Attorney General Pam Bondi's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee will now forever be associated with a viral photo captured by Getty Images photographer Roberto Schmidt showing several victims of the late financier, sex trafficker, and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein raising their hands to signal that Bondi and the Justice Department had ignored their accounts.
Democrats repeatedly pressed Bondi over what they described as her dismissive posture toward the crimes of Epstein and the influential figures named in recently released files.
Although the session was formally intended as routine congressional oversight of the Justice Department, much of the questioning centered on Epstein and individuals now serving in the administration who appear in the documents—including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who, records show, visited Little Saint James, Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
But perhaps the hearing's most striking moment came when Bondi kept her head down and her back turned to the victims, refusing to look at them as they raised their hands—actions that feel representative of the Trump administration's overall attitude toward the Epstein scandal.
You can see the photo below.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
The photo sparked renewed criticism of Bondi's actions and the Trump administration's larger cover-up.
Following her contentious testimony, Bondi saw a sharp shift in betting markets over her political future.
On Polymarket, her chances of becoming the first member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet to be dismissed climbed significantly after the hearing. Her odds, which had been below 45 percent on Tuesday, surged to nearly 65 percent by Wednesday as she sparred with lawmakers.
Notably, members of Congress criticized Bondi over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files disclosures. Several accused the department of failing to properly shield victims’ identities, as required by law.
At one point, Washington Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal said that in some instances “nude images” of survivors had been made public, including individuals whose identities had remained protected for decades. She called on Bondi to issue an apology to the victims for what she described as serious failures in the redaction process.
Bondi dismissed the line of questioning as “theatrics,” at one point saying she would not “get in the gutter with this woman.”
