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Pam Bondi Testifies on Capitol Hill Amid Multiple Controversies. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired February 11, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:00:46]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We have been monitoring this hearing on Capitol Hill where Attorney General Pam Bondi is on the hot seat, testifying before members of the House. Let's listen back in.
REP. RUSSELL FRY, (R-SC): -- President Trump's first term, he rightly targeted sanctuary jurisdictions to try to force them to cooperate with federal immigration law. Federal immigration law, mind you, that was voted on in 1996, most recently, in a bipartisan Congress signed by a Democrat president. But they are in violation of that law.
These states and jurisdictions feel entitled to certain grants, of course, we all are combating that. Do sanctuary policies limit the federal government's ability to accurately estimate how many criminal illegals are in the country?
PAM BONDI, UNITED STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes.
FRY: Thank you. This means that the number of illegals could be higher, probably higher. Does this hurt the federal government's ability to carry out immigration laws designed by Congress?
BONDI: Yes, Congressman.
FRY: In your opinion, do you believe that the Biden-Harris administration and Democrat pro-sanctuary policies make our communities safer? And for the American taxpayer, do they make -- do sanctuary policies make our communities safer?
BONDI: No, Congressman.
FRY: I want to do a brief video to highlight sanctuary cities.
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FRY: So what's strange to me, if you look at this board behind me, in New York, there are 7,000 criminal illegal aliens since January 20th of last year that have been released into the public, because New York is not honoring detainers requested by ICE. California similarly has released 4,500 criminal illegal aliens. There are 33,000 under detainer in California alone.
And of the people released, I just think -- I think it's remarkable that those released in New York, 29 homicides, 2,500 assaults, almost 200 burglaries. These are people that are released into our community by these states that refuse to cooperate.
Last August, Michel Jordan Castellano Fonseca, a criminal illegal alien with ties to Tren de Aragua, shot two people in front of five children in the sanctuary state of Colorado. DHS lodged a detainer on him. He's awaiting trial. But the question is whether Colorado's sanctuary policies will prevent him from being removed from the country. Yes or no?
Do you think that sanctuary jurisdictions, if they cooperated with ICE, those illegals in custody could be transferred to ICE properly instead of being held in taxpayer-funded jails and then released into our community?
BONDI: Yes, Congressman.
FRY: Wouldn't it be more efficient and safer then if Democrats simply cooperated with the federal government, these sanctuary jurisdictions cooperated with the federal government and honored ICE detainers? And why? Why do you think?
BONDI: Of course, because so many criminals are running to sanctuary jurisdictions. Many of your colleagues across the aisle, who we've seen speaking today about Epstein, don't want to talk about the illegal criminals in their own jurisdiction for that reason. And yes, we need to do everything we can to work together to make America safer. And they're not doing that.
FRY: This is not a partisan issue.
BONDI: They are deflecting.
FRY: People want to feel safe in their communities. Nobody wants a criminal illegal alien released into the street. I think the thing that maybe the American people don't quite understand is that when you do not honor a detainer, as we've seen, an illegal is released into the public and now it's up to ICE to maybe apprehend them rather than behind the courtroom, passing them off from one law enforcement to the next. Is that true?
BONDI: Absolutely.
FRY: What do you think the -- what do you think -- what is the Department of Justice doing right now to combat sanctuary policies in our country?
[14:05:00]
BONDI: We're doing everything in our power, obviously, to combat that. Donald Trump is doing everything he can because we are going to make America safe. We are going to get illegal criminal aliens out of this country. We're going to get the gangs out, TDA, MS-13, all of the gangs in this country. We're going to get the drug dealers out and the drugs. And that's what we've been fighting to do. And I wish we could do it on a bipartisan basis, but they just can't do it.
FRY: And the decrease in numbers speak for themselves. Thank you for your work.
REP. JIM JORDAN, (R-OH) CHAIRMAN, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Gentlemen's time --
REP. JAMIE RASKIN, (D-MD) RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Mr. Chairman, we have some UCs, if that's OK.
JORDAN: That is OK.
RASKIN: OK. Mr. Cohen?
