Attorney General Pam Bondi's fiery testimony shocks judiciary panel

United States (U.S.) Attorney General Pam Bondi’s fiery testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday stunned lawmakers as she tackled every question with a combative approach.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is under scrutiny for several issues, including the handling of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's case files and killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis last month.

Bondi’s combative and aggressive tone to questioning was visible throughout the hearing. 

She refused to apologize to Epstein victims for the DOJ's failure to redact the survivors’ sensitive personal information and blamed her predecessor Merrick Garland.

The U.S. attorney general refused to address the Epstein victims sitting behind her despite multiple calls from Democratic and Republican senators.

Bondi launched direct attacks on the Democratic lawmakers, calling one of them a “washed up, loser lawyer”. Responding to California Representative Ted Lieu, who called on her to resign for allegedly lying under oath, Bondi told him to focus on crimes in California.

According to CNN senior political reporter Aaron Blake, the 60-year-old frequently spoke over her investigators as much as she could; it felt like she was playing to the audience of one, the U.S. President Donald Trump.

Bondi also took aim at Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie, who called her out for redacting the names of men who were once suspected of criminal activity with Epstein. She declared him “a failed politician and a hypocrite,” while clarifying that the DOJ had since un-redacted several names in the files.

A recent poll, after all, showed Americans disapprove about 3-to-1 of the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.