The overstuffed white binders appeared a few moments before Attorney General Pam Bondi exited her motorcade, and strode through the horseshoe entrance of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Roll Call photographer Tom Williams and I stood in the hallway, negotiating our positions for Bondi’s entrance. Williams would position himself on the far side. I slid to the wall nearest the horseshoe entrance. Ali Vitali of MS NOW and Jay O’Brien of ABC worked the sidewall.

A coterie of Bondi’s aides appeared. One bogged down by the massive binders.

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«Let her get into the room,» instructed the aide.

I politely reminded the aide that the corridor was an open hallway on Capitol Hill. It wasn’t closed off by the U.S. Capitol Police. So, tossing questions at the Attorney General was fair game.

And, thus began another dance between reporters, security details, the U.S. Capitol Police, aides and Cabinet members when they appear for major Congressional hearings.

At the time, we had no clue what was in the binders. But you couldn’t ignore the sheer size of them.

It’s not uncommon for aides to haul in briefing books for a principal when they testify. However, no one has seen binders like this since Kinko’s was still in business.

The contents of what the binders contained was about to play a central role in Bondi’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee.

But the first charge of the morning was to query Bondi. There was so much going on. All of which were subjects that the Attorney General could address.

Speaking of files…

Bondi wasn’t there to testify about the Epstein files, per se. But Democrats – and one Republican – would make the Justice Department’s release of partially redacted documents the focus of the hearing. So there was plenty to ask Bondi about that.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill and takes questions from Fox News chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram ahead of a House hearing. (Tom Williams)

However, there were overnight developments from Arizona. Authorities detained a person near the Mexico border in connection with the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. What Bondi might know about the FBI’s role in this was worth a question. 

Then, there was a cryptic alert that officials were shutting off the airport in El Paso to all air traffic for ten days. Was there a threat of terrorism? Something about cartels? Finally, a story broke overnight that the Justice Department sought to indict six Democratic lawmakers for their video telling service members they didn’t have to comply with unlawful orders. A District of Columbia grand jury refused to indict any of them.

So the press corps waited for Bondi and her security detail to breeze through the door. We’d have about a minute to pepper her with questions as she walked from the horseshoe entrance to a back anteroom.

Reporters must be strategic with such brief «walk-and-talks.» Rapid, Gatling gun-like questions. Succinct. Straight to the point. And agile enough to skip to the next line of inquiry if the figure arriving on Capitol Hill doesn’t answer or gives a brief response.

In another universe, I may have started with Epstein. But the Nancy Guthrie story has consumed the nation for weeks now. There was a development overnight. Nearly every story on the planet always occupies a lane somewhere on Capitol Hill. The Nancy Guthrie saga was no exception.

I had positioned myself on the inside track as we walked down the hall. Able to sidle up close to Bondi as she moved through the building.

«Madam Attorney General, any comment about the investigation of Guthrie? Any update on that right now?» I began, getting to Bondi first.

«Yeah, I can’t talk about that now. Praying for Savannah and her family,» replied Bondi.

Check. Moving on.

«What happened in El Paso? Why did they close off El Paso? Is that something you don’t know about? Or you just can’t comment?» I asked.

«I cant discuss it,» responded Bondi.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington, as Jeffrey Epstein survivors, stand left. (Tom Brenner/AP Photo)

Then, the main event.

«And what about the Epstein files? A lot of members have been upset that some of these files have not been fully unredacted. What do you say to that?» I inquired.

«We’re going to discuss that today,» answered Bondi.

I backed off to allow my colleagues a chance to pose questions.

«But why was certain information redacted that’s against the nature of the law? Why was certain information redacted that’s against the law?» asked Vitali.

No response.

So I tagged back in, returning to the initial lines of questioning.

«Did you get any updates overnight on the Guthrie investigation? Were they keeping you informed overnight on that? And when did you first find out about the El Paso situation? When did you first hear about the El Paso situation, Madam Attorney General?»

Bondi was silent.

The scrum processed down the hall, camera operators and reporters bumping all over one another, edging backwards. A semi-blob of security personnel slightly shielded Bondi.

But the end was near. The throng approached the backdoor to the Judiciary Committee. Bondi would soon turn right and disappear inside.

Just enough time for one final topic.

«What about the attempt to prosecute the six lawmakers? Any comment on that failed grand jury indictment?» I hollered.

«I’ll refer that to U.S. Attorney Pirro,» replied Bondi, referring to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeannine Pirro, who tried to indict the six.

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The Department of Justice released a trove of Epstein documents on Dec. 19 following President Trump’s signature on the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025.  (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

«Do you know why that went wrong?» I asked.

But that was it. The shot clock expired.

Bondi ignored the question, turning right with her security detail and retreating into the anteroom.

When he hosted Meet the Press on NBC, late host Tim Russert would sometimes boast that they had the Vice President or Secretary of State «for the whole hour.»

The exchanges with Bondi were a fraction of that, consuming a meager one minute and three seconds. From 9:42:03 am et until 9:43:06 am et. There was efficient questioning. And Bondi fielded the questions. But there wasn’t a lot which advanced any of the stories. Still, it’s important to pose the questions and get the exchanges on camera. That made it a productive exercise. Sometimes the Capitol press corps never even sees the big witnesses arrive. Or if we do, they don’t even respond to questions.

The group of aides ducked into the Judiciary Committee suite, one aide lugging the ginormous binders like a stack of Christmas presents.

These binders were about to become the most famous folios in American politics since former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) proclaimed he had «binders full of women» during a 2012 debate with President Obama.

