While testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning, Attorney General Pam Bondi dodged and deflected on many subjects. But it was her refusal to answer specific questions on President Donald Trump and his relationship with the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that was most shocking.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned Bondi about her Epstein evasiveness, saying, "You said you would look into this. There were hundreds of suspicious activity reports. Some people would deduce from the fact that they are called suspicious activity reports that there might be suspicious activity."
Whitehouse pressed Bondi, saying, "There's been public reporting that Jeffrey Epstein showed people photos of President Trump with half-naked young women. Do you know if the FBI found those photographs in their search of Jeffrey Epstein's safe or premises or otherwise? Have you seen any such thing?"
A visibly uncomfortable Bondi replied, "You sit here and make salacious remarks once again trying to slander President Trump," she said, offering her own theory on Whitehouse allegedly "taking money from one of Epstein's closest confidantes."
"I believe. I could be wrong," she said of Whitehouse's connection to Epstein associates. "Yet you're grilling me on President Trump and some photograph with Epstein."
Not backing down, Whitehouse retorted, "The question is: Did the FBI find those photographs that have been discussed publicly by a witness who claimed Jeffrey Epstein showed them to him? You don't know anything about that?"
Bondi just looked down, swallowed, and said nothing.
Following the exchange, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked former federal prosecutor Alyse Adamson, "Were you surprised? The questions that Whitehouse was asking about the Jeffrey Epstein case? And if there are pictures of Trump with half-naked women involved with Epstein?"
Adamson agreed it was a shocking revelation, saying, "That was the first time I had ever heard that. Of course, we need more facts. If that is true, I think that would be a bombshell revelation. It would also explain why the Department of Justice has been hesitant to release the files."
"And I think Senator Whitehouse is asking exactly the right questions. And, you know, demanding the transparency that the DOJ and Pam Bondi promised to the American people. So I was shocked. And I think that could be very significant," she added.