• Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in her first congressional appearance since the DOJ released 3 million pages of Epstein files
• Survivors wrote a letter posing 15 questions to Bondi, saying the release “feels like a deliberate attempt to intimidate survivors” while shielding powerful men
• Bipartisan lawmakers discovered six improperly redacted names in just two hours of reviewing unredacted files, raising questions about how many more remain hidden in the 3 million pages

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — Attorney General Pam Bondi is testifying Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee in a hearing that has become a flashpoint for bipartisan frustration over the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein files. The testimony, which began at 10 a.m. EST, marks Bondi’s first appearance before Congress since the department released over 3 million pages of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Jan. 30 — a release that has drawn condemnation from survivors, Democrats and Republicans alike.

The hearing arrives during a week in which the Epstein files have dominated Washington. On Monday, Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Fifth Amendment rights before the House Oversight Committee. On Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted under oath to visiting Epstein’s private island in 2012 despite previously claiming he cut ties in 2005. And a newly surfaced FBI document revealed President Donald Trump called Palm Beach police in 2006 to say “everyone has known” about Epstein’s behavior.

“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.”

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— Jamie Raskin, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member (D-MD), in his opening statement

Bondi Epstein Files Hearing: What’s at Stake

The central issue before the committee is whether the DOJ has complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the bipartisan law Congress passed nearly unanimously in November 2025 requiring the department to release virtually all investigative files related to Epstein. The law set a Dec. 19 deadline, which the DOJ missed by more than a month.

While the department has released over 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, it identified more than 6 million potentially responsive pages in total. That means roughly half the material remains out of public view. The DOJ has cited active investigations, attorney-client privilege and victim-protection concerns as reasons for withholding or redacting material — justifications that lawmakers on both sides have challenged.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Jan. 30 release concluded the department’s obligations under the law. Backers of the legislation disagree.

“If we found six men they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3 million files.”

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— Ro Khanna, U.S. Representative (D-CA), co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act

Bondi Epstein Files: Lawmakers Uncover Redacted Names

The hearing’s intensity was amplified by revelations that emerged just this week from congressional visits to a DOJ reading room where lawmakers could view unredacted versions of the files. On Monday, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) — co-sponsors of the transparency act — spent two hours reviewing documents and identified six names they said had been improperly redacted.

On Tuesday, Khanna took the extraordinary step of reading those names on the House floor, protected by the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause: Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze, Leonic Leonov, Nicola Caputo, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem and billionaire Leslie Wexner. Massie described the group as “likely incriminated” based on the file contents, though he noted that inclusion in the files does not by itself prove wrongdoing.

The DOJ subsequently un-redacted three documents after Massie flagged them. According to CBS News, the department noted that four of the six names appeared in only one document, while Wexner was referenced nearly 200 times and Bin Sulayem over 4,700 times.

Massie, a Republican member of the Judiciary Committee hearing from Bondi Wednesday, set the stakes bluntly before the hearing began.

“It’s hard to refer a contempt or things like that on an attorney general to the attorney general. But we can compel other people to come testify.”

— Thomas Massie, U.S. Representative (R-KY)

Bondi Epstein Files: Survivors Demand Answers

Epstein survivors seated in the hearing room Wednesday have accused the DOJ of a dual failure: exposing victim identities while simultaneously shielding powerful men connected to Epstein. In a letter to Bondi ahead of the hearing, survivors posed 15 specific questions, beginning with: “Who approved the release of the documents that exposed survivors’ names and identifying information?”

The letter was unsparing in its assessment of the DOJ’s handling of the release.

“We must be clear: this release does not provide closure. It feels instead 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.”

— Epstein survivors, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi

Jamie Raskin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said after viewing unredacted files Monday that there were “3,000 pages” in which survivors’ names were not properly redacted, while the names of non-victims were blacked out. He alleged the DOJ was “in a cover-up mode.”

Jennifer Freeman, an attorney representing survivors, described the situation in equally stark terms.

“Over and over we begged them, please be careful, please be more careful. The damage has already been done. It feels incompetent, it feels intimidating and it feels intentional.”

— Jennifer Freeman, attorney representing Epstein survivors

Sky Roberts, brother of the late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, called the administration’s handling of the case a “failure” at a press conference ahead of the hearing, demanding Bondi “do your job.”

Bondi Epstein Files Hearing: Beyond the Epstein Controversy

While the Epstein files are the headline issue, the hearing’s scope is broader. Bondi’s tenure as attorney general has been marked by what critics describe as a departure from DOJ independence. Under her leadership, the department has pursued investigations into Trump’s political adversaries — including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James — while dropping cases against Trump allies.

The hearing also comes one day after the DOJ failed to secure indictments against six Democratic lawmakers who made a video urging military members not to follow illegal orders. A grand jury declined to sign off on the charges, a notable rebuke of prosecutors.

Democrats also plan to press Bondi about the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — by federal immigration officers in Minnesota last month, and the department’s decision not to open a civil rights investigation into the incidents.

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) used his opening remarks to praise Bondi for returning the DOJ to its “core missions” and for ending what he called the “lawfare” of the Biden administration, including former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Trump.

“The Trump Justice Department has ended lawfare.”

— Jim Jordan, House Judiciary Committee Chairman (R-OH)

Bondi Epstein Files: What Comes Next

The pressure on the DOJ is unlikely to ease after this hearing. The House Oversight Committee has issued a separate subpoena demanding the complete, unredacted files — including material withheld under the “active investigation” exemption — and Democrats have accused Bondi of defying it. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) said bluntly: “Trump’s DOJ — with Pam Bondi at the helm — has broken the law and obstructed justice for months.”

Oversight Democrats forced a vote on holding Bondi in contempt in January, which Republicans blocked. Khanna and Massie have also pursued inherent contempt proceedings, which could theoretically lead to fines against the attorney general for every day documents remain withheld.

Meanwhile, the Oversight Committee’s Epstein deposition schedule continues: retail billionaire Leslie Wexner on Feb. 18, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Feb. 26 and former President Bill Clinton on Feb. 27. Epstein’s accountant and lawyer are also expected to testify next month.

At the core of the standoff is a staggering gap: of the 6 million pages the DOJ identified as potentially relevant to the Epstein investigation, roughly 3 million remain withheld or redacted — including 200,000 pages Bondi has withheld under privilege claims that backers of the transparency act say Congress explicitly rejected.

If two lawmakers found six improperly hidden names in two hours, what else remains buried in the 3 million withheld pages — and does the Justice Department’s dual failure of exposing survivors while shielding the powerful reflect incompetence, deliberate obstruction, or something in between?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from CBS News’ live coverage of the Bondi hearing, CNN’s live updates on the testimony, NPR’s reporting on Bondi’s oversight hearing, NBC News’ live updates, The Hill’s coverage of Khanna naming six redacted men, CBS News’ reporting on the six redacted names, Newsweek’s reporting on survivors’ 15 questions to Bondi, the House Judiciary Committee hearing notice, official statements from House Oversight Committee Democrats, Roll Call’s preview of the hearing, PBS NewsHour’s analysis of the files release, and NBC News’ coverage of the DOJ document release.

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