Exchange of blows in the US Congress
MPs accuse US Attorney General of cover-up
02/11/2026 – 9:02 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The new Epstein files shock the world. But crucial parts are still blacked out. Now US Attorney General Pam Bondi has to explain herself
US Attorney General Pam Bondi has defended her actions in publishing the files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her ministry released more than three million pages of documents and did the “best to protect the victims,” Bondi said on Wednesday at a congressional hearing in Washington. Democratic politicians, however, accused her of a “cover-up”.
Bondi said hundreds of lawyers and other experts “spent thousands of hours meticulously reviewing millions of pages.” Congress had legally required the administration of US President Donald Trump to disclose most of the documents and investigative materials relating to the Epstein scandal. However, the Ministry of Justice only complied with this late. In addition, numerous passages in the files were blacked out.
The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Jamie Raskin, accused Bondi of a “massive Epstein cover-up.” The ministry only published around half of a total of around six million documents, photos and videos.
In addition, the names of numerous “perpetrators, helpers, followers and co-conspirators” of Epstein were blacked out, while in some cases the names of the victims were not redacted as required. Some of the Epstein victims were present at Bondi’s hearing.
In July 2019, Epstein was arrested again and accused in federal court of abusing many more victims. On August 10, 2019, he was found dead in his New York prison cell; according to official information, he committed suicide.
