Dana Taylor

Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed repeatedly with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in a fiery hearing.

Among other heated topics was the release of the Epstein documents and the redactions and lack thereof on those files.

Top House Committee Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin accused the Justice Department of redacting the names of multiple men for political reasons.

Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt.

I'm Dana Taylor.

Today is Thursday, February 12th, 2026.

Here to help me dig into the substance of the hearing yesterday is USA Today Justice Department correspondent Ayesha Bakshi.

Ayesha, it's so good to speak to you.

It's good to be here.

Thanks, Dana.

In short, this hearing was very much a story of Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.

Not surprisingly, lawmakers split very much along party lines with Bondi's questioning.

What did Democrats accuse her of and how did she respond?

Democrats also exhorted Bondi over her department's failure to redact dozens of victims' names.

What was her response?

Asha, there was also significant criticism with regards to the DOJ's handling of the investigations into the deaths of two Americans killed by immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Prettey.

What were the accusations and how did Bondi respond?

Multiple lawmakers said the DOJ has been weaponized under Bondi to seek revenge against Trump's enemies.

Raskin went so far as to call the DOJ a, quote, vendetta factory.

Isha, what were they referring to and how did Bondi respond?