Attorney General Pam Bondi walked into Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing expecting to defend the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. She walked out facing a wall of friendly fire.
Conservative media figures — not Democrats, not legacy press critics — lined up to torch her performance. Radio hosts, podcasters, Fox News panelists, and online influencers who typically defend the administration turned their guns inward, calling Bondi's testimony evasive, emotional, and unworthy of the office she holds.
The backlash wasn't manufactured outrage from the left. It came from the right's own bench.
Bondi sparred with lawmakers from both parties over the DOJ's conclusions on the Epstein case — conclusions that have frustrated conservatives since the department announced last year that Epstein died by suicide and confirmed there was no so-called "client list." That finding landed especially hard given that Bondi herself had previously said the client list was sitting on her desk.
Rather than addressing that contradiction head-on, Bondi reportedly pivoted to discussing the stock market's recent performance under President Trump. Whatever the strategic intent, the deflection did not land well with lawmakers who had come for answers about a dead sex offender and financier whose network of enablers remains largely unaccountable.
Republican members didn't give her a pass, according to The Hill, Rep. Thomas Massie grilled Bondi over the DOJ's handling of the files. Jim Jordan and Brandon Gill — both solid conservatives — also pressed her on Epstein. This wasn't a partisan ambush. It was the AG's own side demanding more.
Then came the accusation that sharpened the tension further: the DOJ allegedly spied on lawmakers as they reviewed unredacted Epstein files on department computers, tracking which documents they examined. The department did not respond to a request for comment on the growing criticism.
Conservative radio host Erick Erickson posted a clip of Bondi's testimony on X:
"When the Attorney General of the United States is asked why she has prosecuted no one related to Jeffrey Epstein and this is her answer, she should be fired or resign."
He followed with a political warning that should concern anyone paying attention to 2026 midterm dynamics:
"But neither will happen, which is another reason the Democrats are going to have a good election year."
Tim Pool, an online influencer with massive reach on the right, offered a more measured but no less damaging assessment on his podcast:
"I think they've miserably handled the Epstein files. I don't think we're serviced as the American people by this kind of yelling."
Pool praised Massie and the other Republicans who pressed Bondi — a notable move from a figure who rarely breaks with the administration's orbit.
Fox News host Lisa Kennedy may have delivered the most visually memorable critique, telling viewers of "The Five" that Bondi came across, "like a shrieking Karen"
Kennedy elaborated with something closer to disappointment than anger:
"It's like I want this country to do well. I want to be convinced that the president, I don't care what administration it is, that we are on the right track, and the people who are in charge of every aspect of the federal government, they have their position locked up and they are doing the very best they can with an incredibly talented team. When she's this emotional, it looks like she's lost a little bit of the edge."
That's not a hit job. That's a supporter asking for competence and not getting it.
Dana Loesch, a Second Amendment activist with deep credibility on the right, blasted Bondi the day after the hearing, saying the attorney general:
"made an a‑‑ of herself"
Loesch also challenged the instinct to dismiss Republican critics as bad-faith actors:
"Republicans and Democrats were asking her about Epstein. And the Republicans, it wasn't just Massie. You're talking about Jim Jordan, you're talking about Brandon Gill, you're taking about very genuine conservatives, who by the way are more conservative than Pam Bondi because they'd never been for gun control. If you wanna sit here and introduce the Dow into it, let's go ahead and talk about your positions on red flag laws and universal background checks, AG."
That last line cuts deep — and not because it's unfair. It's a reminder that Bondi's conservative credentials have always carried asterisks, and that deflecting with stock market numbers when people want answers about trafficking victims is a terrible trade.
Rep. Jesús "Chuy" García seized on the moment during the hearing itself:
"After all this, nobody supports you. I'm not talking about Democrats."
"Your MAGA base despises you because you're covering up the Epstein file."
"How ironic."
García is a Democrat from Illinois. His opinion of Bondi was never in doubt. But the fact that he could credibly point to the right's own frustration and weaponize it in real time — during a hearing, on camera — tells you how badly the DOJ misread the room.
This is the danger of letting legitimate conservative grievances go unanswered. When the right's criticism of itself becomes a talking point for the left, you've given people who want to see the whole movement fail a gift. García didn't have to make the argument. Conservative commentators made it for him.
This wasn't the first eruption. The fault lines cracked open last year when the DOJ released its Epstein conclusions. Megyn Kelly said at the time that Bondi had "humiliated" MAGA media figures who had amplified the promise of a client list and real accountability. Alex Jones declared the conclusions were proof "the swamp" was "winning."
Even within the DOJ itself, the criticism reportedly reached the top. Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino — who left the bureau in December to return to his radio show — reportedly criticized Bondi over the Epstein matter before his departure.
When you've lost Bongino from inside the building and Loesch from outside it, the problem isn't messaging. Its substance.
Buried beneath the media crosstalk is a detail that deserves more weight than it's getting. Several of Epstein's accusers watched Wednesday's hearing. One of them spoke to NewsNation's Joe Khalil afterward:
"I think she really dehumanized us today."
That's a trafficking victim watching the attorney general of the United States — the nation's top law enforcement officer — pivot to the Dow Jones while questions about the man who victimized her went unanswered.
Conservative media is right to be frustrated with the performance. Republican lawmakers are right to demand more. But the sharpest indictment didn't come from a pundit or a congressman. It came from someone who survived Jeffrey Epstein's world and still can't get the Justice Department to act as it matters.
The DOJ owes answers — not to cable news, not to the committee, but to them. Every day that passes without prosecutions is a day the department fails the people it exists to protect.