REP. STEVE COHEN, (D-TN): Thank you. I have an UC on the National Institute of Justice's study on undocumented immigrants having an offender rate lower than U.S.-born citizens. I'd like to enter this in the record for 2024.
JORDAN: Without objection.
COHEN: And I have several myself, Mr. Chairman. The Guardian, January 26, 2026, "Why is Trump granting clemency to convicted fraudsters?"
JORDAN: Without objection.
COHEN: January 20, 2026, NBC, "Trump's pardons forgive financial crimes that came with hundreds of millions of dollars in punishment."
JORDAN: Without objection.
COHEN: Washington Post, December 19, 2025. "Trump's pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims."
JORDAN: Without objection.
COHEN: And finally, May 30, 2024, "Trump found guilty by Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts of fraud."
JORDAN: Without objection. The gentleman from Illinois is recognized.
REP. CHUY GARCIA, (D-IL): Thank you, Chairman. Attorney General Bondi, glad you finally made it here after hiding for four months from this Committee. I understand why you were hiding from us.
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BONDI: Whoa, I thought you were hiding. Chairman?
GARCIA: You're one of the worst attorney generals in our history and an instrument of Donald Trump's lawless authoritarian agenda. And I'm glad the American people are seeing who you are, how you act, and the lack of good values. You weaponize the Department of Justice to target immigrants, working families, and anyone that Trump deems an enemy of the state, all to protect real powerful criminals, including in your administration.
Democratic colleagues have focused on your cover up of the Epstein Files and your passion for protecting pedophiles and child traffickers. That alone is grounds for impeachment. But there's so much more to your corrupt tenure as attorney general.
You directed prosecutors to investigate elected officials in welcoming jurisdictions. And you got thrown out of court when you sued Chicago, Cook County and Illinois. You directed prosecutors to prioritize low- level immigration cases while gutting enforcement against corporate criminals and public corruption.
You revived draconian law of 1798 --
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BONDI: You are talking about public corruption to me, whoa.
GARCIA: -- which should be repealed to illegally send people to a torture prison in El Salvador. You fired over 100 immigration judges, including the assistant chief immigration judge in Chicago, without cause and installed unqualified military judges whom you instructed to deny asylum in violation of the law.
You prosecute the president's enemies like Jim Comey and Tish James while giving impunity to federal agents who are murdering and brutalizing and terrorizing constituents, including in Chicagoland, in my neighborhood. I saw it last year firsthand.
You and Kash Patel covered up the murder of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez in my district by ICE agents. You tried to investigate Renee Good instead of the ICE agent who murdered her. And you tried to cover up the murder of Alex Pretti by CBP agents.
You bring fake charges against protesters like the Broadview Six and Marimar Martinez, whom your administration labeled a domestic terrorist. This is the Montessori teacher who lived in my district, while protecting thugs who terrorize us and DHS authority. That's what you do.
Protect and enable the criminals who are plundering our society and destroying what's left of democracy and the rule of law. Epstein accomplices, mass DHS thugs, corporate criminals, Tom Homan, Eric Adams, insurrectionists, the list goes on. And you talk about fighting crime, but you protect any criminal who helps you and Trump turn our country into an authoritarian gangster state.
And after all this, nobody supports you. I'm not talking about Democrats. I'm talking about conservative judges who are condemning the rampant lawlessness at DOJ under your leadership. Your prosecutors are quitting in droves over being forced to prosecute low-level immigration cases, including in Chicagoland.
[14:10:00]
Your MAGA base despises you because you're covering up the Epstein File, how ironic. And even your own boss has repeatedly complained to your staff about you, calling you weak and ineffective -- weak and ineffective. That's what Donald Trump thinks of you, already. You will not win, however. Chicagoland rejects you. The American people reject you.
Our communities have demonstrated our strength and resilience in the face of cruelty and cowardice. Democrats must impeach and remove lawless officials like you and Kristi Noem, and impose accountability for every criminal action. But you can spare yourself more humiliation. Resign now and submit yourself to accountability by the American people.
Mr. Chairman, before I yield back, I ask unanimous consent to submit for the record this Wall Street Journal article dated January 12, 2026, entitled, " Trump Has Complained About Pam Bondi Repeatedly to Aides."
