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Bondi has tense exchanges with lawmakers in first House hearing since confirmation
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.

Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed repeatedly with lawmakers Wednesday in her first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee since her confirmation, which quickly devolved into shouting matches and accusations of lying under oath.

The bulk of the criticism Bondi confronted surrounded the department’s handling and release of millions of additional documents tied to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Although Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act to mandate broader disclosure after Justice Department officials said last year that no further files would be released, victims and several lawmakers say the latest rollout was marred by inconsistent redactions that exposed nude photos and other sensitive material.

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (Washington Examiner/Graeme Jennings)

Democratic lawmakers, along with activists and victims of Epstein, have also argued that possibly damaging information about Epstein’s powerful associates remains shielded. Bondi shot back that the department has been proactive in unredacting any information that should be made public and said there have been subsequent redactions of any information related to victims that might have been exposed via the online web portal.

Massie: “Are you able to track who it was that obscured Les Wexner’s name as a co-conspirator in an FBI document?

Bondi: “We corrected it within 40 minutes”

Massie: “Within 40 minutes of me catching you red-handed.”

Bondi: “This guy has Trump derangement syndrome. You're a…
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) February 11, 2026

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) began his questioning of Bondi with lofty accusations, saying she had been “abandoning victims and coddling perpetrators,” referencing relatives of the late Virginia Giuffre seated behind the attorney general. He urged her not to “waste one second” of the committee’s time.

Bondi defended her record as a career prosecutor and addressed survivors directly. “I am deeply sorry for what any victim — any victim — has been through, especially as a result of that monster,” she said, referring to Epstein.

But tensions escalated when Bondi declined to turn around and acknowledge several women, who say they’re survivors of Epstein and have indicated they had been unable to reach the department. She characterized Democratic demands …

SBA moves to terminate ‘economically disadvantaged’ status from over 150 DC firms
What's the administration thinking here?

The Small Business Administration on Wednesday said it sent letters to 154 firms located in Washington, D.C., informing them that they no longer meet the “economically disadvantaged” requirements.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said in a news release that stripping the D.C. firms of the designation is part of a broader integrity push aimed at rooting out what she calls abuse in federal contracting set-asides.

“Under President Trump, the SBA is restoring integrity to federal contracting programs that promoted both discriminatory DEI and rampant abuse during the Biden Administration,” Loeffler said in an SBA news release. “This Administration is enforcing the law – which means we’re ending DEI discrimination, rooting out abuse, and removing big companies that unfairly dominated the federal contracting marketplace to the detriment of eligible, honest small business owners.”

The SBA said in a news release that the firms had become too large to qualify as disadvantaged. The firms were notified by letter and will be suspended from the program for at least 30 days before any final termination. 

The agency said the companies exceeded at least one of the program’s statutory financial thresholds, including personal net worth limits, adjusted gross income caps, or total asset limits, that are used to determine whether a qualifying owner is economically disadvantaged. 

Loeffler said the firms collectively received nearly $1.3 billion in 8(a) set-aside and sole-source federal contracts from fiscal 2021 through 2024, with nearly $1 billion awarded through sole-source contracts. 

The 8(a) program is a nine-year development track that provides training and counseling and can open the door to contracting opportunities reserved for businesses deemed socially and economically disadvantaged.

To qualify under the economic disadvantage standards, the SBA generally requires that the qualifying individual’s net worth be $850,000 or less, adjusted gross income averaged over three years be $400,000 or less, and total assets be $6.5 million or less. 

The SBA said its review was conducted by the agency’s Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, which routinely verifies participant eligibility.

In describing its findings, the agency pointed to examples it said raised concerns, including one firm that reported more than $35 million in total assets — more than five times the statutory limit — and another that reported a net worth of at least $24 million …

The Deep Harms of Deepfakes
Be honest—this is ridiculous.

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/ February 10, 2026

The Deep Harms of Deepfakes

AI porn is what happens when technology liberates misogyny from social constraints.

Katha Pollitt

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The AI chatbot Grok has come under fire for sexualizing people, including children, in photos.(Leon Neal / Getty Images)

This article appears in the
March 2026 issue, with the headline “The Deepfake Danger.”

