Jayapal Blasts Spying By Bondi; Bondi Sparks Outrage By Calling Rep. “That Woman”

Photo: C-SPAN screenshot.

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC — Attorney General Pam Bondi arrived at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on February 11 in a combative mood, brandishing what appeared to be a black binder labeled with Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s name and accusing Democrats of political “theatrics.” During the more than five hour session, Bondi traded barbs with lawmakers, at one point referring to Rep. Jamie Raskin, the panel’s top Democrat, as a “washed up loser lawyer,” and dismissing Jayapal as engaging in conduct she would not “get in the gutter” over.

Images captured during the hearing showed Bondi holding a binder marked “Jayapal Pramila Search History,” along with what appeared to be a list of document numbers corresponding to files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. CNBC reported that the printout seemed to detail Jayapal’s searches within the Department of Justice database containing Epstein records.

Jayapal, (D-WA) who serves on the committee, has been among several members of Congress granted access in recent days to review Epstein related documents not available to the public.

Jayapal asked survivors of Epstein’s abuse who were seated in the room to stand if they had been unable to secure meetings with the DOJ. Multiple women rose and raised their hands. Jayapal then pressed Bondi to apologize for the department’s failure to fully redact victims’ names in documents that were released publicly.

“I’m not gonna get in the gutter for her theatrics,” Bondi responded, refusing to issue an apology. As the exchange grew heated, she added demeaningly, “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman.”

Following the hearing, Jayapal condemned what she described as inappropriate conduct by the Justice Department. “It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files,” she wrote in a social media post. “Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched. That is outrageous and I intend to pursue this and stop this spying on members.”

In an interview with MS Now, Jayapal went further, suggesting that lawmakers’ early access to the files may have been used to anticipate questioning. “Is this is [the] whole reason they opened [the files] up to us two days early? So, they could essentially surveil members to see what we were going to ask her about?” she asked.

The hearing was marked by repeated interruptions, raised voices, and sharp exchanges between Bondi and Democratic lawmakers. Observers noted that Bondi’s aggressive posture often allowed her to pivot to administration talking points while consuming much of the limited questioning time allotted to each member.

Though seated before a full committee, Bondi’s performance as most of the media noted, was for President Donald Trump who is known to applaud combativeness and laud those who defend him and his policies.