Pam Bondi Puts Todd Blanche On The Hook For ‘entire Release’ Of The Epstein Files, Transcript Reveals

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi said “I don’t recall” astatine slightest 34 times during her closed-door question and reply with members of Congress investigating Jeffrey Epstein, a transcript of nan gathering reveals.

Bondi, who was fired by Donald Trump successful April, many times told nan House Oversight Committee that her lawman Todd Blanche was “in charge” of nan “entire release” of nan alleged Epstein files, a chaotic archive dump of millions of pages and images stemming from nan national government’s investigations into nan dormant activity offender.

She besides sought to get up of immoderate allegations that she was “placing blame” connected her successor astatine nan Department of Justice and offered a full-throated endorsement of his position arsenic acting lawyer general.

“Todd Blanche is 1 of nan astir highly ethical individuals I know, and I deliberation he is making an unthinkable Acting Attorney General. And he managed this investigation — and it was a Herculean task — pinch very small error,” she said, according to a transcript of her interview released Thursday. “And Todd did an fantabulous job, successful my opinion, and is doing an fantabulous occupation arsenic our Attorney General. I'm not blaming thing connected Todd.”

But Bondi — who faced aggravated bipartisan scrutiny for nan Trump administration’s handling of nan Epstein files — many times said she could not retrieve important specifications erstwhile it came to questions astir survivors, redactions successful nan documents, and nan Justice Department’s activity connected nan lawsuit while she was successful office.

She besides said she could not callback whether nan Justice Department ever investigated high-profile management figures, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, astir their ties to Epstein, aliases if nan Justice Department was investigating lawmakers who searched for nan president’s sanction successful unredacted copies of nan files that person been made disposable to them.

Bondi claimed that she only learned astir a arguable situation transportation for Epstein subordinate Ghislaine Maxwell aft she had been moved to a minimum-security situation pursuing her jailhouse question and reply pinch Blanche past summer.

Maxwell, she said, “should dice successful prison.”

“She was a monster, conscionable for illustration Jeffrey Epstein,” she said. “She recruited these young women to a life of adultery and abuse. And I often deliberation nan women that do that are conscionable arsenic bad, if not worse, than nan men, because she participated successful it.”

Blanche, nan president’s erstwhile criminal defense lawyer now poised to beryllium formally nominated for lawyer general, “was successful complaint of nan process and nan full merchandise of nan Epstein files,” Bondi said.

The Justice Department has released astir 3 cardinal files pursuing authorities passed by Congress and signed by Trump that compelled their release.

But lawmakers asked Bondi why different 3 cardinal documents still person not been released, sparking allegations of a government-wide screen up to protect powerful nationalist figures accused of exploiting and abusing young women and girls

“To my knowledge, they’ve each been released,” Bondi said.

The merchandise of nan files and bipartisan unit to analyse figures successful Epstein’s orbit erupted into a monolithic governmental liability for nan president and his allies, and nan president removed Bondi from her station days earlier she was initially scheduled to attest to nan committee.

The Justice Department sought to artifact her quality aft she near office, though she later agreed to participate successful a closed-door, transcribed question and reply connected May 29 aft threats from Democratic lawmakers to clasp her successful contempt for defying a bipartisan subpoena.

During her sworn grounds to nan House Judiciary Committee successful February, Bondi many times deflected questions astir Epstein to talk astir nan banal marketplace and chastised Democrats who questioned her.

“The Dow is complete 50,000 correct now,” she said aft she was questioned astir imaginable indictments against Epstein’s co-conspirators.

The Nasdaq is “smashing records” and Americans’ status accounts are “booming,” she said. “That’s what we should beryllium talking about.”

After past week’s interview, Epstein subsister Maria Farmer said Bondi’s “continued evasion of questions astir her sedate mishandling of nan merchandise of nan Epstein files was not astonishing — it’s a shape of behavior.”

“At each turn, Bondi has ignored and disregarded nan will of Epstein survivors who person waited for justness for decades and moreover now, arsenic a backstage citizen, she refuses work for her missteps and failures,” Farmer said successful a connection shared pinch The Independent.

On Thursday, nan Republican-led committee referred erstwhile Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai to nan Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

The referral follows nan committee’s question and reply pinch Epstein’s erstwhile adjunct Sarah Kellen connected May 21. In their missive Blanche, Comer and 4 different House Republicans urged nan Justice Department to usage “all disposable tools” — including providing “immunity for definite witnesses” — to analyse Kellen’s allegations.

Lauren Hersh, co-founder and CEO of World Without Exploitation, which represents Epstein survivors, called nan missive an “important step” successful nan investigation.

“It provides further impervious that location are clear investigative leads successful nan files and underscores nan value of continued transparency, accountability, and a thorough reappraisal of each disposable evidence,” she said.