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Bondi Praises Trump, Calls Him "Greatest President In American History"; Lawmakers Press Bondi On Trump Deportation Operations; Bondi, Democrats Trade Insults During Combative Hearing; Bondi House Oversight Hearing Erupts Into Shouting Matches. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Welcome to Inside Politics. I'm Dana Bash in Washington. And we've been watching a congressional hearing erupt into shouting matches.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has been defiant and explosive as she fields questions from members of the House Judiciary Committee. And it's happening on multiple fronts and multiple controversies, including the Justice Department's release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

First, just watch this exchange with Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal.

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize for what your Department of Justice has done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Members get to ask the questions, the witness get to answer in the way they want to answer that. Attorney general --

JAYAPAL: That's not accurate, Mr. Chairman --

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Because she doesn't like the answer.

JAYAPAL: Mr. Chairman --

BONDI: Why?

JAYAPAL: -- I have asked --

BONDI: She asked Merrick Garland this, twice --

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: I'm not getting in the gutter for her theatrics.

BASH: There was also this moment when Congresswoman Jayapal asked Jeffrey Epstein's survivors who are in the room to raise their hands if they haven't been able to meet with the Justice Department. Every one of them raised their hands. Bondi did acknowledge in her opening statement the victims, and she said she's deeply sorry for what they've been through, and that the FBI wants to hear from them.

Over the last two hours, it has been very clear that the attorney general was speaking to an audience of one. Lots of moments like this.

BONDI: Robert Mueller found no evidence, none of foreign interference in 2016. Have you apologized to President Trump? Have you apologized to President Trump all of you who participated in those impeachment hearings against Donald Trump. You all should be apologizing. 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.

BASH: I want to go back to the hearing which is still going on and listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- doesn't have your back. Do we have your back? Raise your hand if you're confident that we got your back, and that's the issue, Madam A.G. We've got to make sure that victims stand up and report the crimes, otherwise we're going to be taking step backwards today.

Today, AI, cyber, social media, the new realm for people to be hurt, attacked sexually. These are the areas I'd welcome the opportunity to work with you on. It's not your problem, it's not my problem, it's our problem. But to have redacted, redacted files that are not showing us the names of these predators, is wrong. These are very powerful people. This was a very expensive business, and we don't know who they are.

I would imagine they're very prominent Republicans, very Republican Democrats, and we are covering up for them. We got to know what's going on out there, Madam A.G. It looks like you want to say something. I'm going to give the opportunity to address my statement.

BONDI: I look forward to working with you on any crimes involving child sex predators, children, and also cybercrimes. That is a tremendous problem now throughout our country. AI -- you are correct, AI is causing great problems online regarding we're working on that though. AI is an incredible tool, but it also can be fraught with pearl with victims of crime.

I've experienced that with someone I know who we've been trying to help. I look forward, though, to working with you on that and on cybercrimes. Can I?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please go ahead.

BONDI: And as I said before, to any victims, we ask them to come forward to our office, and we want to work with them. I have never -- not worked with a victim, and I believe I've actually spoken to several of the victims' attorneys --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam, if I can reclaim my time --

BONDI: -- sitting behind me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can reclaim my time. I just think we start out by making sure those redactions are unredacted. Those Epstein files, to make sure that the public according to the law, following the law, that those names in those files are made public. We have to make sure we tell those predators there is no place for them to hide, and if they commit the crime, they're going to fry for it. It starts with showing us the names of the perpetrators in the Epstein files.

[12:05:00]

BONDI: May I respond to that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

BONDI: OK. So, if any man's name was redacted that should not have been, we will, of course, un-redacted. If a victim's name was un- redacted, please bring it to us and we will redact it. We were given 30 days to review and redact and un-redact, millions of pages of documents. Our error rate is very low.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victims are right behind you. They've got a convict stamp that we're doing a good job of protecting them.

BONDI: We will do everything we can here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Caren (Ph), amount of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from California, Mr. Kiley, is recognized.

REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, Madam Attorney General. I wanted to return to a point that the chairman raised at the beginning of this hearing, which is these jurisdictions that refuse to offer -- to honor detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, often called sanctuary jurisdictions.

Now I know that you are not involved directly in immigration operations, per se, but you do deal with the legal issues surrounding these jurisdictions. So, let's say we have someone who's here illegally, who has committed a crime that like the thousands of people you mentioned in California, murderers, sexual predators, drug traffickers.

