GOP Rep Turns On AG Bondi Following Heated Epstein Hearing
"I don't think she did very well," Massie told a journalist on Sunday.
The Kentucky lawmaker accused Bondi of arriving prepared for personal attacks rather than substantive oversight. "She came with a book full of insults, one for each congressperson," he said, adding: "So no, I don't have confidence in her. She hasn't got any sort of accountability there at the DOJ."
During Wednesday's contentious hearing, Bondi deployed language typically used by US President Donald Trump against his detractors, telling Massie he had "Trump derangement syndrome," a phrase US President Donald Trump has used against critics.
Massie characterized Bondi's behavior toward Epstein survivors as callous. He described Bondi's refusal to turn and look at Epstein survivors seated behind her as "cold," after Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal asked the victims to raise their hands if they had not met with the Justice Department.
Every survivor present raised their hands, according to the report.
The confrontation follows the Justice Department's unprecedented disclosure of over 3 million pages of Epstein-related materials.
Massie leveled serious accusations against the department, claiming officials exposed certain victim identities while "over-redacting powerful men and possible co-conspirators."
"It's clear that their work is not done here yet," the outlet quoted him as saying.
Following lawmakers' review of less-redacted file versions, Massie and Democratic Representative Ro Khanna flagged concerns about an undated document containing names and photographs.
Massie subsequently published a version revealing 16 additional unredacted names, noting the Justice Department had "promptly unredacted" them.
Khanna publicly read four men's names on the House floor and criticized redaction decisions involving other individuals, including Leslie Wexner and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the department's actions, asserting Massie and Khanna "forced the unmasking of completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup."
Massie countered that the department unredacted names without providing context and added he remains dissatisfied.
The US Justice Department recently released more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last November.
The materials include photos, grand jury transcripts, and investigative records, shedding light on relationships Epstein had with business personnel, billionaires, government officials and media figures -- in the US and beyond.
Epstein was found dead by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges involving underage girls.
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