In the day or two between my editor suggesting that I write about AI deepfake porn and my replying, “Great idea, what’s a deepfake?,” it seemed like everyone from The Economist to The Dallas Morning News was publishing an article about artificial intelligence being used to sexualize people in photos without their permission. Deepfakes were first reported in 2017 and have been in the news ever since. In 2024, deepfakes of Taylor Swift were posted on X and viewed over 47 million times, prompting outrage and talk of legal recourse. Grok, the platform’s AI function, has allowed users to undress people, including children, and bend them into whatever porny positions the user requests. Grok has stripped children and covered them in semen—um, “donut glaze.”

Why would that bother anyone, you ask? Elon Musk answered on X the other day, “They hate free speech.” Well, obviously.

Legislators have made some attempts to curb the creation of deepfakes. In April, Congress passed the Take It Down Act, which makes it a crime to create or distribute intimate images, real or deepfake, without the subject’s consent. And X claims it has fixed the problem.

But has it really?

Current Issue

March 2026 Issue

Ever the intrepid reporter, I provided Grok with a photo of myself mailing packages at the post office and asked it to make me naked. “Unfortunately,” said Grok, “I can’t generate that kind of image.” Why “unfortunately,” Grok? Do you wish you could? It did, however, consent to show me in a bikini. Unfortunately.

Next, I asked Grok to put Queen Elizabeth in a bikini, and it did, although it kept her white gloves on. When I accused Grok of making deepfakes, it acted all insulted: “I am not a tool for making deepfake porn, and I won’t assist with or point toward anything that does.” And yet elsewhere in the post, Grok described “non-consensual sexualized deep-fake-style edits of real photos” as including “altered versions with bikinis, underwear, or simulated nudity”—the very thing I had done to myself and the queen only a few hours before. It also claimed that to edit images, users had to pay—another falsehood.

When I asked Grok to put Melania Trump in a bikini, it showed me only her top half, and very beautiful it was, too—not at all like the queen or me, which …

Democrats rip Bondi over handling of Epstein case in rowdy House hearing
Ask who never gets charged.

House Democrats took the opportunity in Attorney General Pam Bondi’s congressional hearing to attack her over a lack of prosecutions in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Even by the standards of the contentious hearings that have characterized President Donald Trump’s second term, Bondi’s Wednesday hearing was particularly hostile. Democrats skewered the attorney general on issues ranging from improper redactions to the Epstein files to a lack of prosecutions over them.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) contrasted a deal struck between Trump and the Justice Department over the improper release of his tax returns with the improper release of personal information of Epstein’s victims.

“If Donald Trump can get $10 billion theoretically from the Department of Justice, how much should these people get for a far worse violation of their privacy and a far greater danger established to them in their lives?” he said.

The two then got into a back-and-forth, with Raskin objecting to Bondi bringing up a sex criminal in his own district. She derided him as having “Trump derangement syndrome.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Raskin complained that Bondi was violating the rules, going “off on a wild goose chase and … reading statistics, or you start talking about stuff going on in our district.”

At another point, Bondi dismissed Raskin as a “washed-up” former lawyer, then clarified he wasn’t even a lawyer.

One of the most extended attacks on Bondi came from Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), who labeled her as “one of the worst attorney generals” in U.S. history and “an instrument of Trump’s lawless authoritarian agenda.”

“You weaponize the Department of Justice to target immigrants, working families, and anyone that Trump deems an enemy of the state, all to protect real, powerful criminals, including in your administration,” Garcia told Bondi. “My Democratic colleagues have focused on your cover-up of the Epstein files and your passion for protecting pedophiles and child traffickers. That alone is grounds for impeachment.”

Longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) went after Bondi over her lack of prosecutions related to the Epstein case.

“How many of Epstein’s co-conspirators has she indicted? The answer is zero,” Nadler said. “You have been the attorney general for a whole year, and your DOJ fired the lead prosecutor to this …

Top 5 moments as Bondi clashes with Democrats in fiery House hearing
What's the endgame here?

