Epstein case, a few
questions.
First, Jeffrey Epstein was charged in July 2019 for sex
trafficking under the Trump Administration in his first term,
is that correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. That Ghislaine Maxwell was charged in 2020, also
under the Trump Administration, correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman.
Mr. Roy. It is safe to say that the administration led on
that issue, and that there was silence in the previous
administration, is that correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman, almost complete silence from
everyone who's been trying to still talk about Epstein. They
didn't say a word under the Biden Administration--nothing.
Mr. Roy. I want to make one other point, and then, another
question, though, that is important. I want to make one
observation, and that is we've heard that the information
today, which is troubling, that Jane Does, the victims'
information, was made public and was unredacted in the files
that were released on Friday.
My question is, some of us had argued, when we were dealing
with the discharge petition in Congress, that when Congress
inserted itself into the process, that we needed to be very
careful to ensure that we were protecting victims. A question
that is both--I just make that clear, that some of us were
fighting for that here, and we didn't get a chance to amend it
or change it. That was concerning.
A question a little more pointed, I have to say, is, why,
though, were the victims' names released that shouldn't have
been; that there were names in the files that, these Jane Does,
that their names shouldn't have been made public, when there
were some accusers whose names were redacted? That's question
one.
AG Bondi. Uh-hum.
Mr. Roy. Question two was that Ghislaine Maxwell was put in
jail for trafficking minors, rightly so, and you properly said
here at this table you hope she dies in jail. Well, I want to
know, will anyone besides her or Epstein, which I congratulate
President Trump's previous administration and this Department
of Justice for continuing all that, but that they were
indicted, but will anyone else be indicted and prosecuted under
this, given the information that's in front of us? Two
questions.
AG Bondi. Thank you for letting me answer that. They didn't
want to hear my answer on the other side.
Yes, given the tight timeframe of 30 days, I believe we got
everything released within a little over 60 days. I'm talking
as fast as I can. My time is up.
We did the best we could. Immediately, everyone's been
coming to view the documents. If someone's name should not have
been redacted, we're releasing it. If someone's name was
redacted, we said right away--it was not redacted and should
have been, meaning a victim, we went back and redacted it.
We're doing everything we can, based on the tight timeframe and
over three million pages that we released, that Donald Trump
signed, for pure transparency.
Second, what was your second question?
Mr. Roy. Whether another individual will be indicted and
prosecuted.
AG Bondi. Oh, oh. Thank you for asking that. They never
wanted to hear the answer to that. We have pending
investigations in our office.
Mr. Roy. I yield.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired. A
unanimous consent request from the gentlelady from
Pennsylvania.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you. I have several UCs as receipts.
Chair Jordan. Would you like to proceed?
Ms. Scanlon. I'd like to have unanimous consent to
introduce the following:
First, The National Security Presidential Memorandum 7,
dated September 25, 2025.
Second, The Bondi Department of Justice Memo, dated
December 4, 2025.
Third, an article from Newsweek entitled, ``DOJ deletes
study alleging rise in far-right terrorism,'' dated September
18, 2025.
Fourth, a notice article from October 3, 2025, ``Trump's
directive on organized political violence could lead to
increased surveillance of his critics.''
Fifth, a Washington Post article, September 25, 2025,
``Trump targets domestic terrorists, but only mentions the
radical left.''
Sixth, Idaho Capital Sun, October 18, 2025, ``Rest easy,
Idahoans, the no king demonstrators are American patriots.''
Seventh, ``Attacks on freedom of speech: What nonprofits
need to know,'' published by the National Council of
Nonprofits, the largest network of nonprofits in America.
Eighth, ``FFRF warns that Bondi memo weaponizes Federal law
enforcement against non-Christians and dissenting viewpoints.''
Ninth, a Ken Klippenstein blog from January 28, 2026,
``Ice's Secret Watchlists of Americans.''
Tenth, an Intercept article from February 2, 2026, ``Trump
calls his enemies terrorists. Does that mean he can kill
them?''
Chair Jordan. Without objection.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman from Florida is recognized.
Mr. Moskowitz. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Attorney
General Bondi.
AG Bondi. Good afternoon.
Mr. Moskowitz. Good--oh, you're right, it's good afternoon.
It's been a long day. I wrote this morning.
We've known each other for a long time. I'll always be
appreciative for your assistance when you were Attorney General
in Florida after the shooting at my high school at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas in my hometown of Parkland, when we passed the
bipartisan bill, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety
Act, which was the largest policy response to a school shooting
in American history.
Your Department also prosecuted to the fullest extent of
the law a constituent of mine, and former felon that had plans
to kill me, when he was picked up by law enforcement after he
was target practicing in his backyard with two rifles, a scope,
a silencer, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, and an antisemitic
manifesto. My name was the only name on the target list, and my
kids found out about this from their friends at school. Thank
you.
However, the most transparent administration in American
history? Before Trump, we didn't know the word
``transparency,'' apparently. It's been 12 months since you
gave Republican influencers part one of the Epstein files. You
said the list was on your desk, and a memo came out and said
that there was no list. Phase two of the binders never
happened.
The President of the United States says the Epstein thing
is a hoax. He blasts his own base for wanting the release of
the files. He blamed Barack Obama. Republicans voted against
the release of the files in the Rules Committee. Then, they
refused to even return to the Rules Committee until they could
be protected from future votes on the release.
Speaker Johnson sends Congress home a day early before
break. They sent the Deputy Attorney General to meet with Ms.
Maxwell. She said something favorable about the President.
Miraculously, she gets transferred to a minimum-security
facility. No one can explain why. Miraculously, the leaks to
The Wall Street Journal stop.
We come back from break. We have the Massie discharge
petition. Republicans drop a rule, a nonbinding resolution,
trying to kill the Massie discharge petition.
The White House says passing the Massie discharge petition
is a hostile act--trying to stop the necessary 218 signatures,
according to Republican Members that signed it. The White House
brought them into the situation room, the place where the
President goes for time of war, promising things like
appropriations or maybe even to primary them. People in the
room say you were there.
It didn't work. We got the 218 signatures. We eventually
passed the Massie petition. You guys didn't release the files.
You were forced by Congress, every Member of the House except
one and the entire Senate. The reason the President signed it
is because it was a veto-proof majority. We can't agree on
anything, and yet, the entire House but one Member and the
whole Senate forced the administration to release the files.
Kash Patel under oath said to Senator Kennedy, ``The FBI is
not in possession of any credible evidence that Epstein
trafficked girls to anyone but himself.''
We know now that's not true. According to documents,
Epstein had a worldwide sex trafficking ring. Girls from
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Paris, and the modeling
agencies sending him girls. He even had a relationship with a
summer camp where he groomed girls at a picnic table.
Ghislaine Maxwell says 29 Epstein associates cut secret DOJ
deals. It turns out there is a list of six names readily
available if you unredact them, coconspirators' named, but we
got them when you unredacted them. Maxwell recently tells the
House Oversight Committee that she wants clemency to release
more names.
