Attorney General Pam Bondi testified before the House Judiciary Committee last week about the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Our analysts rated media coverage about the hearing and the reaction to it in our Topic of the Week.

The most fact-based and balanced reporting from our content set came from an article by AP (Associated Press). The article describes in detail what happened in the hearing, quoting questions from lawmakers and Bondi’s responses. It also gives background information about the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Analysts found the reporting to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

Articles from Daily Wire and Newsweek received identical reliability scores of “analysis” and converse bias scores. The Daily Wire article proclaims in the headline that Bondi “Scraps with ‘Washed Up Loser Lawyer’ Raskin, Other Dems During Heated House Hearing,” quoting Bondi during her exchange with Congressman Jamie Raskin. It calls the hearing “contentious” and “heated” and repeatedly frames Democrats as disruptive for interrupting Bondi when she tried to answer their questions. “The confrontation underscored the increasingly hostile dynamic between Democratic leadership on the committee and the Trump administration’s Justice Department,” the article states. Analysts found the reporting to have a “strong right” bias.

The Newsweek article also calls the hearing “contentious,” as well as “combative.” The article reports that Bondi faces “renewed calls for impeachment” following the hearing and gives background about the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and previous calls for Bondi’s impeachment. It includes extensive reaction to the hearing from five Democrats and President Trump. The article includes a clip from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in which the host mocks Bondi for bragging about stock market returns rather than focusing on the Epstein case. Analysts cited the video and the extensive reaction from Democrats included in the article when assigning a “strong left” bias rating.

A commentary from Salon takes a different approach, focusing on Bondi’s handling of the Department of Justice overall. The headline states: “Pam Bondi is leaving her Democratic successor a mess.” The writer calls Bondi’s testimony at the House committee hearing a “monumentally outrageous performance” as she “chose to behave like a bratty schoolgirl having a temper tantrum in the principal’s office” rather than answer questions about the Epstein case. The article compares the Trump Department of Justice with President Nixon’s and subsequent presidents, declaring that the DOJ under “tyrant” Trump is “being decimated from top to bottom.” The next Democratic attorney general, the article states, will have to fix the “wreckage” by reforming the department from the bottom up; otherwise, “the damage done by Trump will be permanent.” Analysts found the article to be “opinion” with a “strong left” bias.

A video from the Pondering Politics YouTube channel scored slightly lower, in the category of “selective or incomplete” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias.The video headline proclaims that “Pam Bondi NEAR TEARS when MOCKED TO HER FACE” as the host, Jessiah Eberlan, shows clips from what he calls Bondi’s “disastrous” testimony. He describes Bondi as “a total deranged psychopath, wildly unpopular, wildly incompetent, loathed … by both the left and the right.” Analysts noted the strong language, cursing, mocking, name-calling and insults included in the video, as well as the host’s selective choice of clips from Bondi’s testimony to support his criticism of her.

The lowest-rated coverage from our content set came from a video from the PBD Podcast with Patrick Bet-David. The host discusses Bondi’s testimony with Alex Jones, who says Bondi is part of a “cover-up” of Epstein crimes and failing to prosecute the case just hurts Trump and his administration. Jones says the Democrats are “the pedo party. You’re the sexualized kids party. It’s all the Democrats that are in these files.” Both Bet-David and Jones criticize Bondi’s testimony, with Jones saying she “looked like a deer in the headlights,” “like she has a gun to her head.” Bet-David says Democrats just “want to get Trump” and they’re using the Epstein case to do that, but if the Trump team “continues fighting,” it’s just going to look like they’re hiding something. Analysts found that the video contains “inacurrate/fabricated info,” as it includes extreme opinions and accusations stated as fact without providing evidence. Because of its support for Trump and criticism of and accusations against Democrats, the video received a bias rating of “hyper-partisan right.”

New Topics of the Week are posted on the website each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with those of our analysts. Learn more here.