Thank you, and I yield back.
JORDAN: Without objection. Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from Texas is recognized.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Chairman.
BONDI: May I have 20 seconds please?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Listening to Congressman Chuy Garcia of Illinois lambast the Attorney General Pam Bondi, saying she has a lack of good values, saying that she's going after Trump's enemies to protect real criminals, saying she has a passion for protecting sex offenders, also pointing out that the president in a social media post a few months ago, described her as weak and ineffective.
Bondi is now using a Republican member of the Committee's time to respond to Garcia. We'll, of course, monitor her remarks and bring you the latest as we get it. Plenty more news coming on "CNN News Central" in just moments. Don't go anywhere.
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[14:16:27]
SANCHEZ: Let's go straight to Capitol Hill. This Judiciary Committee Hearing where the Attorney General Pam Bondi is being grilled by lawmakers. Let's listen in.
BONDI: -- the answer on the other side. Yes, given the tight time frame of 30 days, I believe we got everything released within a little over 60 days. I'm talking as fast as I can. My time is up. We did the best we could immediately.
Everyone's been coming to view the documents, if someone's name should not have been redacted, we're releasing it. If someone's name was redacted, we said right away, was not redacted and should have been meaning a victim. We went back and redacted it. We're doing everything we can based on the tight time frame and over three million pages that we released that Donald Trump signed for pure transparency.
Second, what was your second question?
REP. CHIP ROY, (R-TX): About whether another individual will be indicted and prosecuted?
BONDI: Absolutely. Thank you for asking that. And they never wanted to hear the answer to that. We have pending investigations in our office.
JORDAN: Time of the gentleman has expired. Unanimous consent request from the gentlelady from Pennsylvania.
REP. MARY GAY SCANLON, (D-PA): Thank you. I have several UC receipts. I'd like to have unanimous consent to introduce the National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 dated September 25, '25.
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: The Bondi Department of Justice memo dated December 4, 2025.
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: An article from Newsweek entitled "DOJ deletes study alleging rise in far-right terrorism" dated September 18, 2025.
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: NOTUS article from October 3rd, 2025, " Trump's Directive on "Organized Political Violence" Could Lead to Increased Surveillance of His Critics."
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: Washington Post article, September 25, 2025, "Trump targets domestic terrorists, but only mentions the radical left."
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: Idaho Capital Sun, October 18, 2025, "Rest easy Idahoans. The No Kings demonstrators are American patriots."
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: " Attacks on Freedom of Speech: What Nonprofits Need to Know" published by the National Council of Nonprofits, the largest network of nonprofits in America.
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: "The Freedom From Religious Foundation warns that Bondi memo weaponizes federal law enforcement against non-Christians and dissenting viewpoints." JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: A Ken Klippenstein blog from January 28, '26, "ICE's Secret Watchlists of Americans."
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: And an Intercept article from February 2, '26, "Trump calls his enemies terrorists. Does that mean he can kill them?"
JORDAN: Without objection.
SCANLON: Thank you.
JORDAN: The gentleman from Florida is recognized.
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ, (D-FL): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Attorney General Bondi.
BONDI: Good afternoon.
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MOSKOWITZ: Oh, you're right. Good afternoon. It's been a long day. I wrote this, this morning. We've known each other a long time. And I'll always be appreciative for your assistance when you were Attorney General in Florida after the shooting at my high school at Marjory Stoneman Douglas in my hometown of Parkland when we passed a bipartisan bill, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Act, which was the largest policy response to a school shooting in American history.
Your department also prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law a constituent of mine and former felon that had plans to kill me when he was picked up by law enforcement after he was target practicing in his backyard with two rifles, a scope, a silencer, 3,000 rounds of ammunition, an anti-Semitic manifesto. My name was the only name on their target list. And my kids found out about this from their friends at school. So thank you.
[14:20:00]
However, the most transparent administration in American history, before Trump, we didn't know the word transparency apparently. It's been 12 months since you gave Republican influencers part one of the Epstein Files. You said the list was on your desk. Then a memo came out and said that there was no list. Phase two of the binders never happened. The president of the United States says the Epstein thing is a hoax. He blasts his own base for wanting release of the files.
