Republican Rep. Thomas Massie mentioned Sunday that he didn’t approve of how Legal professional Common Pam Bondi conducted herself over the Division of Justice’s launch of information associated to intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein in a combative listening to earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
“I do not assume she did very effectively,” Massie advised ABC Information’ “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz. “She got here with a guide stuffed with insults, one for every congressperson. She clearly had one for me.”
Requested by Raddatz if he had confidence in Bondi, Massie mentioned he did not assume Bondi had confidence in herself.
“She wasn’t assured sufficient to interact in something however name-calling in a listening to,” Massie mentioned. “So no, I haven’t got confidence in her. She hasn’t received any type of accountability there on the DOJ.”
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., seems on ABC Information’ “This Week” on Feb. 15, 2026.
ABC Information
Throughout Massie’s line of questioning in Wednesday’s listening to, Bondi mentioned the congressman had “Trump derangement syndrome,” an assault President Donald Trump sometimes wages in opposition to those that criticize him.
At one other level, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal requested the group of Epstein victims sitting behind Bondi to lift their hand in the event that they haven’t been in a position to meet with Bondi’s Justice Division. All the survivors current raised their hand. Bondi didn’t flip to take a look at these victims, even after Jayapal requested her to, calling it “theatrics.”
Massie known as Bondi’s resolution to not have a look at the survivors “chilly” and mentioned that he thought she was “afraid” to take action.
Wednesday’s listening to got here after the Justice Division launched over 3 million pages of information from the Epstein case. The discharge of the information has triggered a wave of criticism and resignations internationally. Within the U.S., a number of highly effective figures had been named — however not accused of wrongdoing — within the newest file launch.
Massie has accused the Justice Division of exposing sufferer identities in some instances whereas over-redacting highly effective males and doable co-conspirators to Epstein’s intercourse trafficking operation in others.
“[Bondi] admitted that 40 minutes after I identified to the DOJ that that they had over redacted among the paperwork, they did unredact these paperwork,” Massie mentioned. “It is clear that their work is just not carried out right here but.”
Shortly after the discharge of the information, the Justice Division final week allowed members of Congress to view variations of the information with fewer redactions.
After reviewing the paperwork, Massie claimed the DOJ had improperly redacted data from an undated doc that appeared to include 20 names and corresponding pictures.
Legal professional Common Pam Bondi testifies earlier than the Home Judiciary Committee, February 11, 2026 in Washington.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP through Getty Photos
Within the publicly accessible model of the doc posted to the DOJ web site, the one two names and photographs initially seen had been these of Epstein and Maxwell.
After Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who has led the trouble for the discharge of the information with Massie, expressed issues concerning the redactions, Massie wrote in an X submit Tuesday that the DOJ “promptly unredacted the lads’s names in addition to a number of ladies within the record that we did not flag.”
Massie additionally posted the less-redacted model of the doc, which contained an extra 16 unredacted names of each women and men.
Khanna then learn the names of the 4 males listed on the doc on the ground of the Home whereas additionally calling out the DOJ for redactions to different particular paperwork that hid the names of Leslie Wexner and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, whose names seem unredacted a whole lot of occasions elsewhere within the DOJ disclosures.
Sulayem, the billionaire CEO of logistics large DP World, resigned following the disclosure of his communications with Epstein “efficient instantly,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement. An organization spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark from ABC Information.
A authorized consultant for Wexner advised ABC Information, “The Assistant U.S. Legal professional advised Mr. Wexner’s authorized counsel in 2019 that Mr. Wexner was neither a co-conspirator nor goal the least bit. Mr. Wexner cooperated absolutely by offering background data on Epstein and was by no means contacted once more.”
After the Guardian reported Friday that the DOJ mentioned the 4 males named on the Home flooring had been a part of a photograph lineup organized by federal prosecutors and had “no obvious connection to Epstein,” Khanna put the blame on the DOJ.
“I want DOJ had offered that rationalization earlier as a substitute of redacting their names. They’ve failed to guard survivors, created confusion for harmless males, and have protected wealthy and highly effective abusers,” he posted on X. “We will need to have full transparency.”
Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche meets with reporters because the Justice Division pronounces the discharge of three million pages of paperwork within the newest Jeffrey Epstein disclosure in Washington, Jan. 30, 2026.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
In a written assertion to ABC Information, Khanna contended that the DOJ “failed to offer any rationalization for his or her arbitrary redactions” to the paperwork after which eliminated the redactions “with out explaining the context that Massie and I had requested for.”
“It is unhappy that the DOJ has created confusion that has protected the wealthy and highly effective, uncovered survivors, and uncovered males not concerned with Epstein’s crimes,” Khanna mentioned.
Deputy Legal professional Common Todd Blanche on Friday mentioned in a submit on X that Massie and Khanna “pressured the unmasking of fully random folks chosen years in the past for an FBI lineup- women and men.”
Requested by Raddatz about Blanche’s accusation, Massie mentioned Blanche had unredacted the names however did not present any context round them.
“Properly, three hours earlier than Todd Blanche himself unredacted these names, I advised him in an X submit — which I do know he learn as a result of he reposted it — that these could also be males in a lineup. After which I went on TV and mentioned, ‘These could also be males in a lineup.’ And it was really the DOJ who launched these names, which is ok, however they omitted the context that I offered, which is these could also be in a lineup.
Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna arrive on the Division of Justice workplace constructing to view unredacted Jeffrey Epstein information, in Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 2026.
Kent Nishimura/Reuters
On Saturday, Bondi and Blanche despatched a six-page report, obtained by ABC Information, to the chairmen and high Democrats on the Senate and Home judiciary committees offering an evidence for redactions that included a listing of presidency officers and “politically uncovered individuals” referenced within the launched information.
“Names seem within the information launched underneath the Act in all kinds of contexts. For instance, some people had in depth direct e mail contact with Epstein or Maxwell whereas different people had been talked about solely in a portion of a doc (together with press reporting) that on its face is unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell issues,” the report mentioned.
The report doesn’t present context for these listed in it. The record of people contains President Donald Trump, present administration officers, former presidents, musicians, popular culture figures, lawmakers and Britain’s royal household.
Massie mentioned he nonetheless is just not happy.
“I do know the DOJ needs to say they’re carried out with this doc manufacturing. The issue is that they’ve taken down paperwork earlier than we had been in a position to go over to the DOJ and have a look at the unredacted variations,” Massie mentioned.
Massie, who principally votes with Trump, mentioned that he thought Merrick Garland, former President Joe Biden’s legal professional normal, carried out higher by way of optics when he appeared earlier than the committee.
ABC Information’ Jim Hill, Allison Pecorin and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
