Amid Outrage Over Epstein Files, AG Pam Bondi Will Be Featured Speaker at CPAC ‘Summit Against Human Trafficking’
AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File
Attorney General Pam Bondi has been at the center of MAGA world outrage regarding disgraced financier and convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison while awaiting trial for sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex. On Wednesday, she will be a featured speaker at a conference titled the “International Summit Against Human Trafficking.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has had an astonishingly tumultuous time in the aftermath of his Department of Justice issuing a memo earlier this month denying Epstein had maintained a client list to blackmail the rich and powerful men who participated in his sexual abuse and trafficking of young women and underage girls.
The fallout from the Epstein files flop has emboldened Trump’s political opponents and reignited bitter internecine MAGA civil wars — messily playing out on social media and leading to calls for Trump to fire or demand the resignation of Bondi and other administration officials.
Trump’s furious demands to change the subject are falling on deaf ears, even among the MAGA faithful, and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are calling for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend, to be called to testify. A resolution sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) to force a floor vote on the release of the Epstein files is reportedly gaining traction, with all House Democrats expected to vote yes and more Republicans moving towards supporting it.
An article in The Wall Street Journal last Thursday reporting that Trump had contributed a lewd drawing and message for a birthday album for Epstein in 2003 incited an enraged response from the president — and a lawsuit filed in federal court on Friday.
So far, Bondi has insisted she is not resigning and Trump has publicly defended her, but she has been the focus of a significant portion of MAGA criticism and she’s been seeing dodging questions about the Epstein Files multiple times over the past few weeks.
On Monday, the Conservative Political Action Conference announced that Bondi was a “CONFIRMED SPEAKER” at its “International Summit Against Human Trafficking”organized by the CPAC Center for Combating Human Trafficking on Wednesday, July 23 at the U.S .Capitol.
According to CPAC’s website, other confirmed speakers include Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), along with several other Republican state-level attorneys general.
The announcement of Bondi’s participation in a summit about sex trafficking while many people (including Trump supporters and others on the right) are demanding answers about Epstein’s sex trafficking schemes and who else might be involved, drew what appears to be totally negative or critical responses. The only positive response or quote seems to be a tweet from CPAC’s policy director.
A sampling of replies from accounts that identify as “MAGA,” Trump supporters, or post identifiably right-leaning content are below:
The Bondi criticism came even before she was announced as as speaker, like in this post from July 18 responding to CPAC announcing Biggs as a speaker and suggesting that the summit organizers “Invite Bondi/Patel/[Bongino] and of course Trump please. Apparently they need to hear this.”
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