Pam Bondi says Maxwell should die in prison

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi delivered a blunt condemnation of convicted trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell during a nearly four-hour closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, saying Maxwell deserves to “die in prison” and calling her uniqu

Pam Bondi didn’t mince words behind closed doors.

During a nearly four-hour, closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, the former U.S. Attorney General delivered one of the harshest public condemnations yet of convicted trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. saying Maxwell deserves to “die in prison.” Bondi also described Maxwell as “uniquely evil” among Jeffrey Epstein’s associates.

The remarks landed with extra force because they came at the Capitol, in an atmosphere charged by survivors and lawmakers pushing for transparency over the yearslong Epstein case.

Democratic Rep. Deborah Ross pressed Bondi on whether President Donald Trump should ever grant clemency to Maxwell, saying, “You said you hope she dies there, so I’m hoping the answer is ‘no.’” Bondi replied, “I already answered that question.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon later disclosed the substance of Bondi’s comments after accompanying her during the committee interview. Dhillon said Bondi described Maxwell as “very evil.” Dhillon also relayed Bondi’s view that “Females who collaborate with s** offenders are worse because they procure other victims for the s** offender.”.

For some of the Epstein survivors who attended at the Capitol—after urging committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) to press Bondi on the government’s handling of the case—the condemnation wasn’t the only thing that mattered. They came because the record of document releases and redactions had left wounds still open.

Bondi’s closed-door position was firm in another way, too. During the nearly four-hour session, Bondi declined to answer questions about Trump, citing her voluntary appearance before the committee. She also shifted responsibility for the document-release process to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. acknowledging that there had been “redaction errors” in the file disclosures.

Bondi faced scrutiny over the Justice Department’s release of Epstein-related records that exposed personal information and images of survivors. In later comments disclosed in connection with the controversy. Bondi said. “I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself.” She added that she “delegated oversight of this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”.

When criticism followed, Bondi turned to social media. She wrote, “I praised Acting AG Blanche’s management of this Herculean task. I said his ethics are beyond reproach and that he is an incredible Attorney General.”

But House Republicans and Democrats sparred over what. exactly. Bondi was willing to address—and whether the hearing conditions were fair. Committee ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia criticized Republicans for not placing Bondi under oath and for failing to record the interview. Garcia said Bondi claimed she did not know why Maxwell had been transferred to a lower-security federal facility and refused to answer questions involving Trump. Garcia also told reporters that Bondi said she “would not speak or respond to any questions that had anything to do with President Trump.”.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury went further, accusing Bondi of helping conceal information. She said, “The United States Department of Justice is intervening on behalf of Pam Bondi to stop her from answering questions about what happened in the cover-up of this case and her conversations with Donald Trump.”

Comer, meanwhile, said he plans to release the full transcript and warned, “If anyone is lying to Congress, that’s a felony.” He added, “The government has failed the survivors. There’s no question about that, and that dates back five presidential administrations.”

A separate fight over the document releases traces back to Bondi’s tenure. In February 2025. shortly after becoming attorney general. Bondi suggested in a Fox News interview that an Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk. The Justice Department later released a memo in July 2025 concluding that no such “client list” exists and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.” That finding sparked bipartisan backlash and renewed efforts to force broader disclosure.

Trump then directed Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts tied to Epstein.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act—a bipartisan measure signed into law by Trump on November 19. 2025—the Justice Department released records on December 19. 2025. turning up hundreds of thousands of documents. Those records included previously unseen photographs of former President Bill Clinton and other public figures. but were heavily redacted. drawing criticism from lawmakers across party lines and from survivors.

A second release followed on January 30, adding more than 3 million pages, including more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images. With earlier disclosures, the total release reached nearly 3.5 million pages.

Even with that scale, the Justice Department has acknowledged it possesses more than 6 million documents related to the case, leaving roughly half undisclosed. Democrats argued the department had not fully complied with the law.

After the January release, Blanche said no additional materials would be released—prompting renewed criticism from Epstein survivors and the bipartisan lawmakers who authored the legislation.

Across the hearing, the tension was unmistakable: Bondi’s public severity toward Maxwell ran up against a closed-door refusal to address questions tied to Trump, alongside ongoing disputes about what was withheld, what was released, and how much still remains under lock.

Pam Bondi Ghislaine Maxwell Epstein Files Transparency Act House Oversight Committee Todd Blanche Deborah Ross James Comer Robert Garcia Melanie Stansbury Harmeet Dhillon Jeffrey Epstein