During a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Pam Bondi faced intense questioning about the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. But she absolutely refused to turn and face the survivors of his abuse who were sitting right behind her, as reported by NBC News.
Six survivors and two relatives of another accuser were present during the five-hour grilling session. They later expressed feeling “degraded” and devastated by the lack of empathy shown by the attorney general. The most critical moment came when Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, asked the Epstein survivors in the room to stand up and raise their hands if they had not yet had the opportunity to meet with the Justice Department. Every single person stood and raised their hand.
Jayapal then asked Bondi to turn toward the survivors and offer them an apology, but the attorney general did neither, remaining focused only on the lawmakers. Dani Bensky, who alleges Epstein sexually abused her in 2004 when she was 17, explained how painful that refusal was. Bensky said that feeling like a “ghost” walking through Epstein’s mansion was exactly the same type of victimization she felt when Bondi would not even turn around and acknowledge them.
It’s completely unacceptable that these survivors had to endure that kind of dismissal after everything they’ve been through
“Something that I think all of us felt a little devastated about was that she had three opportunities to address survivors,” Bensky explained. “We stood up, and all she had to do was turn around, and she could not even turn around and face us.”
Sharlene Rochard, who met Epstein as a teenager while working as a model, said she felt “really degraded” by the session, emphasizing that Bondi was “not taking at all any accountability” regarding the survivors. Teresa Helm, who alleges Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her, agreed, stating flatly that the room seemed to lack integrity when discussing the Epstein and Maxwell matters.
While Bondi did make a reference to Epstein’s victims in her opening remarks, stating, “I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim, has been through, especially as a result of that monster,” that wasn’t enough for those in attendance.
The survivors were not just looking for an apology about Epstein’s crimes. They were demanding accountability for the Justice Department’s own failures. Accuser Jess Michaels pointed out that Bondi apologized for Epstein’s crimes, but not for “the crimes of the cover-up.” Marina Lacerda, who was 14 when she met Epstein, criticized the department harshly for the names of survivors being published in the latest release of files.
Lacerda noted that Bondi apologized for what Epstein did, but couldn’t apologize for what her department did. She pointed out the ridiculous contradiction: “You had one job, was to redact our names, to respect our privacy, but yet you carefully took the time to redact all these powerful, rich men.”
The department did release the names of three people the FBI once called co-conspirators after lawmakers complained they were improperly withheld. However, when pressed about why the survivors’ names were included in the released files, Bondi simply claimed, “We did the best we could, immediately.” That is not a satisfying answer at all.
Published: Feb 12, 2026 02:30 pm