US Attorney General Pam Bondi rips into 'washed-up loser' Democrats in explosive Epstein files clash

The Department of Justice (DOJ) chief was accused of ignoring Epstein's victims - some of whom were in attendance - and redacting the identities of potential Epstein accomplices.

Mr Raskin, representative for Maryland's 8th district, requested that Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio restore time to fellow Democrat Jerry Nadler.

Mr Raskin said: "You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch - not on our time, no way. And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started."

"You don’t tell me anything", the Attorney General responded, adding that Mr Raskin was a "washed-up, loser lawyer - not even a lawyer."

Ms Bondi told Mr Nadler: "You said the President conspired, sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. Robert Mueller found no evidence, none, of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologised to President Trump?

"You all should be apologising. You sit here and you attack the President, and I am not going to have it. I’m not going to put up with it.

"None of them asked Merrick Garland, over the last four years, one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why? Because Donald Trump."

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna and Republican Congressman Thomas Massie were the first lawmakers to read the unredacted Epstein files on Monday.

They accused the Ms Bondi of redacting the names of alleged Epstein associates - six of whom were named by Mr Khanna on the house floor two days ago.

Mr Massie accused the DOJ of being complicit in covering up Epstein's crimes.

He told Ms Bondi: "Literally the worst thing you could do to the survivors, you did."

Bondi said: "If any man’s name was redacted that should not have been, we will of course unredact it.

"If a victim’s name was unredacted, please bring it to us, and we will redact it."

Mr Massie showed three documents he claimed were "emblematic of the massive failure of the DOJ to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act" during his questioning.

Bondi struck back, describing the Louisiana Representative as a "failed politician" and accused him of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome".

The Attorney General accused Democratic lawmakers of hypocrisy, pointing to how they had associated with him after he had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for prostitution and registered as a sex offender.

US Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett, a Democrat, texted Epstein in 2019 during a House Oversight Committee hearing for tips on questioning ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

A spokesman for the delegate said: "Plaskett received texts from staff, constituents and the public at large offering advice, support and in some cases partisan vitriol, including from Epstein."