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Pam Bondi Testifies on Capitol Hill Amid Multiple Controversies; Bondi House Oversight Hearing Erupts into Shouting Matches; Dawson's Creek Star James Van Der Beek has Died. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: ... and protecting against the weaponization that happened under the Biden administration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time for the gentleman has expired. Gentleman yields back. Gentleman from New York 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 materials. And I am looking forward to your detailed explanation for why you have withheld almost half of the documents, which is required by the bill.

Now, obviously, there are 3 million documents, so I didn't get through much. But one thing I didn't see was the client list that you said you had on your desk a year ago. I did, however, find a couple of important documents, an 86 page prosecution memo from the Southern District of New York, and a draft indictment from Florida against Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirators.

For reasons that I cannot understand, nor are permitted by the bill, they were still redacted, even for members of Congress. So, Ms. Bondi, will you commit right here to immediately providing those two documents in unredacted form to members of Congress? Not a complicated question.

BONDI: Well, I guess it is for you because you have a law degree, and those are privileged.

GOLDMAN: OK, they're not privileged, but we will discuss that later. I also found an e-mail that I have right here from Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell that was unredacted. And it included notes of statements that Donald Trump made about his prior relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Now, there is no reason for this to be hidden from the American people. There is no privilege. There is no attorney-client privilege.

And I see you're checking with your staff. And I can assure you, staff, this is not under attorney-client privilege, because it was sent from Jeffrey Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell. Will you commit to publicly providing the unredacted version of this so that the American people can understand the extent of Donald Trump's lies about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein?

BONDI: You're about as good of a lawyer today as you were when you tried to impeach President Trump in 2016. Have you apologized for that in 2019?

GOLDMAN: So, will you -- will you un-redact this?

BONDI: Apologized for that

GOLDMAN: Will you un-redact this? Will you un-redact this?

BONDI: Undertake this counsel on that privilege?

COMER: I'm asking you, will you un-redact this?

BONDI: Privileged.

COMER: Privileged? Of course, I look forward to discussing this more. Now, these are obviously improper redactions.

BONDI: And let me stop you there.

GOLDMAN: I'm talking. I'm talking.

BONDI: If they're not privileged --

GOLDMAN: Quiet.

BONDI: Don't yell at me. If they're not privileged --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, will you stop the clock? This is on your time. It's not on Mr. Goldman.

BONDI: If they're not privileged --

GOLDMAN: Even though you used your improper redactions --

BONDI: Have you reviewed it? You'll like my answer.

GOLDMAN: -- to continue to protect Donald Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: If we review them and they're not privileged, you will be happy to release them after review.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll stop the clock. We'll stop the clock. Time belongs to the member. Go ahead.

GOLDMAN: Even though you used improper redactions to protect Donald Trump and other predators associated with Jeffrey Epstein, you did the exact opposite thing with the survivors and victims of this scheme. So their identification information was really the only thing required to be redacted, and it was not. And it's clear this was not a mistake. This was not by accident. This was not because you only had 30 days when you really used 75, and that doesn't even include all the hours last March that you were redacting it. But I'll tell you why it's clear it wasn't a mistake.

There is an e-mail entitled Epstein Victim List. There are 32 names. One is redacted. 31 are not.

So someone looked at it and decided to redact something. And I will tell you that that is clearly intentional to intimidate these survivors and victims. Now, in an interview last week --

BONDI: How will you tell me that's intentional?

GOLDMAN: In an interview last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche --

BONDI: You can't go off script.

GOLDMAN: -- said that any victim that wants to speak with the department has done so, hopefully. Well, thanks to the incredibly brave people sitting here behind you, we can actually ask them if that's true. Now, would the survivors and victims who are here please stand up one more time? Just by show of hands, how many of you or your loved ones actually have met with the Department of Justice and provided testimony and evidence?

None. And of those of you who have not met, which is everyone, how many of you have reached out either individually or through a lawyer or representative to offer to provide testimony and evidence? All of them.

[14:35:00]

And of those of you, all of you who have reached out, how many of you were denied or ignored by the Department of Justice? All of them.

