Trump fired Pam Bondi as attorney general because she was an embarrassment

One of the biggest media disasters of Trump’s second term, her performance at the recent congressional hearing was an embarrassment for all Americans. Back to that momentarily.

Trump tried to deflect on Epstein until he couldn’t

Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

First, let’s examine the reason for the hearing (the item Bondi clearly wanted to deflect attention from via her outrageous theatrics) — the poorly handled Epstein files that, by federal law, were to have been fully released last year.

There are millions of pages of documents concerning Epstein’s abuse of young women and children. In 2018, before the situation really blew up, one source identified 80 young women who were allegedly molested by Epstein and his accomplices from 2001 to 2006, according to the Miami Herald.

During this period, Trump and Epstein were close friends, PBS reported.

Since then, estimates as to the number abused have risen dramatically, with some as high as 1,000 girls, per USA Today.

Last November, I wrote a column for the AJC praising the bipartisan consensus that had been reached for the rapid release of the Epstein files.

In that piece, I cited the Bondi quote at the top of this column. Bondi clearly stated she had a “list of Epstein’s clients” (i.e., his deviant co-conspirators) ready for distribution.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Both Congress and the public have yet to receive details, with heavy redactions in the files that have been released. So, Bondi was ordered to appear before Congress on April 14, another embarrassment for Trump

Though these crimes go back more than two decades, no one other than Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (now in a minimum security “country club” prison) have even faced charges, not even misdemeanors.

President Trump, repeatedly referenced in the files and once a close friend of Epstein, said in 2025: “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody.”

To their credit, conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and liberal Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., led the charge, demanding all Epstein files be released, with minimum redactions. These men and their colleagues on both sides of the aisle understood the necessity of identifying and prosecuting all predators involved in the mistreatment of underage girls — regardless of the political and financial connections of perpetrators.

Their efforts led to the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency bill (Public Law 119-38) despite President Trump repeatedly calling the bill a “Democrat Epstein hoax.”

Trump was completely and loudly against it until the last minute. He fortuitously changed his mind, but only because it was going to pass with or without his support.

The law, signed Nov. 19, 2025, required the Department of Justice to make the files “publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format” no later than 30 days after enactment.

But, in violation of a law Trump signed and his promise that all details “will soon be revealed,” this has not happened. The reason is clear to anyone who is objective.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

President praised Bondi in Truth Social post firing her

Epstein’s affluent friends included Trump and former President Bill Clinton, as well as many other notables whose names are slowly surfacing.

What we do not know is exactly how deeply Clinton, Trump and the others were involved in the molestation of teenage girls. But if they were not, then why did both the Biden and Trump administrations fail to prosecute the perpetrators of these heinous crimes? And repeatedly make excuses instead of releasing the files?

Here is what we, including Trump, know. Bondi made a fool of herself, screaming at members of Congress, insulting them instead of answering questions about her obvious refusal to provide unredacted files.

She refused to release the names of the wealthy, powerful men who must be brought to justice.

The sexual abuse of a child is wrong, period. This is not a partisan issue. Bondi never released all the files, including unredacted names of the guilty. That should have been why she was removed.

Instead, Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, that she is a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend” and “did a tremendous job” who will go into the private sector.

Enough with the gaslighting, Mr. President.

Jack Bernard, a retired business executive and former chair of the Jasper County Commission and Republican Party, was the first director of health planning for Georgia.