(AP) Attorney General Pam Bondi is taking heated questions from lawmakers in a combative congressional hearing over the Justice Department’s handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein that have exposed sensitive private information about victims despite redaction efforts.

The hearing passed the two-hour mark before taking a recess, and Bondi has spent the majority of it trying to turn the page from persistent criticism of the Justice Department by aggressively pivoting.

The attorney general launched into a wide-ranging, passionate defense of President Donald Trump, mocked her Democratic questioners and refused to directly respond to their accusations that she is perpetuating a cover-up and ignoring victims, several of whom are sitting behind her in the hearing room.

Bondi also defended the department’s handling of the files related to Epstein, even as its political saga continues to dog her term. It’s the first time the attorney general appears before Congress since a similarly tumultuous hearing in October.