Kash Patel under oath said ``Trump's name appears less than
100 times in the files.'' We now know that's not true. Trump's
name appears more times in the Epstein files than God's name
appears in the book about God.
OK. By the way, this is the Trump Bible. Move over, King
James.
Trump's name also appears more times in the Epstein file
than Harry Potter's name appears in the seven books about Harry
Potter.
Lutnick says that, in 2008, he went to Epstein's home, says
he had a massage table in the living room, but Epstein said he
got one every day; that it was the right type of massage.
He and his wife decide to leave and say they'll never be in
a room with him again. Howard then says, ``I'm sure the Epstein
stuff is all on video. He was the greatest blackmailer of all
time.'' Well, how would Howard know that?
Now, the files are public. In 2012, we find out that he and
his family are on Epstein island after, after, after Epstein
pled guilty to State charges.
I'm from Florida. I took my family to Disney World, not to
Epstein island.
There are documents in the files that dispute the
President's claim that he kicked Epstein out of his club.
Allegedly, the President said Epstein--that he asked Epstein to
leave, supported now--that's disputed, though, in statements
from the manager of the club.
Now, Madam Attorney General, I've got 25 seconds left.
Because I'm curious and I'd like to see. Flip to the Jared
Moskowitz section of the binder. I'm interested to see what
staff provided on the oppo on me. Because we're in the
Olympics, I'm going to give it a grade. I just want to see how
good it is. Give me your best one.
AG Bondi. First, nothing is funny about mocking the Bible
and holding up a Trump Bible.
Mr. Moskowitz. I'm not mocking the Bible.
AG Bondi. That's what you did.
Mr. Moskowitz. That's about--that's--
AG Bondi. You made a joke and I find it offensive.
Mr. Moskowitz. No, I want it--
AG Bondi. That's all I have to say to you.
Mr. Moskowitz. I want it from the ``burn book.''
AG Bondi. Shame.
Mr. Moskowitz. I want it from the ``burn book.'' Which is
the best one? What you got?
Chair Jordan. The gentleman's time has expired. The
gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized.
Mr. Grothman. Thank you. First, I'd like to clear something
up that was said earlier and is frequently said, and it's
manifestly not true. That is the supposed small number of
crimes committed by immigrants or illegal immigrants in the
country. That has been based on a poorly done study by the Cato
Institute, and I believe the Cato Institute itself has even
updated that study.
The reason that we know that study is not true is that
those statistics are not out there. For whatever reason, when
somebody is arrested, even for very serious crimes, we do not
have on the paperwork whether that person is a legal or illegal
immigrant. OK?
If I go to one of my local sheriffs in Wisconsin and ask
them, ``How many illegal immigrants in your jail?'' they will
say, ``I have no idea. We don't keep track of that.''
When I tour the Federal prison, right outside of my
District, and I ask them, ``In this Federal prison, how many of
your inmates are illegal aliens?'' they will tell me, ``We have
no idea. We don't keep track of that.''
Whenever you hear a Democrat, or anybody, or a pundit, say
that, ``Oh, there's so few illegals committing crimes,'' it is
based on nothing, because those statistics are not available
anywhere.
What I would offer in the next round of appropriation
bills, if one of my Democrat colleagues wants to help me out,
perhaps in Appropriations we can get funds to add to all the
paperwork whenever anybody is convicted of a crime, as to
whether or not they are a citizen or a noncitizen. Then, we
will have the statistics.
Otherwise, whenever you hear somebody say on MSNBC or
wherever, ``Oh, so few crimes are committed by illegal
immigrants,'' they don't know what they're talking about,
because nobody has those numbers. OK. There's the first thing.
Now, the next thing I want to point out, we have had what I
think is an unprecedented situation in Minnesota in which they
are not assisting ICE in dealing with crimes that are going on
up there. In other words, ICE is left to its own devices.
When I talk to my local sheriffs, they tell me that,
whenever a Federal agency is engaged in work in Wisconsin, they
always make themselves available in case that Federal agency
needs assistance. This could be something like ICE under DEI--
DEA. It could be Drug Enforcement. It could be ATF. It could be
FBI. It could be Secret Service. It could be the U.S. Marshal.
Nobody that I have been able to find, any sheriff in the
State of Wisconsin, is aware of any circumstances in which they
did not make themselves available to Federal law enforcement,
either if they need somebody extra to do surveillance; to just
park a marked car outside the area; to assist in apprehension
of a criminal; if they need a distance--assistance with an
additional SWAT team; and if they need to transport somebody.
Local law enforcement is always there.
Now, you are not in charge of ICE, but you're in charge of
several other agencies. Have you ever heard of anything like
what's going on in Minnesota, where the Governor or the local
mayor refuses to give assistance to Federal law enforcement?
AG Bondi. I have in Portland and some other cities where
they weren't cooperating. As I said, I spent about four days--I
did spend four days in Minnesota, and I believe many of the
local law enforcement wish they could work with us to make
their cities safe.
Mr. Grothman. OK. Now, we'll switch to something else.
First, I would like to thank you for doing this today. You're
obviously very bright, obviously very competent, and something
I love--you tolerate fools gladly. I appreciate that trait. You
suffer fools gladly.
In hearings like this, we often focus on new initiatives
undertaken by the Department. Today, I'd like to give you an
opportunity to discuss actions implemented under the Biden
Administration's Department of Justice, such as the Foreign
Influence Task Force that you have since terminated. It's
always rare to see anything on the government terminated. Could
you elaborate on those decisions and highlight the
accomplishments of your tenure at Justice?
AG Bondi. Thank you for asking that. We are out of time,
but may I answer, Mr. Chair?
Chair Jordan. Yes, go ahead.
AG Bondi. Thank you. Thank you. The Biden Administration
weaponized the Foreign Corruption Practices Act. On February
10th, President Trump issued an Executive Order pausing that
for a DOJ review.
Under Deputy Attorney General Blanche's supervision, a
comprehensive review was led, and the Department issued new
guidelines protecting all Americans and protecting against the
weaponi-zation that happened under the Biden Administration.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired. The
gentleman yields back. The gentleman from New York is
recognized.
Mr. Goldman. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Bondi, I went over
to the Department yesterday for a couple of hours to review
some of the unredacted materials. I am looking forward to your
detailed explanation for why you have withheld almost half of
the documents which is required by the bill.
Now, obviously, there are three million documents. I didn't
get through much. One thing I didn't see was the client list
that you said you had on your desk a year ago. I did, however,
find a couple of important documents: An 86-page prosecution
memo from the Southern District of New York and a draft
indictment from Florida against Jeffrey Epstein's
coconspirators. For reasons that I cannot understand, nor are
permitted by the bill, they were still redacted, even for the
Members of Congress.
