The president’s condition is deeply alarming

 

 

 

 

"And then there was Bondi’s treatment of the survivors, beginning with the brutal fact that many of their identities were fully exposed in the DOJ’s unredacted Epstein files. These women had endured cruelty that many of us could never imagine, and Bondi’s DOJ released their names while protecting the men who were accused of these horrendous crimes. The redactions shielded the powerful and exposed the powerless. That decision was a betrayal.

And Bondi refused to apologize to the victims for what she and her office did. When Rep. Pramila Jayapal asked if she would turn to the survivors in the room and apologize for including many of their names in the unredacted Epstein files, Bondi refused. When Rep. Hank Johnson pressed her again, she deflected and remained hostile, accusing Democrats of theatrics and acting as if congressional oversight was some kind of personal attack. Then came the moment that will forever haunt this country. Lawmakers turned and asked the survivors directly: ‘Has the DOJ reached out to you? Have they asked for your statements?’ And one by one, each survivor shook her head. Every single one of them said they had not been contacted. Then they were asked how many had been completely ignored by the Department of Justice. And with silence so heavy it almost swallowed the room, every survivor raised her hand.

That moment should be burned into our collective memory. These were women who had been trafficked, abused, silenced, and erased, many as children, and when they bravely showed up to be heard, the Attorney General of the United States wouldn’t even look at them. That was a display of cowardice. And it gets worse. Many of these women had never publicly disclosed their identities. They were anonymous survivors for a reason: they didn’t want their trauma to become their entire identity, they feared for their safety, and the weight of being publicly linked to Epstein is not something anyone should carry without consent. And yet Bondi’s DOJ published their names. They redacted the names of wealthy men and powerful officials, accused co-conspirators, financiers, and friends of Epstein, but they left the victims exposed. They protected the powerful and betrayed those already bearing the ultimate cost."

more in the stack by Heather Delaney Reese 

The president’s condition is deeply alarming