Attorney General Pam Bondi sparred with members of the House Judiciary Committee during a tense hearing Wednesday, as she sought to defend the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and push back on Democrats' accusations of so-called "weaponization" within the department. 
Bondi's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was the first since her confirmation last year as the top U.S. law enforcement official. Much of the hearing quickly descended into chaos and shouting matches, as Democrats took aim at Bondi's actions, and as Bondi doubled down on the department's decisions under her watch. At times, she responded with barbs of her own. 
Here are the five biggest takeaways and most heated exchanges from the sharp-elbowed hearing.
BONDI HEARING DEVOLVES INTO CHAOS OF SHOUTS AS AG ACCUSES TOP DEMOCRATS OF ‘THEATRICS’
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., accused Bondi of lying under oath about an alleged witness statement that he said showed President Donald Trump had been accused of rape, saying: "You just lied under oath."
"Don’t you ever accuse me of a crime!" Bondi fired back: The exchange spiraled into chaos, with Jordan struggling to restore order.
"This is so ridiculous," Bondi said in response. "And they are trying to deflect from all the great things Donald Trump has done. There is no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime; everyone knows that!"
One of the most widely-shared moments came during an exchange with Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who demanded that Bondi turn around and apologize to the Epstein survivors seated behind her in the House gallery for publishing documents that failed to redact their names.
"Will you turn to the survivors … and apologize?" Jayapal asked, accusing the department of compounding their trauma. Bondi refused, beginning to cite the actions of the former administration before Jayapal interjected.
"This is not about anybody that came before you. It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize," Jayapal said.
"I’m not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics," she shot back, before muttering moments later, "Unprofessional."
COMER CALLS GHISLAINE MAXWELL DEPOSITION 'VERY DISTURBING' AS SHE REFUSES ANSWERS
Notably, some Republicans also posed tough questions for Bondi, largely centered on the handling and publication of the Epstein files. 
Among them was Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who criticized the redactions that occurred on Bondi's …

Slotkin Celebrates Victory Over Trump Admin’s Indictment Attempt
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

A grand jury has rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to indict several Democrats over a video where they told members of the U.S. military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., praised the grand jury’s decision, calling it a “score” for the “Constitution, our freedom of speech, and the rule of law.”

The Department of Justice had opened an investigation into the 90-second video that featured Slotkin; Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa.; Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H.; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.

In the video, released in November, the lawmakers speak directly to the U.S. intelligence community and members of the military.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers state as they each say different parts of a sentence.

“Our laws are clear: You can refuse illegal orders,” Kelly says personally.

“You must refuse illegal orders,” says Deluzio.

I find this type of broad & unclear language to our service members to be a nod & wink to commit sedition. Without clear specifics on what orders they’re telling our service members to ignore, this is absolutely illegal & will cause real harm to our country. I call on…
— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) November 19, 2025

Trump called the video “really bad and dangerous to our country.”

“Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???” the president wrote on Truth Social in November.

Slotkin said that Trump had directed the attempted indictment.

“Today, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro attempted to persuade a grand jury to indict me. This was in response to me organizing a 90-second video that simply quoted the law,” Slotkin wrote on X.

“Pirro did this at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested, and hanged for sedition.”

“Today, it was a grand jury of anonymous American citizens who upheld the rule of law and determined this case should not proceed,” the senator continued. “Hopefully, this ends this politicized investigation for good.”

Today, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro attempted to persuade a Grand Jury to indict me. This was in response to me organizing a 90-second video that simply quoted the law. Pirro did this at the direction of President Trump, who said repeatedly that I should be investigated, arrested,…
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) February 11, 2026

Slotkin called the jury’s Tuesday decision an “embarrassing day for the administration,” adding it was also “another sad day for our country.”

“Because whether or not Pirro succeeded is not the point. It’s that President Trump continues to weaponize our justice system against his perceived enemies,” Slotkin said.

“It’s the kind of thing you see in a foreign country, not in the United States we know and love.”

The post Slotkin Celebrates Victory Over Trump Admin’s Indictment Attempt appeared first on The Daily Signal.

‘Seditious Six’ Dem lawmakers probed by Trump threaten legal battle
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.