Ms. Bondi, will you commit right here to immediately
providing those two documents in unredacted form to the Members
of Congress?
AG Bondi. Well--
Mr. Goldman. Not complicated question.
AG Bondi. Well, I guess it is for you, because you have a
law degree and those are privileged.
Mr. Goldman. OK. They're not privileged, but we will
discuss that later.
I also found an email that I have right here from Jeffrey
Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell that was unredacted, and it
included notes of statements that Donald Trump made about his
prior relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Now, there is no
reason for this to be hidden from the American people. There is
no privilege. There is no attorney-client privilege. I see
you're checking with your staff, and I can assure you, Staff,
this is not under attorney--client privilege because it was
sent from Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell.
Will you commit to publicly providing the unredacted
version of this, so that the American people can understand the
extent of Donald Trump's lies about his relationship with
Jeffrey Epstein?
AG Bondi. You're about as good of a lawyer today as you
were when you tried to impeach President Trump in 2016. Have
you apologized for that in 2019?
Mr. Goldman. Will you not--
AG Bondi. Apologize for that--
Mr. Goldman. Will you unredact this? Will you unredact
this?
AG Bondi. You were lead counsel on that privilege.
Mr. Goldman. I'm asking you, will you unredact this?
AG Bondi. Privileged.
Mr. Goldman. Privileged. Of course, I look forward to
discussing this more. Now, these are, obviously, improper
redactions and protect--
AG Bondi. Let me stop you a minute.
Mr. Goldman. I'm talking.
AG Bondi. No, no.
Mr. Goldman. I'm talking.
AG Bondi. If they're not privileged--
Mr. Goldman. Quiet.
AG Bondi. Don't yell at me. If they're not privileged--
Mr. Raskin. Mr. Chair, will you stop the clock?
Mr. Goldman. You know who--
Mr. Raskin. This is on her time. It's not on Mr. Goldman.
AG Bondi. If they're not privileged--
Mr. Goldman. Even though you used your improper redactions
to continue to protect Donald Trump--
AG Bondi. If we review this, and then, not--you'll like my
answer. If we review them and they're not privileged we will be
happy to release them after review.
Mr. Baumgartner. [Presiding.] The time belongs to the
Member. We'll stop the clock. We'll stop the clock. The time
belongs to the Member. Go ahead.
Mr. Goldman. Even though you used improper redactions to
protect Donald Trump and other predators associated with
Jeffrey Epstein, you did the exact opposite thing with the
survivors and victims of this scheme. Their identification
information was really the only thing required to be redacted
and it was not.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Goldman. It's clear this was not a mistake. This was
not by accident. This was not because you only had 30 days when
you really used 75, and that doesn't even include all the hours
last March that you were redacting it.
I'll tell you why it's clear it wasn't a mistake. There is
an email entitled, ``Epstein Victim List.'' There are 32 names.
One is redacted; 31 are not. Someone looked at it and decided
to redact something. I will tell you that this is clearly
intentional to intimidate these survivors and victims.
Now, in an interview last week--
AG Bondi. How will you tell me that's intentional?
Mr. Goldman. In an interview--in an interview last week,
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche--
AG Bondi. He can't go off script.
Mr. Goldman. --said that any victim that wants to speak
with the Department has done so--hopefully. Well, thanks to the
incredibly brave people sitting here behind you, we can
actually ask them if that's true.
Now, would the survivors and victims who are here please
stand up one more time? Just by show of hands, how many of you
or your loved ones actually have met with the Department of
Justice and provided testimony and evidence? None.
Of those of you who have not met, which is everyone, how
many of you have reached out either individually or through a
lawyer or representative to offer to provide testimony and
evidence? All of them.
Those of you, all of you, who have reached out, how many of
you were denied or ignored by the Department of Justice? All of
them.
Despite the shameful and despicable efforts by Ms. Bondi
and her Department to intimidate you, how many of you are still
willing to speak to the Department of Justice? All of them.
Well, Ms. Bondi, it looks like you have some more witnesses
to talk to.
Mr. Baumgartner. The gentleman's time has expired.
Mr. Goldman. I yield back.
Mr. Baumgartner. We will go to the good gentleman from
North Carolina, Congressman Knott.
Mr. Knott. Thank you, Mr.--
AG Bondi. May I have a moment, Congressman?
Mr. Knott. Yes, ma'am.
AG Bondi. Thank you. Here we go. Here's the photograph.
This is why he wanted to repeat everything that had been said
previously on Epstein. This is his State, New York. You
probably don't even know who this is. Waheed Mohammad from
Afghanistan--
Mr. Goldman. Yes, because I'm no longer a prosecutor.
AG Bondi. --who was convicted of assault. Wow. He
represents New York. Wow. He doesn't care about the illegal
aliens convicted of crimes.
Assault and homicide. No longer a prosecutor, so he doesn't
care about his constituents. Here we go. Arson, El Salvador,
Miguel Palacios. Herman Flores Romales, Mexico, rape.
Mr. Goldman. Let's talk about--
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Goldman. --the 70 percent of immigrants who are
detained without a criminal conviction or arrest.
Mr. Baumgartner. Stop the clock. Stop the clock. The time
belongs to Congressman Knott.
Mr. Knott. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Madam Attorney General, I want to be sure that the American
people understand exactly what we're referring to when we talk
about sanctuary policies. They are often framed in sort of
innocuous terms like ``We refuse to take part in immigration
law.'' When you add up all the population represented by these
cowardly politicians in sanctuary jurisdictions, whether it's a
county, city, or State, sanctuary jurisdictions account for,
roughly, 40 percent of the United States.
Now, in reality, it's much more than just a passive
exercise, is that not correct?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. It's unbelievably active. In terms of breaking
down these terms, I want to break it down as clearly a term as
I can. What is a ``Federal detainer''? For the American people,
please describe it.
AG Bondi. A Federal detainer is when someone is held in
Federal custody.
Mr. Knott. Yes. When a Federal detainer is issued to local
law enforcement, they are, obviously, in local or State
custody, correct?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. Federal officers take note of that apprehension
and they say, ``We want to come and apprehend [him or her] to
deport them.'' Isn't that correct?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. In these sanctuary jurisdictions--whether it's
California, Illinois, New York, or other places; even in North
Carolina there are sanctuary jurisdictions--that Federal
detainer often prompts not any cooperation, not any assistance,
but a release onto the streets. Isn't that correct?
AG Bondi. Yes, Congressman, a Federal detainer is Federal
law that people must abide by. Yet, these jurisdictions, many
of these jurisdictions are not abiding by that.
Mr. Knott. Yes. We hear a lot of talk from the other side
about victims, about victims of violent crime, sex crimes,
murders, whatever it may be, but I want to be very clear.
Illegal aliens who have been arrested for committing some of
the most heinous crimes have been released by sanctuary cities,
by sanctuary States, rather than being turned over to the
Federal Government for deportation. Isn't that correct?
