THEN VS. NOW

Pam Bondi’s Own Words Haunt Her Amid Epstein Backlash

The attorney general once campaigned on going after sex-traffickers.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s own words from when she was running for office in Florida have come back to haunt her in a big way after she melted down while being grilled this week about pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Her newly resurfaced campaign ad from 2014 began circulating on social media following her appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

“Florida ranks third nationally in calls for help for human trafficking, where young women and children are enslaved and abused,” a younger Bondi said passionately, looking directly into the camera. “I knew we needed all hands on deck.”

As dramatic music swelled in the background, Bondi made a vow before posing dramatically with her hands on her hips.

“And I’ll fight to put human trafficking monsters where they belong: behind bars,” she declared in the video.

The ad was part of Bondi’s reelection campaign to serve a second term as Florida’s attorney general. She went on to win the election and served as the state’s top law enforcement officer from 2011 to 2019.

On Wednesday, the attorney general tried to defend her background as a prosecutor while clashing with Democratic lawmakers who demanded answers on Epstein’s co-conspirators and accused her and the Trump administration of engaging in a massive cover-up.

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Right out of the gate, Bondi was on the defensive over the Justice Department’s botched release of the Epstein documents, where the names of some survivors and other identifying information were widely released while alleged co-conspirators were redacted.

The attorney general refused to turn to the survivors seated right behind her in the hearing room and apologize to them for the department’s handling of the files and the release of survivors’ information.

Every Epstein survivor and family member in the room raised their hands when asked to show that they had not yet been able to meet with the Justice Department about the late sex offender.

Later in the same hearing, Bondi and Democratic lawmakers ended up in a screaming match after she was questioned about further indictments in the case.

“How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?” Rep. Nadler asked.

The attorney general refused to answer the question directly and instead complained she was not going to “get in the gutter with these people.”

“I’m going to answer the question the way I want to answer the question. Your theatrics are ridiculous,” Bondi shot back.

As the hearing completely went off the rails, both committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin jumped in with multiple people speaking over each other.

After Raskin admonished her, Bondi attacked him as a “washed-up loser lawyer.”

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Once Nadler returned to his questioning, he noted that the number of co-conspirators Bondi had indicted was zero.

“You have been the attorney general for a full year and your DOJ fired the lead prosecutor for this case, sat on evidence this entire time, and falsely claimed last July that there were no more leads,” Nadler hit back.

It was one of multiple heated exchanges during the combative hearing where Bondi refused to answer Democrats’ questions about the Epstein case and evidence about who was involved in his sex-trafficking.

The criticism of her hearing performance was fast and furious on social media.

Viewers quickly pointed out how she had once campaigned on taking down sex-traffickers just over a decade ago to refusing to cooperate with members of Congress who raised questions about Epstein and defending the Trump administration’s slow-walk on releasing the files and botched redaction.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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