If that individual is in detention in a jurisdiction that has a sanctuary policy, where they do not honor ICE detainers versus in a -- any other jurisdiction, where they do. How does the nature of apprehending that person? How does the nature of ICE's involvement in that operation differ in those two circumstances?

BONDI: Well, I believe you've seen that in Minnesota where people were not cooperating with us. I believe there a lot of local law enforcement did want to cooperate, but we are doing everything in our power to arrest and deport illegal criminal aliens, and that is not going to stop under Donald Trump's administration. You know why sanctuary cities are so dangerous? What we've seen in Minneapolis? Where do all the criminals go? The criminal -- the gangs, TDA, MS13? Where are they going to go? They're going to go to a sanctuary jurisdiction because they believe they're protected. And that's not fair to the citizens of those cities.

KILEY: Yeah. And this is a point that there at least used to be a lot of consensus on. The idea that, you know, it's better to do a hand off to the immigration authorities in a custodial setting, rather than releasing them where they have to be apprehended in the community.

This is Alejandro Mayorkas. When he was before this committee, not exactly a paragon of border security, but he said, I do not consider it in the service of public safety to release an individual into the community when that individual can be released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for prompt removal.

Now, his words are one thing, his actions are another. But when you have jurisdictions across the country, including my state of California, doing systematically precisely the thing that even Alejandro Mayorkas said threatens public safety. I mean, what does that say to you?

BONDI: It's a danger to the citizens of your community and thank you for fighting to protect them.

KILEY: Absolutely. And you know we're having this conversation right now in relation to Homeland Security funding. And I believe there are some commonsense reforms that have been proposed that folks on both sides would agree, makes sense, but those reforms have to go hand in hand with reforming this reckless practice of refusing to cooperate, refusing to honor detainers, and declaring oneself to be a sanctuary. So, I'm hoping that we can find bipartisan support for what has long been a bipartisan principle.

I Want to go to a second topic, which is the school board memo, which I know that you have rescinded and it was initially promulgated by Attorney General Garland when he came into office with President Biden, essentially opening an investigation into parents who were showing up at school board meetings and expressing their views on COVID policies, masks various other issues. And using the full apparatus of federal law enforcement and counter terrorism to go after these parents.

Now he said this was because there was an increase of threats, but when -- even his own FBI Director Christopher Wray was before this committee, he said there was no evidence of an increase in threats. Yet, nevertheless, when I asked him if he regretted the memo, Attorney General Garland said there was absolutely nothing wrong with the memo. Now, I take it, you disagree with that, having now rescinded it?

BONDI: Absolutely. That was one of the main focuses of President Trump and this administration, we will protect parents at school boards. We will protect children in schools. We will protect parents' rights for their children's education in our school system in this country. We will protect Christians. We will protect everyone who wants to really protest. If Christians want to protest in front of an abortion clinic without being arrested, they will do so.

[12:10:00]

KILEY: Thank you very much. And finally, I thank you for your efforts to step up the detection and rooting out of fraud. My home state is California. Any idea if there might be any fraud going on in California?

BONDI: Well, we are establishing, as you have heard, a Fraud Unit, and I'm sorry you're having to deal with that in your state, but the calvary is coming, and we have Colin McDonald, who is hopefully will be confirmed soon. We're working on Minneapolis. I don't know if you were sitting here when I said that, but California was right up there. I'm sorry to say for both sides of the aisle that California is right up there with fraud. It's out of control. But we are coming to your rescue. Donald Trump is coming to the rescue.

KILEY: Well, thank you very much. And unfortunately, I think you'll find that what's happening in California pales in comparison to what's been going on in Minnesota. Thank you. I yield back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman yields back. The gentleman from Maryland is recognized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I think the gentleman, lady from Pennsylvania.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized.

REP. MARY GAY SCANLON (D-PA): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ms. Bondi, I'm here. On September 25, President Trump signed a memorandum known as NSPM-7, purporting to address domestic terrorism. But Americans across the political spectrum were immediately alarmed by the memo's blurring of the line between unlawful conduct and constitutionally protected speech and activity, as well as its call to investigate, prosecute and dismantle groups that the president and Stephen Miller described without evidence as, quote, an organized campaign of radical left terrorism.

Now counter terrorism experts were further alarmed by the administration's singular focus on left wing extremism, combined with the sudden deletion from the DOJ website of decades of research and law enforcement analysis, which had concluded that right-wing extremism possesses -- poses the greatest terrorism threat to Americans.

