Dispatches of alarm and hope, on politics and society, democracy and justice. Because silence is not an option. We may read and write alone, but we drive change together. Pam Bondi's Utter Contempt for Justice This so-called attorney general only cares about protecting Donald J. Trump Steven Beschloss Feb 13 Pam Bondi never turned around and looked Epstein’s victims in the eye. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) It’s hard to imagine someone more overtly hostile to justice and more utterly incapable of basic human compassion than the contemptuous Pamela Jo Bondi. This person is paid by us. This person is responsible for serving the people. This person’s duty is to enforce the law. But when asked for the most basic show of humanity, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not even to turn around and acknowledge more than a dozen victims of rapist Jeffrey Epstein and other rich and powerful participants in his sex trafficking operation. What Pam Bondi displayed on Wednesday in her appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was an absolute disgrace, a demonstration of utter disrespect and hostility toward not only the courageous Epstein survivors, but Democratic members of Congress seeking justice and the truth. This monstrous individual also showcased her complete contempt for the office that she holds. It’s shocking to think she is the person responsible for leading a department that has justice as its central mission. It’s not hard to understand what was going on. She made clear over and over that her only real concern was sucking up to Donald Trump—praising him as “the greatest president in American history” and insisting there is “no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime.” It’s no wonder that Trump judged her performance as “fantastic”—and not just because she sycophantically showered him with praise and denied his criminal culpability. This despite 38,000 references to him, Melania and Mar-a-Lago in the files (and more than a million references to Donald, Don and Trump in files not yet released, according to Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin). Bondi showed repeatedly that she learned from her sociopathic boss that no matter what you are asked, respond with aggressive insults and hostile counterpunching. She even came with a “burn book,” essentially opposition research on each of the Democratic questioners intended to doubt their credibility and put them on the defensive. The insults were demeaning to her office and the American people. “You washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” she said to Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who is both a lawyer and a former constitutional law professor. She called Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman from Kentucky who has been a fierce advocate for Epstein file transparency, “a failed politician” and said he has “Trump derangement syndrome.” The taunts didn’t work. They only made her arrogant refusal to confront the reality of criminality contained within the Epstein files look desperate and mean and provide more evidence of a grotesque coverup of rich and powerful men who appear to have committed heinous acts. Promising no investigation and mocking Democrats seeking justice, Bondi underlined her determination to treat these men with impunity and to prove their belief that the law does not apply to them. This, ladies and gentleman, is just what Donald Trump wanted in an attorney general. It was an insult to every American who aims to uphold the principle that no one is above the law. And it was an insult to every survivor who agreed to attend the hearing in hopes that Pam Bondi would do her job and show some some humanity. Washington State Rep. Pramila Jayapal noted that Bondi’s Justice Department failed to redact nude images of some survivors whose identities were previously protected. She asked survivors at the hearing—seated right behind Bondi—to rise and then raise their hand if they had not been able to meet with anyone from Justice. They all raised their hands. “Will you turn to [the Epstein survivors] now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?” Jaypal asked. (Others asked a similar question.) Bondi refused to turn around, then attacked Jaypal for her “theatrics” and said, “I’m not going to get in the gutter with this woman.” But Bondi is willing to get in the gutter with Trump. Recall that she took a $25,000 donation (read: bribe) from the Trump Foundation in 2013 when she was Florida attorney general. Soon after, Florida’s investigation into Trump University for fraud went away, with the claim that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. Yet several days before Trump was inaugurated in 2017, he paid $25 million to settle three lawsuits alleging Trump University defrauded students. Back in 2014, when she was running for a second terms as Florida AG, Bondi talked tough about sex trafficking. “I’ll fight to put human trafficking monsters where they belong—behind bars,” she said in a campaign video. But now that she has only one client, she’s forgotten all that. Instead, she’s focused on protecting her client and facilitating his vengeful prosecutions of political enemies, no matter if there’s a credible case of criminality or not. Meanwhile, the cry for justice remains unheeded. When New York Rep. Jerry Nadler asked her how many of Epstein’s co-conspirators have been indicted (answer: zero), Bondi responded with a ridiculous answer focused on personal wealth rather than justice: “The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000, and the Nasdaq smashing records. Americans' 401(k)s and retirement savings are booming. That's what we should be talking about!” Bondi, convinced of her own impunity, never looked Epstein’s victims in the eye. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $50 a year or just $5 a month, if you’re not already. This helps sustain and expand the work of America, America, keep nearly all the content free for everyone and give you full access to the comments sections.