And despite the shameful and despicable efforts by Ms. Bondi and her department to intimidate you, how many of you are still willing to speak to the Department of Justice? All of them.

Well, Ms. Bondi, it looks like you have some more witnesses to talk to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman's time has expired.

GOLDMAN: -- and I yield back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will go to the good gentleman from North Carolina.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Very strange claim of privilege there by the attorney general about an e-mail between Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, as she is doing what she frequently does for each Democratic member of Congress, which is highlighting a criminal or an alleged criminal, I think. Let's see. Actually, I don't know what she's saying, but I will tell you that she has what Jared Moskowitz, Democrat of Florida, referred to as her burn book, where she's kind of doling out insults about individual members, districts, and things that aren't really pertinent to what they are asking about.

But she is clearly very irritated by the questions, as she has what many have observed to be this appearance that is very much for an audience of one, as that would be President Trump, of course. We are going to get in a quick break. We'll monitor her reaction.

We'll monitor the questions. We'll be right back.

[14:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're going right back to Capitol Hill and this House Judiciary hearing, which has seen Attorney General Pam Bondi grilled by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, specifically over the handling -- her handling of the Epstein files. A really stunning moment just moments ago from Congressman Dan Goldman of New York. After asking Attorney General Bondi about communication between herself and members of her staff and Epstein victims -- Epstein survivors, I should say, he had folks in the room who were either family or survivors of Epstein themselves stand up and ask them which of them had had contact with the Department of Justice.

None of them raised their hands, despite all of them raising their hands when he asked how many of them had actually reached out to DOJ and tried to provide information that potentially would have led to further prosecutions related to Epstein and co-conspirators. Let's go ahead and listen in to the attorney general.

REP. SYDNEY KAMLAGER-DOVE (D-CA): Last June, Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark and their dog were brutally murdered in their home. And your USA's office in Minnesota investigated this crime and obtained a six count indictment of the murder suspect stating that he had intent to kill, injury, harass and intimidate Minnesota legislators.

And I have the copy right here. I read through it. Yet a few weeks ago, President Trump suggested publicly that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was behind these murders, posting on his Truth Social account, a video raising this conspiracy theory.

And it wasn't true. And you know it wasn't true or else you would not have brought an indictment against the subject. Do you know what else Trump has said?

He has said he has cut gas prices by 1,400 percent. False. That he won the 2020 election.

BONDI: Actually, gas is down to $1.99 a gallon, thanks to President Trump.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: That he didn't know Epstein.

BONDI: Maybe $5 in California.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: It's my time, Mr. Chair. That he sent water to L.A. during the wildfires. False.

That Governor Westmore of Maryland called him the greatest president of his lifetime. False. So many tales, too many to keep up.

But I want to go back to what he said about Tim Walz. Do you agree that President Trump undermined public trust in law enforcement by suggesting that Governor Walz was involved in the Hortman murders?

BONDI: I am not familiar with that statement.

KAMLAGER-DOVE: Well, that is a disappointing response. And it is also why your office and Donald Trump have zero credibility. Because I know, and you know, it was a right-wing extremist who murdered the Hortmans.

And you and the president are being dishonest with the American people. Last fall, after the horrific shooting of Charlie Kirk, President Trump was asked if there were extremists on both the left and the right. And his exact words were, I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less.

The radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don't want to see crime. The radicals on the left are the problem. And they're vicious, and they're horrible, and they're politically savvy.

Do you agree with this statement? You're taking too long, Madam Attorney General. But you know the answer because your own department has addressed the question.

In 24, the DOJ's research arm issued a report on domestic terrorism, stating that the far number of far-right attacks continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violence extremists.

[14:45:00]

The DOJ published the report. After the president made those comments, the DOJ took the report down.

And I sent you a letter asking you a simple question. Why did the Justice Department remove the data that shows right-wing extremists have killed more innocent people than left-wing extremists?

BONDI: Did you refer to immigration enforcement as domestic terrorism?

KAMLAGER-DOVE: You should answer my question. You're on my time, but you won't. And what I am asking you to do is put the report back. Restore the data.

