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If you want to understand Pam Bondi’s performance at Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, you have to rewind.
All the way back to Florida. All the way back to Jeffrey Epstein.
Florida, 2007–2008
Jeffrey Epstein was under investigation for sexually abusing underage girls in Palm Beach.
Local police recommended serious felony charges. The evidence was extensive. The victims were young. The pattern was clear.
Instead, Epstein cut a deal.
The non-prosecution agreement, brokered by then–U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, allowed Epstein to plead guilty to state charges, serve a light sentence in county jail, and avoid federal prosecution. His co-conspirators were shielded. The victims were kept in the dark.
It was one of the most shocking sweetheart deals in modern criminal justice.
At the time, Pam Bondi was Florida’s Attorney General.
To be clear: Bondi did not negotiate the federal non-prosecution agreement. That was the U.S. Attorney’s Office. But as Florida’s top law enforcement official, she was not a bystander to a case of this magnitude unfolding in her state.
Her office didn’t challenge the deal. It didn’t blow the whistle. It didn’t stand publicly with the victims.
Years later, another fact surfaced.
In 2013, Bondi’s political action committee received a $25,000 donation from a foundation controlled by Donald Trump. At the time, her office was considering whether to join a fraud lawsuit against Trump University.
Florida never joined the suit.
The IRS later fined the Trump Foundation for making the political donation. Bondi denied any connection between the contribution and her office’s decision.
Maybe it was coincidence. Maybe it wasn’t.
But here’s the throughline: Epstein. Florida. Power. Money. Protection.
Epstein Re-arrested
In 2019, Epstein was arrested again — this time on federal sex trafficking charges in New York.
The old deal came roaring back into public consciousness. Acosta resigned as Labor Secretary. The country was forced to confront how a serial predator had slipped through the system.
And Bondi?
She had already aligned herself closely with Trump. She defended him during impeachment. She became one of the inner planets circling close to Trump’s sun.
Epstein died in jail. Under circumstances that were less than clear.
And the questions never stopped.
The Hearing
Fast forward to Wednesday.
Bondi, now Attorney General of the United States, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.
Combative. Dismissive. Openly hostile at times. It was an embarrassing and appalling display.
Representative Becca Balint walked out after that exchange as Bondi laughed.
When members of Congress raised questions about Epstein, about transparency, about victims — she deflected. She attacked. She pivoted to praise for the president, perhaps in response to rumblings that he’s not happy with the slowness of the investigations into his political enemies.
Epstein survivors were in the room. When given the opportunity, she refused to apologize to them. She wouldn’t even acknowledge or look at them.
It wasn’t just aggressive lawyering. It felt defensive.
As if the very mention of Epstein required containment.
The Pattern
Here’s what matters.
In Florida, the system failed the victims. A powerful man received extraordinary protection. Political money flowed. Questions lingered.
Years later, when the subject resurfaces in a congressional hearing, the reaction isn’t accountability. It’s anger. Deflection. Loyalty signaling. Insults.
That’s not accidental.
Powerful people were entangled in Epstein’s world. Wealthy people. Connected people. Politically protected people. It doesn’t require conspiracy thinking to assume that many of them would prefer their names, their associations, and their histories remain buried. And that they’d do whatever it takes to make sure of it.
And anyone positioned to shield those networks understands the stakes.
That’s why Bondi’s performance matters.
Not because hearings are theater — they often are. Much of today was. But because behavior under pressure reveals hierarchy.
On Wednesday, the hierarchy was clear.
Protect Donald Trump.
The victims are secondary. Oversight is secondary. Transparency is secondary. Power comes first.
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