The hearing would start a few moments later, carried live on multiple TV networks. The purpose of the binders soon became clear. Each binder contained dossiers on every single Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Bondi would turn to a specific section in each binder, mining for barbs to lob back at Democrats on the dais. Sometimes about their voting history. Sometimes about a law enforcement or immigration issue in their district. Bondi frequently lashed Democrats – and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) – with ad hominem attacks. She derided Massie as a «failed politician.» She called Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top Democrat on the panel «a washed-up, loser lawyer.»

US Representatives Thomas Massie, Republican from Kentucky, questions US Attorney General Pam Bondi before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on «Oversight of the Department of Justice» on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2026. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty)

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) tried to bait Bondi, asking her to «give me your best» bit of opposition research. The Florida Democrat would then grade what Bondi’s staff concocted.

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The hearing devolved into five hours of shouting, screaming and mayhem. One of the most chaotic, cacophonous hearings in recent memory. The spectacle spoke volumes.

All of which could fill a stack of overstuffed binders.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s atrocities against demonstrators opposed to the regime has reportedly resulted in security forces killing at least 19 Iranian Christians, according to Article 18, an organization that promotes religious freedom in Iran.

Article 18 reported on Feb. 9 that «The total number of Christians confirmed to have been killed during the protests is at least 19, including members of Iran’s recognized (Armenians and Assyrians) and unrecognized (converts) communities.»

According to the Article 18 statement, the Islamic Republic’s «brutal response to last month’s mass demonstrations» resulted in the security forces murdering Iranian Christians Nader Mohammadi, 35, and Zahra Arjomandi, 51, who were both shot dead on Jan. 8 in separate protests 1,000 miles apart.

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Mohammadi was the father of three young children, and was killed in Babol in northern Iran. Arjomandi, who was a mother of two children, died in her son’s arms on the Persian Gulf island of Qeshm, in southern Iran, noted Article 18.

The Iranian Christian website Mohabat News stated that regime security forces refused to release Arjomandi’s body for six days. Mohabat reported that her body was only released for burial under «strict security measures», which included a media blackout and prohibiting a memorial service.

Mansour Borji, the executive director for Article 18, told Fox News Digital that, «Today, Christians, like millions of other Iranians, seek the freedom and justice that they have been denied for nearly five decades, and they know well that this comes at a price. Every year many Christians are arrested and imprisoned under torturous conditions for practicing their right to religious freedom, where a simple act like praying together in house-churches seems like an act of civil disobedience.»

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Armed NOPO special police units are on the scene as Iranians take to the streets in the downtown Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran, Iran on June 24, 2025. (Negar Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

He continued, «Our organization considers the Islamic Republic’s massacre of all peaceful protesters a crime against humanity that should not go unpunished. There must be an end to the impunity that, for far too long, has enabled this regime to commit crimes like at home and abroad. Branding peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists,’ and Christians that are persecuted every year as ‘Zionist mercenaries,’ is nothing but scapegoating.»

He warned that «The Islamic Republic’s regime has, since its inception, demonstrated all traits of a totalitarian state. Most Iranians have now come to realize that their fundamental rights have been taken away from them, including the freedom to choose one’s own religion or belief, political self-determination and even their lifestyle choices. Christians were some of the earliest to experience this, when an Anglican priest and convert to Christianity, Rev. Arastoo Sayyah, was killed in his church office less than 200 hours after the 1979 revolution.»

A comprehensive 2025 report titled, «The Tip of the Iceberg» about the persecution of Iranian Christians was released by Article 18 in collaboration with Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and Middle East Concern.

A female Iranian Christian lights a candle at the Saint Mary Chaldean-Assyrian Catholic Church, on Christmas Eve, in downtown Tehran, Iran on Dec. 24, 2012.  (AP)

According to the «The Tip of the Iceberg» report, Mohammad Nasirpour, the deputy prosecutor of Tehran and head of the 33rd District Prosecutor’s office, stated in his indictment against four Iranian Christians on June 2022: «Armenian and Assyrian Christians in the Protestant denomination, with their evangelical nature and mission to Christianize Iran, are perceived as a security threat to the Islamic Revolution, aimed at undermining the Islamic foundation of the Islamic Republic. It could be said that Persian-speaking evangelical movements are supported by fundamentalist evangelical Christians and Zionists.» 

According to a Feb. 10 report on the website of Christianity Today, Iranian Christians want President Trump to intervene to stop the Ayatollah’s regime from continuing with its massacre of Iranians.

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«That’s probably one of the most frustrating aspects of the whole situation right now,» said Shahrokh Afshar, founder of Fellowship of Iranian Christians. «Everyone was hoping he would do something,» Afshar told the outlet after the Iranian authorities killed thousands of protesters in January, according to some estimates.

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency’s value in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 8, 2026. (Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)

Fox News Digital has reported over the decades on the Islamic Republic’s high-intensity persecution of Iranian Christians in the wake of the growing popularity of Christianity in the Muslim-majority country. Iran’s regime targets diverse groups of Christians, including Evangelicals and Catholics. In 2017, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested two Christians – a mother and her son – as part of a brutal crackdown on Catholicism in the country’s West Azerbaijan Province.

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The family’s bibles and literature on Christian theology were also seized during the raid.

The United States State Department has designated Iran as a «Country of Particular Concern» (CPC)» because the Islamic regime has «engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom» with respect to violations of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

The Iranian regime -controlled statistical center of Iran claims there are 117,700 Christians of recognized denominations as of the 2016 census, according to the most recent U.S. State Department report on the plight of Iranian Christians. 

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However, the State Department noted that, «The Christian advocacy NGO Article 18 estimates there are 500,000 to 800,000 Christians in the country, while the Christian advocacy NGO Open Doors International estimates the number is 1.24 million. Christian NGOs report many Christians are converts from Islam or other recognized faiths.» The population of Iran is roughly 92 million.

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