Former Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi refused to reply questions Friday on President Donald Trump’s involvement within the launch of the Jeffrey Epstein case information as she defended the Trump administration’s actions earlier than Home lawmakers scrutinizing a course of that was delayed and included private data of potential victims.
Bondi, who arrived Friday morning on Capitol Hill for her closed-door interview, was defiant in earlier public testimony when she was confronted by lawmakers in regards to the Epstein investigation. In her opening assertion, she saved to the identical tact.
“The underside line is: justice and transparency on this matter have been delivered on the route of President Trump and his administration,” she mentioned, in line with a written copy of her opening assertion.
The transcribed Bondi interview gave lawmakers an opportunity to dig for data on the Trump administration’s dealing with of the Epstein information and different associated issues, together with the jail sentence of Epstein’s former girlfriend and confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell.
However Democratic lawmakers mentioned that Bondi informed them she wouldn’t converse in regards to the president within the interview and, consulting with a lawyer from the Division of Justice, cited her capacity to say no questions as a result of she agreed to seem earlier than the committee voluntarily.
“It is a sham in there. They don’t seem to be answering any questions,” mentioned Democratic Rep. Dave Min of California throughout a break within the interview.
Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia mentioned that he requested Bondi whether or not Trump had any information of Epstein’s crimes earlier than they grew to become public. Studying from his notes of the trade, Walkinshaw informed reporters that Bondi’s response was, “I am not sure of the extent of his information.”
The highest Democrat on the panel, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, additionally criticized the truth that Harmeet Dhillon, a prime DOJ official, was within the interview with Bondi.
“The DOJ is in there proper now, stopping questions on President Trump and about what occurred within the launch of those information, and why so many survivors have been doxxed, and their data, in fact, launched to the general public,” he mentioned.
Requested after the interview concluded if she directed Bondi to not reply questions on Trump, Dhillon informed reporters that “there have been floor guidelines laid with the committee earlier than we walked in there, and we merely wished to stay to these, the temporal limitations in addition to subject material limitations.”
The Republican-led committee voted to subpoena the legal professional normal after a movement to take action by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C.
Epstein killed himself in a New York Metropolis jail cell in 2019 whereas awaiting trial. Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage women to be sexually abused by Epstein however has insisted she’s harmless, arguing she by no means ought to have been prosecuted. The Justice Division moved Maxwell from a federal jail in Florida to a jail camp in Texas final August.
Lawmakers are looking for out what choices prosecutors have made about investigating Epstein associates, how the Justice Division dealt with the congressional mandate to launch the Epstein case information and whether or not Trump was concerned within the course of.
Bondi informed lawmakers in her opening assertion that then-Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche, who’s now the performing legal professional normal, had overseen the method to launch the Epstein case information as mandated by a regulation handed by Congress and signed by Trump final yr.
She known as it “an enormously sophisticated and labor-intensive course of” and conceded that the division had made redaction errors. Bondi mentioned she was assured by the crew that reviewed the paperwork that “the one supplies that have been withheld have been both non-responsive, privileged, or duplicative.”
“To the very best of my information, the Division produced every little thing required underneath the Epstein Recordsdata Transparency Act. Our diligent and good religion effort to gather supplies ensured that each one doubtlessly responsive paperwork that may very well be moderately situated would see the sunshine of day,” she mentioned in her opening remarks.
However she largely defended the Justice Division’s work, saying that it had complied with the regulation and demonstrated “an unprecedented dedication to transparency.”
Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi clashed with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) after she was requested to apologize to Jeffrey Epstein survivors throughout a Home Oversight listening to.
A number of survivors of Epstein’s abuse additionally gathered outdoors the Capitol workplace the place the interview was going down. They tried to make their presence recognized to Bondi as she entered the room, however a number of mentioned they have been shoved apart by cops.
The survivors additionally implored lawmakers to carry Bondi accountable for the dealing with of the Epstein case information’ launch, which included the private data of potential victims.
They confronted the committee chair, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, and he informed them that he would press for the entire launch of case information mandated by regulation.
“We would like justice for the survivors, we do,” Comer added.
Bondi, who revealed this week that she is being handled for thyroid most cancers, has stayed throughout the Republican president’s orbit even after being ousted from her job in early April.
Trump appointed Bondi to a White Home panel on synthetic intelligence this week, and he or she can be accompanied Friday by Justice Division officers, together with Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the division’s Civil Rights Division, performing as her counsel.
Democrats say that association is a battle of curiosity.
Bondi was central to the Epstein saga
Bondi has been central to the political firestorm over Epstein, initially elevating expectations for the total launch of what is often called the Epstein information, solely to later backtrack. That reversal prompted Congress to step in and cross a regulation requiring the discharge.
Bondi confronted much more backlash when the Justice Division’s launch of the information was delayed after which included private data and nude images of a number of potential victims. She has insisted in congressional hearings that she was making an attempt to observe the regulation.
The Home Oversight Committee, in the meantime, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein that spans a number of presidential administrations.
President Trump fired Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi on Thursday after he reportedly discovered that she didn’t “[execute] his imaginative and prescient.”
The interview format is already contentious
Bondi was subpoenaed by the committee in March in a bipartisan vote, however she tried to move off that demand by holding a closed-door assembly with lawmakers that month. The maneuver solely added to the enmity between Bondi and Democrats on the committee.
Bondi’s departure from the Justice Division additionally raised doubts in regards to the enforcement of the congressional subpoena. After the committee’s Democrats maneuvered to press for a civil contempt of Congress decision in opposition to Bondi, she agreed to take a seat for a transcribed interview quite than a sworn deposition.
Democrats on the Oversight panel have criticized that association, saying that it permits Bondi to say no to reply questions. In addition they objected to Comer’s determination to not video the interview.
“We proceed to be extremely dissatisfied of the choice to not have this interview videotaped after which launched to the American public,” mentioned Rep. Robert Garcia, the highest Democrat on the panel.
Comer has mentioned he’s permitting Bondi to take a seat for a transcribed interview quite than a deposition as an incentive to cooperate. Beforehand, he had enforced a subpoena on former President Invoice Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after they resisted the demand. Each of their depositions have been video-recorded.
Nonetheless, Comer mentioned Bondi might face prosecution if she lies to Congress. He mentioned the committee would additionally launch a transcript of the interview.