AG Bondi. It sad for all Americans that any jurisdiction
would do that. These are some of the most violent criminals I
think we've all seen.
Mr. Knott. Yes. Despite their best efforts to obstruct you
and the President in making us all safer--I just want to go
through a quick list again of the accomplishments that you have
been, in part, responsible for achieving.
True or false, does the country now have the lowest murder
rate in 125 years?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. True or false, 62 major cities are now reporting
rapid decline in murder rates?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. True or false, robberies are down nearly 20
percent over the last year?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. True or false, violent crime is down almost 15
percent over the past year?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. True or false, right here in Washington, DC,
violent crime is down almost 30 percent since President Trump
took office?
AG Bondi. Yes, the number may be even better than that, but
yes.
Mr. Knott. Good.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Knott. True or false, the DEA has seized over 200,000
kilograms of cocaine since President Trump took office?
AG Bondi. I believe so, 200- and 78,500 kilos of meth and
more than 260,000 kilos of cocaine.
Mr. Knott. Unbelievable.
AG Bondi. That's lives saved every day for all of us, for
families, and for children.
Mr. Knott. Unbelievable. Absolutely. Then, true or false,
the Department of Justice under your leadership has a 92
percent success rate at the Supreme Court?
AG Bondi. I believe so.
Mr. Knott. Or ballpark?
AG Bondi. Ballpark.
Mr. Knott. Then, true or false, this administration is
attacking the waste, fraud, and abuse that we have seen in
places like Minnesota that is removing billions of hard-earned
tax dollars from this country?
AG Bondi. Absolutely. President Trump is committed to doing
that in every city in this country.
Mr. Knott. Madam Attorney General, just to be very brief
here, I want to be sure that you know that many on this
Committee made very serious efforts to try to amend the Epstein
petition to give you the resources and the time to protect
victims, to go through and to have the necessary runway to
thoroughly go through that file. Unfortunately, those requests
were met with refusal, and we were unable to make the necessary
amendments.
Thank you for being here today.
AG Bondi. Thank you.
Mr. Baumgartner. The gentleman yields back. We turn to the
good lady from California, Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you,
Attorney General, for being here today.
I want to talk with you about an issue on which there is
broad bipartisan agreement, the importance of ensuring trust
between the American public and those government officials who
wield powerful law enforcement responsibilities.
Attorney General, would you agree that it is important for
law enforcement leaders to be honest?
AG Bondi. Of course, as well as the Members of Congress.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. OK, great. Thank you. Would you include
yourself as a law enforcement leader?
AG Bondi. Of course.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. OK. Thank you. Thank you. President
Trump has also--well, he has referred to himself as the Chief
Law Enforcement Officer of this country. Do you believe that
President Trump is honest?
AG Bondi. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the United States
of America and--
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Do you believe that--
AG Bondi. --not only is he keeping this country safe he is
keeping this world safe.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. --President Trump is honest? Do you
believe he is honest? It's a simple question which you didn't
answer.
AG Bondi. Of course, I do.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. OK. Thank you.
AG Bondi. He is the Commander-in-Chief.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Last June, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa
Hortman, her husband Mark, and their dog were brutally murdered
in their home. Your USA's office in Minnesota investigated this
crime and obtained a six-count indictment of the murder
suspect, stating that he had ``intent to kill, injure, harass,
and intimidate'' Minnesota legislators. I have the copyright
here. I read through it.
A few weeks ago, President Trump suggested publicly that
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was behind these murders, posting
on his Truth Social account a video raising this conspiracy
theory. It wasn't true. It wasn't true, or else you would not
have brought an indictment against the subject.
Do you know what else Trump has said? He has said he has
cut gas prices by 1,400 percent. False. That he won the 2020
election. False.
AG Bondi. Actually, gas is down to $1.99 a gallon--
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. That he didn't know Epstein.
AG Bondi. --thanks to President Trump.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. That he didn't know Epstein. False.
AG Bondi. Maybe $5 in California.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. That he sent--it's my time, Mr. Chair--
that he sent water to LA during the wildfires. False.
That Governor Wes Moore of Maryland called him ``the
greatest President of his lifetime.'' False.
Many tales, too many to keep up. I want to go back to what
he said about Tim Walz.
Do you agree that President Trump undermined public trust
in law enforcement by suggesting that Governor Walz was
involved in the Hortman murders?
AG Bondi. I am not familiar with that statement.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. Well, that is a disappointing response,
and it is also why your office and Donald Trump have zero
credibility. Because I know, and you know, it was a Right-wing
extremist who murdered the Hortmans. You and the President are
being dishonest with the American people.
Last fall, after the horrific shooting of Charlie Kirk,
President Trump was asked if there were extremists on both the
Left and the Right. His exact words were,
I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but
I couldn't care less. The radicals on the Right oftentimes are
radical because they don't want to see crime. The radicals on
the Left are the problem and they're vicious and they're
horrible and they're politically savvy.
Do you agree with this statement?
You're taking too long, Madam Attorney General. You know
the answer because your own Department has addressed the
question. In 2024, the DOJ's research arm issued a report on
domestic terrorism stating that the far number of far-Right
attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and
domestic violence extremists. The DOJ published that report.
After the President made those comments, the DOJ took the
report down.
I sent you a letter asking you a simple question: Why did
the Justice Department remove the data that shows Right-wing
extremists have killed more innocent people than Left-wing
extremists?
AG Bondi. Did you refer to immigration enforcement as
domestic terrorism?
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. You should answer my question.
AG Bondi. The answer is yes.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. You're on my time. You won't. What I am
asking you to do is put the report back, restore the data. Stop
scrubbing important data from your website. Stop taking down
reports that you know the American people need to know about.
There are violent, dangerous people out here with real
threats, and the discrepancies from your agency--
AG Bondi. They're all in your District.
Ms. Kamlager-Dove. --comes from the covering up of these
threats that could hurt American people and put our lives at
risk. Do better.
With that, I yield back, Mr. Chair.
Chair Jordan. [Presiding.] The gentlelady yields back. The
gentleman from North Carolina is recognized.
AG Bondi. May I have one moment?
Mr. Harris. You may.
AG Bondi. Her District includes Culver City, and she's not
talking about any crime in her District--nothing about helping
crime in her District. She's not even worth getting into the
details.
Mr. Harris. Well, thank you, Madam Attorney General, and we
are grateful to have you here today.
Let me just say that you've shown great perseverance today,
and I think you're coming into the last lap here of those of us
that are left. I applaud your strength and I applaud your
resolve.
Madam Attorney General, as a pastor for over 37 years now,
I take serious issue with any attempts by agitators to disrupt
church services or activities at houses of worship. I just want
to take a moment to clarify some things. I realize you can't
talk about pending cases per se, but I do want to ask some very
general questions for clarification.
Does the DOJ consider unauthorized entry into a house of
worship to be protected activity under the First Amendment when
undertaken by a member of the press?
