I watched a lot, but not all of yesterday’s hearing. At times it was all I could do not to throw my laptop through my TV screen so I muted the sound at times. But around a dozen victims, survivors of Epstein (and Maxwell) bravely sat there fairly close behind her. One has said she felt de-humanized by Bondi and that many of them broke down in tears, feeling the same way.
With a day’s perspective what occurs to me now is that much of Bondi’s anger was REAL. She’s mad as hell at them, and every other victim who ever told an investigator what happened to them. Because it’s causing trouble for Trump. Don’t think for ONE SECOND Bondi doesn’t have a team at least unofficially looking for things they can file charges over. Outing over a hundred victims is proof of Bondi’s malice!
As for the hearing itself a small group of some of the recently outed survivors attended yesterday’s hearing/sh*t show. They were pointedly ignored by Bondi. As this article from The Hill tells us they noticed. And while I can’t begin to know the burdens they have carried before yesterday Bondi made a point of dumping a truckload more burden on them:
Marina Lacerda, one of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers, slammed Attorney General Pam Bondi’s conduct during a House hearing Wednesday.
“We expected a little bit more on Pam Bondi’s part,” she told NewsNation’s Joe Khalil after the hearing. “I think she really dehumanized us today.”
That’s not all she had to say. The linked article details an exchange between Democratic Rep. Jayapal and Bondi. Jayapal asked them to stand and all eleven did, plus Virginia Giuffre’s brother who tirelessly works to keep his sister’s memory alive. She asked them a series of questions which showed they were not only willing to meet with DOJ officials, but had personally (or their lawyers had) reached out. Then Jayapal asked them to raise their hand if they had NOT yet been able to meet with anyone from the Trump administration. Every hand was raised. Bondi just sat there and smirked. When Jayapal asked her to apologize to them Bondi not only (again) refused to turn around and so much as nod to them, but she wasn’t going “to get in the gutter with these theatrics.” That was equal parts infuriating and heartbreaking, especially the latter for those that Bondi was so coldly dismissive of:
Lacerda said multiple victims cried after that exchange, and they almost felt “embarrassed that we even stood up and she couldn’t turn around and apologize to us.” She also said Bondi has “become a circus act at this point.”
The main takeaway by pundits was about all the attacks, shouting and performance jackassery Bondi engaged in. Yes, it pissed me off to no small degree but what I kept noticing was a coldness from her that would make Antarctica seem like a summer playground. A downright evil malevolence.
For all the lies, interruptions, shouting and refusal to answer questions it’s easy to think Bondi lost her cool. No, she came well prepared. Not with notes regarding questions she knew she’d be asked, but with talking points and attacks, and I say a mission to send a message to any survivors present and any watching (then or later) “I know who you are and by god you’d damn well better drop this.” Yes, she had her ‘audience of one’ (Trump) and no doubt he was thrilled. Her job, which some said was in jeopardy is secure. At least for now. However I’m convinced she had a larger audience. We all know how the DOJ has been mounting bogus investigations and even prosecutions of Trump ‘enemies.’ These women, who whether by choice or because they just got outed by Bondi are, by their presence and voices enemies of Trump. We all know what that leads to.
So, shortly after the whole sordid affair gaveled to an end my own takeaway was the quieter, more subtle Bondi antics. Yes, the shouting and distractions were outrageous. So was the fact she came with at least one binder (did you notice the tabs, which surely had names so she could quickly turn to the right person’s name) filled with ‘opposition research?’
No, it was that moment when having blown off the victims behind her, REFUSED to even look at or acknowledge them she coldly SMILED, a “they can go f**k themselves and re-live it’s Epstein or some other person I’m protecting abusing them yet again” type of smile. There was also the moment when she attacked a (Jewish) Congresswoman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust as being anti-Semitic. Bondi didn’t just smile when Democrat Becca Balint erupted, she even laughed as Balint (who’s time had expired) walked out. (For the record Balint returned shortly afterwards) I read another article about it and Balint said she came back and stayed till the bitter end because she owed it to the victims.
So yes, I’ve thought a lot about Bondi’s reactions (not the shouting as the smug expressions) a lot, and recall thinking what a good Aryan Nazi Bondi would have been for Hitler. Well, she’s got Trump. I also recall thinking of Mengele and his experiments and had a Boys From Brazil movie flashback. Only instead of using Hitler’s DNA to create a new Hitler he’d isolated the worth traits, the most vile and despicable characteristics of Eva Braun and Evita Peron (another bleach blonde) into a single DNA strand. And Pam Bondi is the result!
I’ve said several times that the outing of over a hundred Epstein survivors was no accident. It was a warning to all victims whether they have already gone public or not. A warning to stop making trouble for Trump. A warning to STFU and go away – or she (Bondi) will put the full force of the DOJ into investigating and prosecuting THEM. Look at the people DOJ has already mounted bogus investigations and prosecutions against. People with substance, both political and money of their own. Few Epstein victims have the latter resource. They DO have a public that is increasingly in their corner. But Trump has an army of MAGAs and Bondi ‘accidentally ON PURPOSE’ can keep putting them in the crosshairs for retaliation. For causing Trumpty political problems.
I say again, don’t think for a moment there isn’t a working group at DOJ (and outside it working with Bondi’s actual employees) looking into the backgrounds of every victim/survivor who either came out voluntarily or has been INTENTIONALLY outed. Others too. I for one am certain Bondi isn’t done outing victims who have chosen to remain silent. Her behavior yesterday made it clear. They are less than human beings as far as she’s concerned. They are problems Trump has to deal with and that alone means whatever it takes to destroy them she’ll do. If she can drive more to do what Virginia Giuffre did, commit suicide that would be fine. If they won’t, Bondi WILL do all in her power to try and make them wish they had!
Friends, I know everyone begs you for money. I promise, among all those asking for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest working. We’re a group of old, disabled people, except for one writer in his mid-50s. The rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the chance to keep telling the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
A recent video from the Lincoln Project says that she protected the wealthy and powerful because that’s what she wants for herself. After protecting them, they will owe her something.
That’s another reason she has no regard for the survivors.
i hadn’t thought of this but it absolutely makes sense. it fits in with the time when, as florida’s ag, she made a point of attending all executions and had one postponed because it conflicted with a fundraiser she wanted to attend. total sociopath. very scary stuff.