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By Barney Henderson
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Attorney General Pam Bondi arrived at the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in full attack mode, desperate to turn the page from the Epstein scandal and impress her boss, Donald Trump.
She failed spectacularly—and is now the favorite to be the first cabinet member forced out of office.
Bondi’s four-hour testimony was defined less by clarity or accountability than by confrontation and deflection.
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Tasked with defending the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein file releases, she fell back on a Trumpian strategy: repeatedly dodged giving direct answers, mocked Democratic lawmakers, refused to apologize to victims, lauded Trump as "the greatest president in American history," praised him over the performance of the stock market and doubled down on his position that he is the target of a Democrat smear campaign.
Bondi snubs Epstein victims
In her opening remarks, Bondi said she was “deeply sorry” for what the survivors had suffered, and encouraged victims to come forward to law enforcement with information about their abuse.
“I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster,” she said.
However, in one of the most jarring moments of her appearance, Bondi was pressed by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., to turn and face the Epstein victims in the audience and apologize for what Trump’s Justice Department has “put them through,” with the recent mass release of files that identified multiple victims without their consent.
Bondi refused, accusing the Democrat of “theatrics” and dragging the hearing "into the gutter."
It was tone deaf.
Bondi channels Trump
Throughout the hearing, Bondi appeared to channel Trump’s rhetorical style. Rather than adopting the measured tone traditionally associated with an attorney general, she went on the offensive, repeatedly interrupting Democratic lawmakers and dismissing their questions as politically motivated attacks.
She suggested the hearing was designed to damage the president, and framed scrutiny of the Justice Department as part of a broader smear campaign against Trump. At several points, she pivoted from policy explanations to full-throated praise of the president.
In one particularly fiery exchange, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland accused Bondi of refusing to answer his questions. She responded by calling the top Democrat on the committee a "washed-up loser lawyer—not even a lawyer."
The approach may have been intended to demonstrate her loyalty to her boss. But in doing so, Bondi blurred the line between acting as the country’s top law enforcement official and as a political defender of the White House.
"You sit here and you attack the president and I’m not going to have it," she said. "I am not going to put up with it."
'Massive Epstein cover-up'
Bondi faced sharp accusations from Democrats who suggested the Justice Department was engaged in what Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland said was a "massive Epstein cover-up" over the release of the files.
"You’re siding with the perpetrators and you’re ignoring the victims," he said. "That will be your legacy unless you act quickly to change the course. You’re running a massive Epstein cover-up right out of the Department of Justice."
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who broke with his party to help force the release of the Epstein files, sharply criticized Bondi over the disclosure of victims’ personal information. "Literally the worst thing you could do to survivors, you did," Massie told the attorney general, accusing the department of compounding their trauma.
Bondi fired back, suggesting Massie’s concerns were selective. She accused him of focusing on the files only because Trump is mentioned in them, dismissing the congressman as a "hypocrite" suffering from "Trump derangement syndrome."
Now favorite for exit
According to data from Kalshi markets, traders now give Bondi the highest odds of being the first Trump cabinet member forced out of office, surging past Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
On February 11 she had a 12 percent chance of being the first to leave the cabinet. By February 12 her odds had increased to 22 percent.
Bondi’s strategy of doubling down on loyalty to Trump—and responding to criticism with insults and stonewalling—had the feeling of a last stand.
In trying to impress Trump and protect her job, she may have sealed her fate instead.
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