AG Bondi. Unauthorized with the intent of disrupting, yes.
Mr. Harris. OK.
AG Bondi. Even if it's a blogger like Don Lemon.
Mr. Harris. Correct. How does the DOJ distinction between
news-gathering activity and expressive or protest conduct when
a press defense is asserted?
AG Bondi. Congressman, I met with the pastor of that
church, and what happened there was horrific. Of course, the
press is welcome in, I would hope, all houses of worship--
Mr. Harris. Sure.
AG Bondi. --whether it's a synagogue, whether it's a
church, any house of worship.
However, what happened here--it's a pending case again, but
within the four corners of the indictment, they were, quote,
``gearing up for a resistance.'' They entered a house of
worship, and I think the video speaks for itself.
What happened there, what the video doesn't show is there
were approximately 400 parishioners in there on a Sunday
morning families, grandparents with canes, children upstairs in
a Sunday school who were--their parents were blocked from
getting to them, once this resistance took place. They had
named it ``Operation Pullup.''
It was heartbreaking for those families. They were
terrified. I think they've all said that. Nothing like that
should happen in this country, and under my watch, it won't.
Mr. Harris. Thank you. Just to clarify, accosting members
of a congregation and creating a scene marked by intimidation
and threat inside a house of worship would not be protected
First Amendment activity, correct?
AG Bondi. Absolutely not, a grand jury has indicted
individuals over that.
Mr. Harris. Thank you. One other question, just shifting a
little bit. My home State of North Carolina has been making
national headlines at times. Particularly in the city of
Charlotte, we've made pleas at times for our Governor to get
involved, bring in the National Guard. Our Fraternal Order of
Police pointed out that we were about 270 local cops below what
we needed to adequately police the city. The Governor has
declined to offer to partner with the Federal Government to
bring in reinforcements to Charlotte.
I want to give you just a few moments, really the balance
of my time, to explain the impact that the Memphis Safe Task
Force has had on crime and safety in Memphis. Because I know
there was a place, we saw that cooperation has tended to breed
great results. I would love to hear a little more about that.
AG Bondi. Thank you. I have numbers for you, too. Well,
we're all right here in D.C. We're all living right here in
D.C.--
Mr. Harris. Absolutely.
AG Bondi. --and I think we've seen the remarkable impact
that it has, working with the Members of the Democrat Party on
this, with law enforcement, with the mayor, with the police
chief, doing everything we can to make D.C. safe.
As of February 9th, there were nearly 10,000 arrests. This
is D.C.
Mr. Harris. Uh-hum.
AG Bondi. One thousand illegal guns seized since the
operation began, with carjackings down 81 percent from this
time last year, and violent crime is down 42 percent. D.C. is
safer because of it.
We know we had a National Guardsman shot and we had a
beautiful young woman killed. I went to her funeral, and I kept
in touch with the National Guardsman who was shot, his parents.
He's doing great. He's a miracle. Please continue to pray for
him.
I know my time is up, but I have the same results I spoke
about earlier in Memphis, and we're still working on that with
the help of Make Memphis Safe Again.
Mr. Harris. Well, again, it just draws an incredible
contrast between what we've seen happening in Minneapolis
versus what we've seen happen in D.C., what we saw happen in
Memphis, and what I would love to see in some ways, if we could
ever get our Governor to work with us in North Carolina, to
happen in Charlotte.
With that, I yield back. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The time of the gentleman has expired. The
gentlelady is recognized.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you. I seek unanimous consent to
introduce into the record the research that Representative
Kamlager-Dove and I referenced concerning the threat of Right-
wing domestic terrorism, which the Department of Justice
scrubbed from its website in September.
Chair Jordan. Without objection.
Ms. Scanlon. Thank you.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady from Texas is recognized.
Ms. Crockett. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and to be
clear, I'm not going to ask any questions of this witness
because this witness has revealed that she has no intention of
answering questions. Instead, I'm going to ask some very basic
questions, really quickly, of my colleague, Becca Ballant, if
she will answer: Right or wrong, raping children?
Ms. Balint. Wrong.
Ms. Crockett. Right or wrong, killing random citizens?
Ms. Balint. Definitely wrong.
Ms. Crockett. Right or wrong, enriching yourself as the
sitting President of the United States?
Ms. Balint. Definitely wrong.
Ms. Crockett. OK, thank you, because I probably never would
have got that with our witness. Our witness, who somehow is a
lawyer but does not understand how it works with witnesses. I'm
not really sure what law school she went to and what kinds of
cases she tried, but typically, when you come into a space and
somebody's a witness, then they sit there and they answer
questions instead of asking questions. Then, we also have this
objection that we use as lawyers called nonresponsive when a
witness fails to actually answer the question.
Nevertheless, let me address the survivors, because that's
exactly who they are; they are not victims, they are survivors.
Let me say thank you for having more courage and more clarity
in your pinky fingers than the entire Department of Justice. We
are currently the laughingstock of the world partially because
of the failed leadership within the DOJ as we see kings and
queens falling everywhere around the world, but we don't know
the basics of right and wrong in this country. Because it's not
about partisanship, and that's why I applaud Thomas Massie,
because he's the only person on the Republican side that has
the backbone and knows how to stand up to corruption.
Nevertheless, let me keep going. My Democratic colleagues
have been attacked by this entire Committee hearing. They have
been lied on, and frankly, the American people weren't looking
for that. They were looking for answers about the corruption
that they see coming from this administration. In the written
testimony of this witness, of this particular witness, she
stated that when she took office, she had two main goals; the
first was to end the weaponization of Justice, and second, to
return the Department to its core mission. Not only have you
lied about both, but you've intentionally done the exact
opposite. You're spending more taxpayer resources arresting
journalists than you are prosecuting pedophiles and creeps. In
fact, your boss, the President of the United States, stated
that this administration, quote, ``took the freedom of speech
away,'' an at your direction, DOJ has arrested Don Lemon and
Georgia Fort. I might add that y'all actually had a judge that
rejected y'all for trying to arrest Don Lemon before, just like
the grand jury rejected y'all as it relates to Senator Kelly,
just like a grand jury rejected y'all as it relates to Senator
Slotkin, just like the case against Tish James was dismissed,
and the case against Mr. Comey was dismissed. I completely
don't get how it is that you're sitting at the top of DOJ,
because you don't seem to be good at your job.
You're spending more taxpayer resources arresting these
journalists. In fact, we know after Georgia Fort and Don Lemon
were arrested, we know that there were homes of journalists
that were raided. We know that threat and prosecution against
students for testing your actions and force tech companies to
remove apps used to track ICE's activities. Let's circle back
to you protecting pedophiles and creeps. Because I want to talk
about the President and his possible involvement with Jeffrey
Epstein. Now, I don't know what the President might've done
with Jeffrey Epstein, but unlike this administration, I believe
that facts matter, so let's talk about the facts.