Stop scrubbing important data from your website. Stop taking down reports that you know the American people need to know about. There are violent, dangerous people out here with real threats.

BONDI: There are, in your district. KAMLAGER-DOVE: (INAUDIBLE) from your agency comes from the covering up of these threats that could hurt American people and put our lives at risk. Do better. And with that, I yield back, Mr. Speaker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This young lady yields back. The gentleman from North Carolina is recognized.

BONDI: May I have one moment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may.

BONDI: Her district includes Culver City, and she's not talking about any crime in her district.

KEILAR: This is the pattern that you've been seeing, a Democratic member of Congress taking the attorney general to task for questions about how the Department of Justice has been conducting itself, and then a non sequitur coming from the AG about something that is happening in that member of Congress's district. She has come prepared to this hearing with snippets and factoids about each individual member of the committee's district. We'll continue to monitor this.

We will be right back.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have some sad breaking news to share with you this afternoon. James Van Der Beek has passed away. The 48-year-old actor had been fighting colorectal cancer.

KEILAR: That's right. He leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and six children. She posted this on Instagram.

"Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith and grace. There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now, we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother and friend."

CNN's Lisa Respers France is with us now. Lisa, this is sad news. James Van Der Beek, of course, an icon of the 90s. I mean, this is someone who defined my teen years and that for so many people who enjoyed him.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Yes. And, you know, there would be no Dawson's Creek without Dawson. He was so beloved.

And when he announced that he had stage three colorectal cancer, he did so by also talking about his joyful life, you know, how much he loved being a husband and a father. And he tried to spread awareness. He was very open about the fact that initially he kind of ignored the symptoms.

He thought maybe he just needed to change his diet. And then he ended up doing a colonoscopy. And that's when the cancer was discovered.

And people were really shocked last year when they had the annual Dawson's Creek reunion. And he sent in a prerecorded message because he wasn't physically able to be there. People saw how thin he was because he was such a star.

I mean, WB came to be because of Dawson's Creek. That show really helped the network establish itself as a place where young people in particular, teens could go and see themselves and see the type of content that they enjoyed. But he said, you know, beyond being an actor and a beloved actor, he really loved being a dad to his six kids.

And he loved being a husband. And towards the end, he really worked hard to spread awareness about colorectal cancer and why it's so important for men and women to get tested. So this is such a tragedy.

And it really hits people because, as you point out, for so many people, he represented their younger years, their teen years, their childhood. And to lose him at such a young age is just, I mean, I'm almost at a loss for words.

KEILAR: Yes, a husband, a father of six, been a part of so many people's lives. And he's leaving behind a very large family legacy and shoes there that no one can fill.

Lisa, thank you so much for that. James Van Der Beek passing today at the age of 48. We do want to take you to break with some words from James Van Der Beek reflecting on his own mortality back in March.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

James Van Der Beek, DAWSON'S CREEK STAR: Today's my birthday, and it has been the hardest year of my life. And I wanted to share something that I learned with you all. When I was younger, I used to define myself as an actor, right?

Which was never really all that fulfilling. And then I became a husband, and that was much better. And then I became a father, and that was the ultimate.

I could define myself then as a loving, capable, strong, supportive husband, father, provider, steward of the land that we're so lucky to live on. And for a long time, that felt like a really good definition to the question, who am I? What am I?

[14:55:00]

And then this year, I had to look my own mortality in the eye. I had to come nose to nose with death. And all of those definitions that I cared so deeply about were stripped from me. I was away for treatment, so I could no longer be a husband that was helpful to my wife.

I could no longer be a father who could pick up his kids and put them to bed and be there for them. I could not be a provider because I wasn't working. I couldn't even be a steward of the land because at times I was too weak to prune all the trees during the window that you're supposed to prune them.

And so I was faced with the question, if I am just a too skinny, weak guy alone, in an apartment with cancer, what am I? And I meditated and the answer came through. I am worthy of God's love simply because I exist.

And if I'm worthy of God's love, shouldn't I also be worthy of my own? And the same is true for you. And as I move through this healing ...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END