He blamed Barack Obama. Republicans voted against the release of the files in the Rules Committee. Then they refused to even return to the Rules Committee until they could be protected from future votes on the release. Speaker Johnson sends Congress home a day early before break. They sent the deputy attorney general to meet with Maxwell. She says something favorable about the president. Miraculously, she gets transferred to a minimum security facility. No one can explain why. Miraculously, it leaks to the Wall Street Journal staff. We come back from break. We have the Massie discharge petition. Republicans drop a rule, a non-binding resolution trying to kill the Massie discharge petition.
The White House says passing the Massie discharge petition is a hostile act. Trying to stop the necessary 218 signatures, according to Republican members that signed it, the White House brought them into the Situation Room -- you know, the place where the president goes for time of war -- promising things like appropriations or maybe even to primary them. People in the room say you were there. It didn't work.
We get the 218 signatures. We eventually pass the Massie petition. You guys didn't release the files. You were forced by Congress. Every member of the House except one and the entire Senate. The reason the president signed it is because it was a veto-proof majority. We can't agree on anything. And yet, the entire House but one member and the whole Senate forced the administration to release the files.
Kash Patel under oath said to Senator Kennedy, the FBI is not in possession of any credible evidence that Epstein trafficked girls to anyone but himself. We know now that's not true. According to documents, Epstein had a worldwide sex trafficking ring.
Girls from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Paris, modeling agencies sending him girls. He even had a relationship with a summer camp where he groomed girls at a picnic table. Ghislaine Maxwell says 29 Epstein associates cut secret DOJ deals. Turns out there is a list. Six names readily available if you unredact them, co-conspirators named, but we got them when you unredact them.
Maxwell recently tells a House Oversight Committee that she wants clemency to release more names. Kash Patel under oath said Trump's name appears less than 100 times in the files. We now know that's not true.
KEILAR: We're listening to this testimony of Pam Bondi before House members. And I would like to direct you to what our Kara Scannell is noting on the left side, because that is actually what House members should be following up with questions about. She said, we have pending investigations in our office pertaining to the Epstein Files.
That contradicts what her deputy, Todd Blanche, told our Dana Bash here recently, that there are going to be no more investigations expected. So we're going to monitor this. We'll get in a quick break. We'll see if any members ask the attorney general to clarify that. That would be huge news if that's the case. We'll be right back.
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[14:27:57]
SANCHEZ: Let's go back to Capitol Hill and Attorney General Pam Bondi testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. Just for some context, we had a very important moment just seconds ago in which Attorney General Bondi seemed to contradict her deputy, Todd Blanche, who on CNN a few weeks ago said that there were no further prosecutions coming as a result of the content of the Epstein Files.
He essentially said that that three million-plus documents was not going to lead DOJ to further investigations. Bondi moments ago saying there are pending investigations still remaining in the Epstein case. To this point, lawmakers have not followed up with her on that. We'll see if they do. Let's listen in.
REP. GLENN GROTHMAN, (R-WI ): -- something I love, you tolerate fools gladly. So I appreciate that trait. You suffer fools gladly. In hearings like this, we often focus on new initiatives undertaken by the department.
Today, I'd like to give you an opportunity to discuss actions implemented under the Biden administration's Department of Justice, such as the Foreign Influence Task Force that you have since terminated. It's always rare to see anything in the government terminated. But could you elaborate on those decisions and highlight the accomplishments of your tenure at Justice?
BONDI: Thank you for asking that. We are out of time, but may I answer, Chairman?
JORDAN: Yeah. Go ahead.
BONDI: Thank you. The Biden administration weaponized the Foreign Corruption Practices Act. And on February 10th, President Trump issued an executive order pausing that for a DOJ review. Under Deputy Attorney General Blanche's supervision, a comprehensive review was led and the department issued new guidelines protecting all Americans and protecting against the weaponization that happened under the Biden administration.
JORDAN: Time of the gentleman has expired. Gentleman yields back. Gentleman from New York is recognized.
REP. DAN GOLDMAN, (D-NY): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Bondi, I went over to the department yesterday for a couple of hours to review some of the unredacted --