Fact 1: Donald Trump is one of the most named people in the
Epstein files. At least 5,000 files contained more than 38,000
references to Trump, his wife, or Mar-a-Lago.
Fact 2: Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell made young
girls available to Trump on multiple occasions. For example,
according to this file, Ghislaine Maxwell presented a young
girl to President Trump, who spent more than 20 minutes
apparently flirting with her. Here's another example: This
shows notes from FBI investigators that describe Jeffrey
Epstein transporting a victim to Mar-a-Lago to meet with
President Trump, where he bragged to Trump that, quote, ``this
is a good one.''
Now, I'm not saying that the President is a pedophile, but
there is a lot of evidence in these files that suggest that
he's very close friends with a lot of men who are pedophiles.
What's crazy about all of this is just that this is a big
cover-up and this administration is engaged in it; in fact,
this administration is complicit. There are numerous others,
like how the DOJ is attempting to obstruct justice in the
investigation of the rogue agents who have murdered American
citizens, or how the DOJ seized voter data from Fulton County
in an attempt to steal the 2026 midterm elections, or how
Federal agents have Tom Homan on tape accepting a bribe and
your agency killed the investigation, or how your agency is
ready to give the President a $230 million pay day, which is
unconstitutional.
The Constitution is clear: The President shall not receive
any payment except his salary while in office.
The fact of the matter is that you will be remembered as
one of the worst Attorney Generals in history. An Attorney
General who has prioritized obstruction over justice,
corruption over the law, fealty to the President over loyalty
to the Constitution. Mr. Chair, I will yield.
Chair Jordan. The gentlelady yields. The gentleman from
Missouri is recognized--excuse me, the gentleman from Kansas,
the Attorney General, the former Attorney General, Mr. Schmidt.
Mr. Schmidt. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Attorney General Bondi,
thanks for being here. Did you have anything you wanted to say
before we talk?
AG Bondi. I do, thank you, Congressman. Thank you, my
friend, for many years. I find it interesting that she didn't
even want to try, Congresswoman Crockett, to ask any questions,
because she certainly did not condemn her leader, Hakeem
Jefferies, for taking money from Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein
was convicted. I will be brief to give you your time,
Congressman. This is what she didn't want to talk about. Texas
from Cuba, convicted, homicide, arson, weapon offense--
Ms. Crockett. Convicted. What are we talking about?
AG Bondi. Convicted--
Ms. Crockett. Convict some of these perpetrators that raped
these women that are sitting--
Chair Jordan. The time belongs--the time belongs--
Ms. Crockett. That you refuse to acknowledge, say, or hear.
AG Bondi. Texas.
Chair Jordan. The time belongs to the gentleman from
Kansas.
Mr. Schmidt. Mr. Chair, can I have a few seconds back to
make up for the yelling?
Chair Jordan. You bet. You bet.
Mr. Schmidt. Attorney General, did you have anything to
say?
AG Bondi. Thank you, Congressman. Texas, convicted of
homicide. Cecil Joseph from Dominican Republic. Texas,
convicted for kidnapping, rape. Khalil Khan from Afghanistan.
That's why they want to talk about Epstein and not about what's
happening in their own State.
Mr. Schmidt. Thank you, general, and thank you for being
here. This has been quite a spectacle to observe today. I think
it's sad I ran for Congress because I thought we had serious
problems in this country we wanted to try to fix together. This
performance today, not yours, general, but some of my
colleagues', has not shored up my confidence that we are up to
the task. You and I served together for eight years while you
were Attorney General of Florida and I in Kansas. You served
professionally and I'm glad to be able to serve with you in
these new roles and I'm glad you're there both generally and
today.
Part of the reason I ran for Congress is because in my
former role I saw, in the real world and in my State, the
consequences of failed U.S. immigration and border security
policy. I'll spare you the lengthy recitation but let me give
you the short version. I sit here and think about a fellow who
was running, I believe it was, drugs for the cartels and shot a
police officer in Oklahoma, drove across the border into my
State, kidnaped an old man, and then invaded a house and shot
at cops before we ultimately neutralized him. He's in prison
now for, I believe, the rest of his life. Thinking about a
drunk driver who was in our country illegally and never should
have been here, and one night killed a young deputy on Southern
Johnson County, Kansas. He was making a traffic stop on another
individual, the drunk driver ran into him, never should have
been here, shouldn't have happened. Thinking about a guy who
was deported repeatedly, came back, and ultimately murdered, I
believe it was, four people in Kansas City, Kansas, and then
fled to Missouri, killed a fifth guy; he died in prison.
Thinking about a guy we prosecuted who wasn't supposed to be in
this country who raped a child in a little rural county up
North on the Nebraska border and we sent him to prison for, I
believe, the rest of his life. Thinking about a guy who wasn't
supposed to be here at all who murdered, I think it was his
wife or his domestic partner in an act of domestic violence in
Northwest Kansas. Thinking about another guy who was here and
joined up with some folks who were citizens and committed a
crime spree and then thought he might get caught, so he killed
one of his accomplices and we sent him to prison for the rest
of his life. That's just the ones I'm thinking about sitting
right here. You know what's common in all of those? They all
committed violations of my State's law, they were caught by my
State's law enforcement, they were prosecuted by my State's
prosecutors, they are serving time in my State's prisons, and
if and when they ever get out, the United States has said they
need to be sent out of this country because of what they did.
There's a list--you're holding up photos, general, there's
a list on the Department of Homeland Security's website, it has
about 280-290 people like that in my State of Kansas. You know
what? We haven't made headlines like Minneapolis. We haven't
made headlines like Memphis. We haven't made headlines like Los
Angeles. Do you know why? Because our cops are professionals
and our politicians, by law, allow them to do their job and to
work with Federal agents for safe hand-offs to do everything
that's supposed to be done. Justice under State law and the
justice of deportation on the back end.
I want to do something that's been rare here today,
general, I want to ask you about public policy. Donald Trump
won't be President forever. I would like to lock-in some of
these gains we have made in public safety. Should we be
exploring the idea, for example, of beefing up 287(g)
partnerships, or maybe replicating that so that State
prosecutors can work more closely with Federal prosecutors to
get deportation orders as well as State convictions?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Schmidt. In terms of sanctuary jurisdictions, when a
sanctuary jurisdiction says, as a matter of politics, go pound
sand to the feds, we won't honor your detainer, so they release
those people I'm talking about out into their communities, and
those people commit another crime of property or violence
against citizens, should those citizens have some type of civil
redress against the jurisdiction that, as a matter of public
policy, turned those people loose who created the new victims?
AG Bondi. Congressman, it's risking the lives of all the
citizens of that jurisdiction.
Mr. Schmidt. You have been sued a lot, or the
administration has, by folks who don't like your policies.
AG Bondi. Hundreds of times.
Mr. Schmidt. You've won many of those.
