Pam Bondi Defends DOJ's Handling of Epstein Files Amid Criticism

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday defended the Department of Justice's handling of the release of files about notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in her opening statement to a House panel. Bondi said that "to the best of my knowledge," the DOJ publicly released all documents and other evidence as required by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, according to a transcript of her statement obtained by MS NOW. Her statement on the Epstein files came as Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee criticized the Republican majority for not videotaping Bondi's interview with the panel. "Pam Bondi was at the heart of a White House cover-up and Oversight Chairman James Comer is working to hide her testimony from the American people," said Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for Democrats on the panel. "The survivors and the American people deserve to see her respond to real questions about her mismanagement and cover-up of the Epstein files," Guerrero said. A source in the room during Bondi's interview told MS NOW she lost her temper at some points, and was frustrated when asked about President Donald Trump. Bondi, in her opening statement, conceded there were "redaction errors" in the release of the Epstein documents. Bondi also said she "did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself." "I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche," Bondi said. Bondi was fired in early April by Trump, who was displeased with her handling of issues related to the files about Epstein, his former longtime friend. Blanche is now the acting attorney general. He is Trump's former criminal defense lawyer. "I am proud of the Department's record and commitment to transparency under my leadership," Bondi said. "We demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to transparency in the Department's search for, collection, and review of the Epstein files, producing nearly 3 million pages of material, including thousands of videos and hundreds of thousands of images." "The bottom line is: justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President Trump and his administration," she said. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.