Pam Bondi faces questions from House Oversight Committee about Epstein files

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi told the House Oversight Committee on Friday that then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was in charge of the Justice Department’s botched release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, acknowledging that there were “redaction errors” in the handling of documents, according to Bondi’s opening statement, which was obtained by MS NOW.

“As the head of a large Department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself,” Bondi said in her prepared remarks. “I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”

Blanche was named acting attorney general in April after Bondi was fired by President Donald Trump.

Bondi told the panel in her transcribed voluntary interview that the search for, collection and review of the DOJ’s Epstein documents was “an enormously complicated and labor intensive process,” according to the statement.

Although she conceded that the documents released had “redaction errors” — which included victims’ names and other identifying information, the publication of nude photos of women and girls and the redaction of names of potential co-conspirators — Bondi said the department “has been committed to accountability and transparency.”

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has said the committee would release the transcript of Bondi’s interview as soon as possible.

A person who was in the interview room told MS NOW that Bondi was combative at points and grew frustrated when asked about Trump.

Democrats’ frustration with the way the interview was going was evident even halfway through.

Speaking to reporters outside the room during a break, committee Democrats took issue with Comer agreeing to a voluntary interview for Bondi as opposed to a formal sworn deposition, as well as his decision not to videotape the transcribed interview. They also criticized the presence of Justice Department officials in the room, including that of Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the civil rights division.

“If Pam Bondi was complying with a congressional deposition to testify under oath, Department of Justice attorneys would not be intervening and essentially trying to stop her from answering basic questions about her conversations with Donald Trump, with the administration, and trying to claim that she does not have to answer questions,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.

Bondi repeatedly declined to speak about Trump, who cut ties with the late financier decades ago and has repeatedly sought to distance himself from the Epstein scandal since, according to Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., ranking member on the committee.

Outside the room after Bondi’s interview ended, Dhillon dismissed criticism that her participation in the interview as a DOJ representative could have conflicted with the former attorney general’s interests.

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“That is silly and not something that is for her to consider, and she apparently didn’t see it as such,” Dhillon said.

Dhillon dodged questions about why she told Bondi not to engage on the topic of Trump.

“There were ground rules laid with the committee before we walked in there, and we simply wanted to stick to those,” she said. “I’m not going to get into my reasoning … we represent the Department of Justice, and that’s between us and the department.”

Garcia told reporters that Bondi had shifted all the blame for the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files to Blanche.

“She said, and I quote, ‘Acting AG Blanche was managing the entire investigation,’” Garcia said, adding, “Quite frankly, all of the mistakes that we saw — the redactions not protecting survivors — she continues to push that back onto the acting AG Todd Blanche.”

Democrats on the panel will subpoena Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, whose name has come up in Bondi’s interview, Garcia said.

Joining Democrats outside the hearing room, Liz Stein, an Epstein survivor, said the DOJ’s mishandling of the documents “reflects something much deeper about whose dignity our Department of Justice is prioritizing and whose suffering it is willing to sacrifice.”

Stein added, “Former Attorney Pam Bondi should testify under oath on video with a full transcript and recording released publicly. Because the American people deserve transparency, and accountability cannot only exist when it is politically convenient.”

Bondi was initially scheduled to testify on April 14, but after Trump fired her on April 2, the DOJ said she would not go before the panel because she was subpoenaed in her official capacity as attorney general and was therefore no longer obligated to testify. In late April, shortly after Oversight Democrats introduced a civil contempt resolution against her, Republicans announced that Bondi had agreed to an interview.

Clarissa-Jan Lim

Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.

Syedah Asghar

Syedah Asghar covers Congress for MS NOW.

Nora McKee

Nora McKee is the D.C. coordinator for MS NOW.