Attorney General Pam Bondi told members of Congress on Tuesday that Ghislaine Maxwell “will hopefully die in prison,” after she was pressed on the allegations that Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator was getting special treatment from the administration, including a controversial transfer to a minimum security prison.
Maxwell, who is 64, has been incarcerated since her arrest in July 2020 and would be in her mid-to-late 70s when her sentence ends.
Bondi, who clashed with Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee when asked questions related to the Epstein investigation, however, said she could not say who ordered Maxwell’s transfer to a lower security prison and tried to change the subject.
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, February 11, 2026 in Washington.
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Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., brought up the transfer during the heated hearing and sought out answers, specifically who signed off on the move.
Maxwell was moved from FCI Tallahassee in Florida, a “low security” prison for men and women, to FPC Bryan in Texas, a “minimum security” camp just for women, two weeks after she had a private meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Trump has been asked about possibly pardoning Maxwell, but the president has said no one had approached him, though he reiterated his power to grant one.
Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, has not responded to letters from Democrats in Congress seeking more details about the move.
“She should not be in that prison,” Ross said. “She needs to be moved back to a maximum security prison as soon as possible.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, February 11, 2026 in Washington.
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The congresswoman noted that Maxwell, who is challenging her 2021 conviction and 20-year sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses, told another congressional committee she won’t cooperate unless she gets clemency from the president.
Ross asked Bondi if Blanche or one of her other subordinates approved the transfer, but the attorney general didn’t directly answer.
“I learned after the fact,” Bondi said of the transfer. “That is a question for the Bureau of Prisons. I was not involved at that at all,” she added.
Bondi then scolded Ross and changed the subject, bringing up a September homicide of a woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the congresswoman’s home state.
“You know instead of talking about Ghislaine Maxwell, who will hopefully die in prison, hopefully will die in prison, you should be talking about Iryna Zarutska,” she said.
Ross asked again if the president should pardon or commute Maxwell’s sentence.
“Should she be released from prison, yes or no? You said she should die in prison, so I’m hoping the answer is no,” the congresswoman said.
“I already answered the question,” Bondi responded, before scolding Ross again for not discussing Zarutska’s murder.
Bondi delivered several angry retorts at the members of the committee over the Epstein investigation.
Victims of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein stand behind Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Justice” on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 11, 2026.
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
Early on in the hearing, she did not look at Epstein survivors and their families when they were introduced by committee ranking member Jamie Raskin and Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
Survivors were seen shaking their heads several times during the hearing as Bondi attacked the congress members.
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