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Schmidt. Isn't it the case that the law says, under
Rule 65, that when you win those and there's a wrongfully
entered injunction that there's supposed to be a monetary
remedy for that, so there's a cost?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Schmidt. Didn't the President direct you and other
agency heads to start seeking bonds in those cases?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Schmidt. Should we beef up the law in that area by
codifying that requirement going forward?
AG Bondi. I would love to discuss that with you.
Mr. Schmidt. Thank you, general. Thank you for being here.
Chair Jordan. Gentleman yields back. Well done. Some of the
questions he raised we plan on taking up during a markup in a
couple weeks on the whole sanctuary jurisdiction issue. With
that, I recognize the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. Gill. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Madam Attorney
General, for taking the time to speak with us. We certainly
really appreciate it. I've got a series of questions for you
that we can get through pretty quickly, I think. Can you tell
me, is it true that the Biden-Harris DOJ raided President
Trump's home?
AG Bondi. They did.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ allow Jack Smith to spy
on over a dozen Republican Members of Congress?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ seize the phone of a
sitting Republican Congressman?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ and Jack Smith pay at
least $20,000 to confidential human sources to provide
information on President Trump?
AG Bondi. At least.
Mr. Gill. At least. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ and FBI fail
to apprehend the suspect who placed pipe bombs near the Capitol
ahead of January 6th?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ target parents as
domestic terrorists?
AG Bondi. Absolutely.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ target prolife
Catholics, going so far as to interview a priest and a choir
director?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ send FBI SWAT teams to
arrest prolife advocates with no criminal histories?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ use the FACE Act to
target prolife advocates while it allowed antilife agitators to
vandalize, destroy, and firebomb pregnancy resource centers and
churches.
AG Bondi. Multiple times, I believe.
Mr. Gill. Multiple times. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ ever
determine who leaked the Dobbs decision?
AG Bondi. I can't discuss. Oh, no, under Biden-Harris, no.
Mr. Gill. Got it. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ and FBI target
whistleblowers for revealing waste, fraud, and abuse within the
Department to Congress?
AG Bondi. Not to my knowledge.
Mr. Gill. The Biden-Harris DOJ refused to say whether it
coordinated with Alvin Bragg, Fannie Willis, and Letitia James
in their lawfare against President Trump.
AG Bondi. They refused.
Mr. Gill. The Biden-Harris DOJ slow-walked the criminal
investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden.
AG Bondi. That's an understatement, in my opinion.
Mr. Gill. Yes. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ determine who
brought cocaine into the Biden White House?
AG Bondi. They did not.
Mr. Gill. They did not. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ cover up
the extent--
AG Bondi. Well, as far as we know, they did not.
Mr. Gill. Right. Right. That's right. Did the Biden-Harris
DOJ cover up the extent of the Russia collusion hoax?
AG Bondi. Absolutely, in my opinion. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ, excuse me, seek
leniency from a Federal court for an IRS contractor who leaked
sensitive tax information on over 7,600 Americans, including
President Trump?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Did the Biden-Harris DOJ sue Texas because the
State wanted to secure its own Southern border?
AG Bondi. Yes.
Mr. Gill. Finally, did the Biden-Harris DOJ attack SpaceX
for hiring too many Americans?
AG Bondi. I believe they did. Unbelievable.
Mr. Gill. It is unbelievable. I appreciate that a lot of
this is being cleaned up under your leadership. Thank you for
returning the DOJ back to its core focus, which is on the rule
of the law and that we see the results of that. I've got a few
more similar questions for you. Over the past year since
President Trump has been in office, how have murders trended in
the United States?
AG Bondi. Since President Trump has been in office, the
murder rate has dropped to a historic 20 percent drop in the
national murder rate. Lowest since 1900.
Mr. Gill. The 20 percent drop in one year. That's
incredible, isn't it?
AG Bondi. That's thanks to the incredible men and women of
law enforcement. FBI, DEA, and ATF, everyone working together
to solve violent crime along with our sheriffs, our local law
enforcement working as a team throughout this country, and our
great State and Federal prosecutors.
Mr. Gill. How have robberies trended? Have they--even if
they've--
AG Bondi. Robberies, all violent crime is--all violent
crime--violent crime has decreased as well as robberies.
Mr. Gill. Murders and violent crimes, the country is more
safe now, it's fair to say, would you agree, than it was a
year-and-a-half ago under Joe Biden?
AG Bondi. Absolutely, Director Patel is working tirelessly
to catch those, I'm sure you've been seeing, on the most wanted
list. He and Deputy Director Bongino, from day one, said,
``we're going to get the most wanted list.'' That's what's been
happening, working hand-in-hand with all our agencies.
Mr. Gill. I want to thank you for that. Thank you for the
work you've been doing to refocus the DOJ, again, on doing your
core job. We're very happy about it. I'll yield the remainder
of my time to the Chair.
Chair Jordan. All right. I appreciate the gentleman. I
would just say, earlier one of the Democrats said that--they
said who are you, who you are. I think you're the Attorney
General who on the first day disbanded the FIDIF (phonetic).
The first day on the job, rescinded the memo that required
spying on parents that Mr. Garland had issued and set up the
weaponization working group. You did that all on day one. Not
to mention, you're the first Justice Department that's put in
place, we talked about earlier, this Deputy Attorney General
for Combatting Fraud. We appreciate that and of course all the
things Mr. Gill pointed out about with the crime stats that had
wengonewn. The last question of the day, not the least,
gentleman--oh, I'm sorry. We're going to have two more, we've
got Mr. Onder and Mr. Baumgartner. Mr. Baumgartner--well, let's
do it that way since you're here. You're ready to go. Mr.
Baumgartner, then we'll come back to Mr. Onder.
Mr. Baumgartner. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Attorney
General Bondi. Being a freshman on this Committee, you always
get a bit surprised, I guess, even one year into my term, how
theatrical days like this can be. You've performed well today
and answered questions well today, and that's a credit to you
and appreciated by the American people. The Epstein issue is
certainly important and it is important to the victims. Both I
and the American people have a little bit of trouble taking the
Democrats super seriously on this issue when they have been so
uncurious about President Clinton's relations with Jeffrey
Epstein. Even myself, I had no idea that there was actually a
sitting Democrat Congresswoman who had taken substantial
campaign donations from Mr. Epstein. Only when that came to
light on the floor of the potential resolution, and there would
be more outrage on those types of things and that we would be
taking credible--but, we do know that the performance value of
what goes on in this Committee. I want to talk about the big
things that Department of Justice is doing, and when I look at
the dramatic decrease in crime in this country in the last year
since the Trump Administration has come--you see the board
behind me, violent crime plummets across major U.S. cities. I
guess my first question would be, when it comes to the big
stuff, how are you guys getting this stuff so right? What
contributes from your perspective to this dramatic decrease in
crime in major U.S. cities under the Trump Administration?