The six Democrats who urged U.S. service members to "refuse illegal orders" are threatening a legal battle with President Donald Trump over what they see as a "weaponization" of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On Wednesday, four House Democrats — Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa. — hinted they had prepared for a case of their own after they escaped an indictment Tuesday evening.
"Yesterday, the Trump Department of Justice tried and failed to indict us on criminal charges based on a video that we filmed last year, simply reminding our fellow service members to follow the law and the Constitution," Crow said. "They failed, and they will always fail." 
REPUBLICAN COMBAT VETERANS URGE TROOPS TO ‘STAND STRONG’ AFTER DEMOCRATS’ ‘ILLEGAL ORDERS’ MESSAGE
"We are taking names," Crow said. "We are creating lists. My lawyers just sent a letter today to the Department of Justice, putting them on notice that there will be costs." 
Crow did not expand on what kind of suit he would pursue.
The "seditious six," as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth coined for the group of military veteran Democrats, posted a video to social media in November 2025 urging service members to ignore commands that violated the Constitution.
"Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home," they urged. "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution." 
In response, the Department of Justice launched a probe of the group, weighing whether their calls had amounted to sedition.
After those charges fell flat Tuesday, Democrats in the Senate who had also participated in the video similarly blasted the DOJ’s probe.
WASHINGTON DEMOCRAT SAYS HE BELIEVES TRUMP ISSUED ILLEGAL ORDERS TO THE MILITARY
"This is outrageous," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. "I want to be clear about something. This is not a good news story. This is a story about how Donald Trump and his cronies are trying to break our system in order to silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them." 
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who also appeared in the video, echoed Kelly’s framing.
"The president has used our justice system to weaponize (it) against his perceived enemies," Slotkin said. "I think that we've come to a really sad moment in America, where the paradigm of leadership has become completely reversed in 2026. Instead of …

‘Seditious Six’ Democrat lawmakers probed by Trump threaten legal battle
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

The six Democrats who urged U.S. service members to "refuse illegal orders" are threatening a legal battle with President Donald Trump over what they see as a "weaponization" of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
On Wednesday, four House Democrats — Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., Maggie Goodlander, D-N.H., Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa. — hinted they had prepared for a case of their own after they escaped an indictment Tuesday evening.
"Yesterday, the Trump Department of Justice tried and failed to indict us on criminal charges based on a video that we filmed last year, simply reminding our fellow service members to follow the law and the Constitution," Crow said. "They failed, and they will always fail." 
REPUBLICAN COMBAT VETERANS URGE TROOPS TO ‘STAND STRONG’ AFTER DEMOCRATS’ ‘ILLEGAL ORDERS’ MESSAGE
"We are taking names," Crow said. "We are creating lists. My lawyers just sent a letter today to the Department of Justice, putting them on notice that there will be costs." 
Crow did not expand on what kind of suit he would pursue.
The "seditious six," as Secretary of War Pete Hegseth coined for the group of military veteran Democrats, posted a video to social media in November 2025 urging service members to ignore commands that violated the Constitution.
"Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home," they urged. "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution." 
In response, the Department of Justice launched a probe of the group, weighing whether their calls had amounted to sedition.
After those charges fell flat Tuesday, Democrats in the Senate who had also participated in the video similarly blasted the DOJ’s probe.
WASHINGTON DEMOCRAT SAYS HE BELIEVES TRUMP ISSUED ILLEGAL ORDERS TO THE MILITARY
"This is outrageous," said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. "I want to be clear about something. This is not a good news story. This is a story about how Donald Trump and his cronies are trying to break our system in order to silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them." 
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who also appeared in the video, echoed Kelly’s framing.
"The president has used our justice system to weaponize (it) against his perceived enemies," Slotkin said. "I think that we've come to a really sad moment in America, where the paradigm of leadership has become completely reversed in 2026. Instead of …

Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Major Changes to How Labs Test for Contaminants
Unelected doesn't mean harmless.

Colorado marijuana manufacturers would no longer be allowed to choose which product samples they send for mandatory lab testing under a new regulatory proposal discussed at a policy forum on Friday.