The president's memo broadly and vaguely links violent conduct to ideologies, and it targeted specifically anti-American, anti-Christian and anti-capitalist beliefs, as well as, quote, hostility to so called traditional American views on family religion and morality, end quote.

President Trump has repeatedly and openly, however falsely, tried to brand his political opponents with these sentiments listed in his memo. But as you know, as a lawyer, holding beliefs that the White House disagrees with is not a crime, and the statute defining domestic terrorism requires criminal acts, not just thoughts and ideas. That's why legal experts, nonprofit leaders, religious freedom and civil rights advocates immediately raised the alarm that the new presidential directive was a politically motivated attack on civil society designed to silence those who disagree with the administration.

So, Ms. Bondi, section three of that memo directed you, as attorney general, to submit to the president and Stephen Miller a list of groups who are entities whose members are engaged in acts that meet the definition of domestic terrorism. And then on December 4, you directed the FBI to work with a variety of law enforcement entities to compile a list of groups and entities engaged in such acts, by January 3, 2026, and to update that report every 30 days thereafter.

So, can we assume that you or persons under your direction at the Department of Justice have prepared that list of groups or entities who are designated as domestic terrorist organizations, and I just remind you that's a yes or no question. Did you prepare the list?

BONDI: Well, I'm not going to answer.

SCANLON: Yes or no? But what I will say is I know Antifa is part of that. OK.

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: I will talk to you about and on February 5, 2025, an Antifa member was arrested in Minneapolis.

SCANLON: I'm reclaiming my time.

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: They ask the question and don't want an answer.

SCANLON: The answer is yes or no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, time belongs to the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Gentlelady, can proceed.

SCANLON: OK. So, will you commit to providing this committee with any list of organizations that you have recommended be designated as domestic terrorist organizations.

BONDI: We will comply with the law on all matters.

SCANLON: Will you commit to provide this committee with your list of entities that you recommend be designated as domestic terrorist organizations.

BONDI: I'm not going to commit to anything to you, because you won't let me answer questions.

[12:15:00]

SCANLON: OK. Well then, we do understand that your current position is that you have a secret list of people or groups that you are accusing of domestic terrorism. But you won't share it with Congress, and I'd remind you that when the U.S. government designates an entity as a foreign terrorist organization, it must report that to Congress and to the entity, because the government can make a mistake and the entity has the opportunity to contest it.

So, your position seems to be that if you falsely designate an American or an American organization as a terrorist group, there's nothing they can do about it. I think we get it. You don't want to answer the question.

(CROSSTALK)

SCANLON: Thank you.

BONDI: Nothing.

SCANLON: Thank you for the insult. It's clear you didn't come to Congress prepared to answer questions that the American people have every right to have answered. But if you were to prepare to answer truthfully, here's what we expect the facts to show. The administration is keeping lists of Americans who the White House says are engaged in domestic terrorism. Those lists could include Americans who have not committed any acts of terrorism, but simply disagree with this administration, people like Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

And your list may include clergy elected officials and members of indivisible groups across the country. And those lists likely don't include proud boys or oak campers who were actually convicted. Americans have never tolerated political demagogues who use the government to punish people on an enemy's list. It brought down McCarthy, brought down Nixon, and (inaudible) this administration as well. I yield back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we're so glad they rescinded the memorandum targeting parents. Given the sake (Ph), as the gentlemen from California just pointed out his five minutes. The gentlemen from Kentucky is recognized for five minutes.

BONDI: May I response very briefly to her statement?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we can do that probably on one of our members.

BONDI: OK. Thank you. I don't want that to get away. Thank you.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Behind me, I have three documents from the DOJ production that are emblematic of the massive failure of the DOJ to comply with the Epstein files Transparency Act. To my right is an email that was sent by the victims' lawyers to the DOJ. It was a list of names not to redact -- or sorry, a list of names not to release.

What did the DOJ do with this email? They released this email in the document production. Literally the worst thing you could do to the survivors. You did, and they're getting phone calls. A lot of these people didn't want to be known. And we know you touched the document because you redacted one name and you redacted the lawyer's name, but you left the survivor's name there.

The next document I want to show you in that was in the title, the victims, survivors' names, right. The title of this one is child sex trafficking, coconspirators, fully redacted and by the way, and redact them here. Les Wexner is in this. Now your assistant DEP, your deputy attorney general, said, oh, well, he appears hundreds of times in the files, but he doesn't appear in this file until I forced you to release it where he's listed as a coconspirator, not to tax evasion, but to child sex trafficking, not to prostitution, not to money laundering, child sex trafficking.

