Bondi points finger at Blanche in House interview on Epstein files

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi repeatedly pointed the finger at acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel when asked about issues with the release of the Epstein files during her interview with congressional investigators Friday, and she refused to answer any questions about President Trump’s involvement.

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee fumed over Bondi’s closed-door appearance before the panel. Though initially subpoenaed to answer questions about the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) handling of files related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she appeared under voluntary terms, was not videorecorded, and refused to answer many questions posed by lawmakers under the direction of Justice Department lawyers who accompanied her.

“What you are going to hear in that interview, and what she’s saying here in her words and remarks is that it was Todd Blanche, the current acting AG, that was leading the Epstein investigation, and quite frankly, all of the mistakes that we saw, the redactions not protecting survivors, she continues to push that back on to the acting AG, Todd Blanche,” Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters.

“I also personally asked the former AG five times and five different questions about her conversations with President Trump, whether he directed her at any given time on the Epstein files, what he knew, what he asked her to redact or not, and she refused to answer any questions about President Trump. In fact, she said that she would not speak or respond to any questions that had anything to do with President Trump.”

Bondi appeared Friday before an audience of just one Republican, committee Chair James Comer (Ky.), and eight Democrats who flew in for the interview during congressional recess.

Comer was the only Republican present to question Bondi, despite the motion to compel her testimony being led by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and backed by four other Republicans. Mace has been campaigning for governor in the run-up to the South Carolina GOP primary on June 9.

Bondi was accompanied by Justice Department attorneys, an unusual arrangement as she is no longer an employee there, and did not secure a private attorney. 

“Every single one of our questions got one of three responses: No. 1, ‘Not to my recollection,’ or ‘I don’t know.’ No. 2, ‘Talk with Todd Blanche; I don’t know anything about it,’ and No. 3, ‘I am not talking about Donald Trump,’” Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) told reporters.

After Bondi repeatedly pointed the finger at both Blanche and Patel, Garcia said the panel’s Democrats would soon move to........

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