AG Bondi. When I first took office, I met with all our
agencies. The one thing that stuck with me that one of the
heads of the departments said to me, one of the law enforcement
heads, ``President Trump has taken the handcuffs off us, so we
can keep the people of America safe.'' That's what he's done.
He has given our law enforcement officers the tools that they
need, the backing that they need, and the support that they
need to combat violent crime and all crime throughout this
country. I'd be remiss--we've talked about the FBI, we've
talked about DEA a bit, but can I please brag about ATF? Rob
Cekada and Dan Driscoll, of course, who has been our acting
head of ATF, have done a remarkable job stopping guns from
flowing into Mexico, not harassing gun owners. The 26,965
violent crime cases have been initiated, including more than
4,300 firearms trafficking cases. More than 1,200 of those are
tied to gun trafficking in Mexico. I talk to them almost
daily--
Mr. Baumgartner. Thank you.
AG Bondi. They're working so hard.
Mr. Baumgartner. Well, thank you, Attorney General. Again,
I look back at this last year, and we've had this historic tax
cut. Yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, the national
council--or the National Cancer Foundation ran a full-page ads
thanking Congress and the administration for doing more for
cancer research than has ever been done before. I was just
meeting with Habitat for Humanity out in the hallway, and they
came and thanked us for doing more than has ever been done for
Habitat for Humanity. There's been so many accomplishments, but
I really think this crime is the biggest deal of all. I do have
some concerns on this issue, those also are respect how keep
people safe with those sanctuary cities and sanctuary states. I
remind everyone, as I'm sure you know, Ms. Madam Attorney
General, that when we had the terrible terrorist attacks of 9/
11, the No. 1 recommendation of the 9/11 Commission was to
reduce barriers between all levels of law enforcement. They
specifically pointed to things like fusion centers, joint
terrorism task force, and getting local law enforcement and
Federal law enforcement to work together and communicate on a
regular basis, and I would just like your perspective because
we have a complex global threat than any time since World War
II, we still have Islamic terrorism, we have spies from China,
Iran, Russia, all these things, and what does sanctuary cities
and States do for communication law enforcement; how does it
make us less safe?
AG Bondi. Sanctuary cities and states are attempting to
prevent communication among all the law enforcement agencies,
of course, that's keeping all of America less safe, especially
when the violent criminals are fleeing to those jurisdictions
because they believe they're protected. With all our joint task
forces, I see it every day, Congressman, how well, despite what
these liberals are trying to do, Donald Trump's Administration
is working tirelessly to protect all Americans and all our
agencies working hand-in-hand to keep America safe.
Mr. Baumgartner. Well, you guys are getting the big stuff
right. You look at that decrease in crime across the country,
you ought to take a victory lap. Well done.
Chair Jordan. The gentleman yields back. The gentleman from
Missouri is recognized.
Mr. Onder. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Attorney
General Bondi, for being here on this long day. I want to thank
you most of all for your leadership in your whole career
defending victims. Now, I want to take a moment to talk about
you protecting victims from a different kind of child abuse,
that medicalized child abuse that goes under the banner of
gender affirming care that too many of my Democrat colleagues
enthusiastically support and unapologetically support. Shortly
after returning to office, President Trump signed an Executive
Order directing HHS to review the clinical evidence and
determine whether sex-rejecting interventions caused more harm
than good. HHS reached same conclusions that the UK, Finland,
and Sweden reached. The risks are serious and that imposing
this, so-called, care on minors was not appropriate. This
Executive Order also directed you, as Attorney General, to
quote, ``work to draft, propose, and promote legislation to
enact a private right-of-action for children and the parents of
children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical
professionals practicing chemical and surgical mutilation,
which should include a lengthy statute of limitations.''
Last September, you transmitted that bill to Congress. It
has been my honor to introduce that bill as the Chloe Cole Act.
We named the bill after Chloe Cole, who sat where you're
sitting just a few years ago on her 19th birthday. During a
hearing Chair by now-Speaker Mike Johnson, I'd like to play a
clip of her testimony that day to remind us of her story.
[Video plays.]
Mr. Onder. Chloe testified that day that what she needed
was mental health therapy, but she never received it. She was
not suicidal until after they did these horrible things to her.
She pleaded with Congress to act so that future children would
not suffer what she did. Last week was a major turning point
for these medical malpractice claims when a detransitioner was
the first to successfully hold doctors liable with a $2 million
settlement for what they did to that poor girl. Just days
later, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced that
they would no longer do transgender surgeries on minors, and
the AMA followed suit. This proves that if the bill your DOJ
drafted, if it were passed into law, these barbaric practices
would end immediately, because all victims would be able to
hold those who harmed them accountable. Could you share with us
a little bit about your work in advocating for victims like
Chloe and what a private right-of-action would mean for victims
like her and their families?
AG Bondi. Yes. First, Congressman, thank you for
championing this bill. Also, to Chloe, what a brave, young
woman to come before this body--
Mr. Onder. Yes, at age 19.
AG Bondi. At age 19. Talk about what happened to her. It's
not about just giving relief to children who have been harmed,
it allows victims whose healthy body parts have been damaged to
seek relief and obtain relief. Thanks to you, and we are proud
to work hand-in-hand with you on this issue, and it's pretty
sad that none of your colleagues on the other side of the aisle
even brought that up. I hope they support this to protect all
children throughout this country.
Mr. Onder. General Bondi, thank you so much to you, to your
department, to President Trump. I yield back.
Chair Jordan. Gentleman yields back.
Mr. Raskin. I just saved some UC requests for the end, Mr.
Chair.
Chair Jordan. OK. Go right ahead.
Mr. Raskin. Thank you, kindly.
First, ``Record low crime during the Biden-Harris
administration.''
Second, ``Crime down in every category in 2024 under Biden,
FBI report says.''
Third, ``Trump takes credit for violent crime drop where
rates were already falling.''
Fourth, From NPR, ``Trump administration targets ATF with
plans to cut jobs and ease gun restrictions.''
Then, a few oldies but goodies, I've introduced these
before about the claim that we didn't have anything to say
about Epstein before the Trump Aadministration.
Fifth, ``Raskin joins call for Attorney General to reopen
Epstein case and publicly release Acosta misconduct
investigation and documents,'' March 1, 2019.
Sixth, ``Oversight Committee plans hearing with Acosta on
plea deal with Epstein,'' July 10, 2019.
Seventh, ``68 House Members call for resignation of Labor
Secretary Acosta,'' July 10, 2019.
Chair Jordan. Without objection. Attorney General Bondi,
thank you for your service to the country. Thank you for being
here for a long day. We appreciate your willingness to come and
answer our questions and the great job you're doing for our
country. I've got one thing I got to say.
This concludes today's hearing. We thank our witness for
appearing before the Committee. Without objection, all members
will have five legislative days to submit additional written
questions for the witness or additional materials for the
record. Without objection, the hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:20 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
All materials submitted for the record by Members of the
Committee on the Judiciary can be found at: https://
docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=118951.
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