And then finally, what we have here, the third exhibit that I have, is emblematic of the FT-302 release. These are the documents that we need, that you're holding on to and over redacting because they have the names of the men who are implicated. How do we know? Because the survivors gave testimony to the FBI, and it's in there.

And what happens when you go to the portal at the DOJ to look at what's behind this redaction? Another redaction. So, we can't even see them. And then there's some of these files you've pulled down from the website that we will never see because we can't search the redactions.

So, I have several questions for you. Who's responsible? Are you able to track who in your organization made this massive failure and released the victims' names? Are you able to track who it was that obscured Les Wexner's name as a coconspirator in an FBI document? Do you have that kind of accountability?

BONDI: I believe Wexner's name was listed more than 4000 times, about I had --

MASSIE: Yeah, I already told you that. This is where he's listed as a coconspirator.

[12:20:00]

BONDI: Can I finish my answer? Come on, let me finish my answer. We corrected that within 40 minutes. He was already -- you're acting like everybody's trying to cover up Wexner's name.

MASSIE: Reclaiming -- reclaiming my time.

BONDI: I'm going to answer this question.

MASSIE: Reclaiming my time. Mr. Chairman, can I have my time back?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentlelady can give her answer. The time belongs to the gentlemen from --

MASSIE: All right, I'm reclaiming my time. So, I'm going to put the language of the bill up on the screen.

BONDI: Chairman, can I give my answer on that? This is a political show. Can I need to give my answer on that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the attorney general respond, and then the gentleman can move to his question.

MASSIE: Chairman, this is my time.

BONDI: Within 40 minutes, you asked me a question. Within 40 minutes, Wexner's name was added back --

MASSIE: Within 40 minutes of me catching you red handed.

BONDI: Red hand. There was one redaction as we were 4700 and we invited in. This guy has Trump derangement syndrome. He needs to get -- you're a failed politician.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chairman, please restore his time and remind the witness about the rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no credible information, none. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals.

MASSIE: Is that your position as well?

BONDI: My position is any victim who comes forward, of course, we would love to hear from them. 1-800 call FBI. Did you ask Merrick Garland, that the last four years? Did you talk about Epstein?

MASSIE: I'm reclaiming my time. I'm glad you're asking about Merrick Garland.

BONDI: You don't give reclaims high when you don't --

(CROSSTALK)

MASSIE: This goes over four administrations. You don't have to go back to Biden. Let's go back to Obama. Let's go back to George Bush. This cover up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it. I want to know at what point -- at what point did the FBI and the DOJ decide that Les Wexner was not a coconspirator? Because our Epstein files Transparency Act requires you, please put it back on the screen to release the internal decision about whether to prosecute him or not, and it's not in the files, and it's not in the files for any of these other men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time of the gentleman has expired.

MASSIE: -- which may she answer?

BONDI: And he's a hypocrite because he voted against the ban that we were talking about on deep fake AI porn. Only two people voted against it, and you were one of them, hypocrite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman's time has expired.

MASSIE: Mr. Chairman, could she answer the question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentlelady is allowed -- the attorney general is allowed to respond the way she wants to respond to any members questions? Republican, Democrat --

MASSIE: I have unanimous consent request.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentleman is recognized for a UC?

MASSIE: All right. This is an example. I'm submitting these 302 forms that are entirely redacted even when you go to look at --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not objection.

MASSIE: I'm submitting a witness statement that implicates Les Wexner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not objection.

MASSIE: I'm submitting an article from the New York Times. The DOJ released nude photos and identifiable pictures of the victims. I'm submitting a letter from A.G. Bondi, the Kash Patel, imploring him to quit keeping the files. When you found out that they were keeping files from you, because they're still redacting files.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chairman, are we going to -- are we going to recess for votes? Yes, we are.

MASSIE: I'm submitting for unanimous consent, a document of 17 individuals who've resigned because the Epstein files.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not objection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just one checking on what time -- what time -- how much time we have left in votes. But one thing I've learned here of late that they'll wait on us. How much time do we have? OK, just call it, OK. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Maryland.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to start by saying I appreciate what you said, Attorney General Bondi, and you said it to me personally that you take the personal security of every member of Congress seriously and that people can contact you about that. And in these times, that's a very serious matter, so I thank you for that.