Instead, the state’s Marijuana Enforcement Division may require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for the testing that’s required before companies can sell their products to ensure they’re free of contaminants.

The change would address a long-standing complaint from some marijuana manufacturers that bad actors are cheating the system. They say some companies are selecting samples that can pass tests while sending products to dispensaries that might be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungus or pesticides.

A Denver Gazette and ProPublica investigation last month showed that the system for testing marijuana products relies on an honor code that’s open to manipulation.

In 2024 alone, Colorado officials found two dozen cases in which companies had violated testing rules, often by submitting samples that were different from what the companies sold in stores or by using unauthorized chemical treatments, according to a review of enforcement actions by the news outlets. The state’s rules on selecting samples require what gets turned over to a lab to be representative of what marijuana companies actually deliver to dispensaries for sale to consumers.

“Sample adulteration is a common violation,” Kyle Lambert, deputy director of the division, said during the policy forum. “This is something that we have an interest in more comprehensively addressing based on what we see out there.”

Colorado officials have long prided themselves on creating the nation’s first regulated recreational marijuana market, but the news outlets found that the state has fallen behind as other states have adopted more robust regulations.

The Denver Gazette and ProPublica highlighted how a popular brand of vapes contaminated with a toxic chemical ended up at marijuana dispensaries. In that case and others, manufacturers were found by regulators to be swapping marijuana distillate, the liquid that goes in vapes, for products chemically converted from much cheaper hemp, which is prohibited in Colorado. The company, Ware Hause, surrendered its marijuana manufacturing license. Its owner declined to comment on Tuesday.

The Marijuana Enforcement Division first disclosed it is considering a new sampling system in January. The state’s move marks a shift: Last year, the state fought a lawsuit by a marijuana cultivator aimed at forcing the division to overhaul its testing rules. The suit, brought by Mammoth Farms, also pushed for the division to bar manufacturers from selecting product samples for testing. The division’s lawyers said in a court filing that such a revision would be “impracticable.”

A Denver judge dismissed the lawsuit on technical grounds in May, stating that the company should have first petitioned regulators for rule changes. After the dismissal, Mammoth Farms sought rule changes with the Marijuana Enforcement Division. The division agreed to begin requiring more chemical testing this summer but did not adopt a proposal to overhaul how …

McConnell released from hospital after health scare, to work from home as key DHS vote looms
Is this competence or optics?

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been discharged from the hospital and will work from home this week on the advice of his doctors, according to his spokesman.
"Senator McConnell was discharged from the hospital [Tuesday] and is grateful for the outstanding care he received. He is feeling better and will be working from home this week on the advice of his doctors," spokesman David Popp said in a statement.
His absence this week comes as lawmakers face a Friday deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senate leaders are discussing a short-term continuing resolution to avoid a partial shutdown while negotiations continue.
McConnell, 83, was hospitalized last week after experiencing flu-like symptoms. His office said at the time that he had checked himself into a local hospital "in an abundance of caution" after feeling ill over the weekend.
PRO-REPARATIONS PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRAT WHO WANTS ICE ABOLISHED MOUNTS LONGSHOT SENATE BID TO SUCCEED MCCONNELL
"In an abundance of caution, after experiencing flu-like symptoms over the weekend, Senator McConnell checked himself into a local hospital for evaluation last night," a spokesperson said Feb. 3. "His prognosis is positive, and he is grateful for the excellent care he is receiving. He is in regular contact with his staff and looks forward to returning to Senate business."
McConnell has experienced several health scares in recent years, including falls at the Capitol.
Last October, McConnell stumbled and fell while walking down a hallway in the Capitol. He was helped up and continued walking.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL SEEN ON VIDEO FALLING INSIDE SENATE BUILDING
Nearly one year ago, he fell on a set of stairs while exiting the Senate chamber.
McConnell previously announced that he will not seek re-election in 2026, and plans to retire at the end of his current term, which runs through Jan. 3, 2027.
He has served in the Senate for decades, including as Senate majority leader during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
McConnell is a survivor of childhood polio. 
Fox News Digital's Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this story.