The former attorney general backed the Justice Department’s efforts in complying with a law to make public the Epstein-related files in a House interview.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) acted in a transparent manner and acted appropriately in releasing files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as she testified before Congress on Friday.
“To the best of my knowledge, the Department produced everything required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” Bondi said in a statement ahead of a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee.
She added that “justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President [Donald] Trump and his administration,” according to a written copy of her opening statement on Friday.
Bondi told lawmakers in her opening statement that then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is now the acting attorney general, had overseen the process to release the Epstein case files as mandated by a law passed by Congress and signed by Trump last year.
The former attorney general said it was “an enormously complicated and labor-intensive process” and added that the DOJ had made redaction errors during the process. However, she mostly defended the DOJ’s work and said that it had complied with the law and demonstrated “an unprecedented commitment to transparency.”
Democratic lawmakers said that Bondi’s interview should have been televised, with Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) saying on Friday on Capitol Hill that Democrats are “incredibly disappointed of the decision” not to have Bondi’s interview recorded and “released to the American public.”
Another, Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Calif.), alleged that Bondi was “instrumental in the Epstein files cover-up,” without elaborating. “She must explain who ordered the delays [and] who approved the redactions,” he said.
But Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the head of the House Oversight Committee, told reporters that the interview with Bondi on Friday will be released to the public as quickly as possible.
“You’ll know everything that’s been asked” if there are questions, he told reporters at the Capitol before the hearing started. “We’ll release all the transcripts, and if anyone is lying to Congress, that’s a felony,” he also said.