Article II, Section 1 clause seven of the constitution is the domestic emoluments clause, and it says that the president is limited to his salary in office and cannot receive any other money from the federal government while he's in office. It cannot be increased by $1. This president is the first president in U.S. history who has repeatedly sued the federal government. Sue the federal government for $230 million for the judicial search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, which was perfectly lawful and was never struck down.

[12:25:00]

But now he's suing the IRS for $10 billion. He's suing the IRS for $10 billion which I think is around 80 percent of its annual budget because his tax returns were leaked and they were illegally leaked by a private contractor who actually is in prison now, Charles Littlejohn, but he wants $10 billion now.

But I want to -- I want to ask you the question of whether you think it would violate the domestic emoluments clause for you to settle that $10 billion case, or any of the other claims that the president has made against the government. He himself has remarked, it's interesting, because I'm the one that makes the deal, right? And he says, I kind of have to work it out with myself.

Do you think it would violate the domestic emoluments clause for the president to work out a deal from people who are his subordinates under his unitary executive theory to get money in one of these cases?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss pending litigation.

RASKIN: OK. So theoretically, you're saying because his privacy rights were violated in that tax case and they were. I'm with the president that, I mean his Mar-a-Lago thing is ridiculous, but there's no doubt that his tax returns, despite the fact that he promised to release them, despite the fact that every other president released the tax returns. He suffered embarrassment when it showed that he hadn't paid taxes for several years, and he had a right for that not to happen.

Now I want to turn back to the Epstein survivors, because President Trump may have been a little bit embarrassed by the release of those tax returns. How much do you think the claims of these survivors are worth? As the good congressman from Kentucky just pointed out, there were lots of survivors who had decided for reasons of their own, never to release their names.

That determination was represented to people in Congress, and we built it into our federal law that their names could not be released. And yet you published their names, their phone numbers, their addresses, personally identifying information. If Donald Trump can get $10 billion theoretically from the Department of Justice. How much should these people get for a far worse violation of their privacy rights and a far greater danger established to them in their lives?

BONDI: Do you even know who Chase Mulligans? You're so obsessed with you don't --

RASKIN: I'm going to teach you the rules again. You're the attorney general --

(CROSSTALK)

RASKIN: You're the attorney general the United States. The rules --

BONDI: We discussed with Donald Trump, the Trump derangement syndrome --

RASKIN: Mr. Chairman, I think my time restored. I think my time restored back.

BONDI: -- in your district -- in your district, can you know about it, about keeping children safe from online predators?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time belongs to the gentleman from Maryland. Gentlemen can proceed.

RASKIN: Yeah. And I just -- I want the whole country to look at this, because this is the attorney general of the United States whose job is law enforcement. We've never had a witness who has misunderstood our rules and been unable to conform his or her conduct to our rules before. We have only five minutes, and so we use our time to ask you specific questions.

BONDI: How long are you giving me the answer?

RASKIN: Excuse me, I'm not yielding to you right now. I'd like that second restored too. So, Ms. Bondi, the way it works is, we ask you a question and you answer it, and if you go off on a wild goose chase another tangent, you start reading statistics, or you start talking about stuff going on our district.

And by the way, I invite you to my district. Come to my district, but that's not what we're here to do today. OK. So, and you do that, then we're allowed to say, we reclaim our time. At that point, you have to be quiet. You have no choice. You have to be quiet. So, I hope you understand the rule of this board.

Now here's what I want to ask you. You're in law enforcement. We've seen all kinds of evidence of crimes, and when we go over to the Department of Justice for the four computers for every member of Congress, we see more evidence of crimes. Will you create a joint task force of the Department of Justice and governors and state attorney generals and district attorneys across the country to investigate the crimes that have taken place against these victims and more than a thousand like them. The DOJ is not doing its job. Will you create a task force with state and local law enforcement to make that happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gentlelady can respond. She wants to.

BONDI: Thank you. Chairman. He called Chase Mulligan a wild goose chase, and didn't even know who he was. He is the defendant in your own district who preyed on girls.

RASKIN: Well, you know what? If he were part of the absolute investigation, you wouldn't do anything about it.

BONDI: An online chat rooms and committed sex portion, yet he didn't even know in their tiny little district who he was.

RASKIN: Mr. Chairman, she's embarrassing you. This is your committee, and she is embarrassing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time of the gentleman has expired. I would remind the committee that last Congress Secretary Mayorkas was here numerous times, and he wouldn't answer our questions even when we send them to him ahead of time in writing. So that's what we've had to deal with. I think the attorney general is doing just fine. We have votes shortly. [12:30:00]