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The former attorney general is giving a closed-door interview about the Justice Department’s botched release of documents related to its investigation into the convicted sex offender.
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 and acknowledged that there were “redaction errors” in the handling of documents, according to Bondi’s opening statement 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.”
Bondi was initially scheduled to testify on April 14, but after Trump fired her on April 2, the Justice Department said Bondi 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.
Democrats on the Oversight Committee pushed for Bondi’s testimony. In late April, they introduced a civil contempt resolution against her, citing what they described as Republicans’ caginess about rescheduling her deposition.
Less than an hour after the resolution was introduced, Republicans on the committee announced they had secured a new date for Bondi’s appearance and dismissed the contempt charges as “all theater and completely unnecessary.”
In a statement Thursday, Democrats on the committee criticized the decision not to videotape Bondi’s voluntary transcribed interview and accused committee chair Rep. James Comer, R-Kentucky, of “working to hide her testimony from the American people.”
“The survivors and the American people deserve to see her respond to real questions about her mismanagement and cover-up of the Epstein files,” said Sara Guerrero, spokesperson for the committee’s Democrats.
Several Justice Department officials — including Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the civil rights division — are sitting in on the interview “to assist the Committee in understanding the Department’s role in implementing and complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act during [Bondi’s] tenure,” a Justice Department spokesperson said earlier in a statement.
Oversight committee member Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., told MS NOW’s “Way Too Early” on Friday morning that he interprets Dhillon’s presence as an effort to make sure the former attorney general “stays in line.”
“They want to make sure that she doesn’t say anything that could embarrass President Trump,” he said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the interview on Friday, Comer said the committee will seek to “hold people accountable and try to understand how the government failed,” which he said “dates back five presidential administrations.”
Some of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse had also gathered outside the hearing room where the interview was set to take place. Among them was Danielle Bensky, who urged the panel to record Bondi’s interview.
“There’s something called subtext that we all know about, and when we get a transcribed interview, we have no idea it’s — it could be totally lost in translation,” Bensky said. “So it’s incredibly vital that we see filmed interviews.”
The last time Bondi spoke before the committee was during a contentious closed-door briefing in mid-March. Democrats walked out of the room amid concerns that Bondi would not comply with a subpoena to give sworn testimony before the committee on April 14 and was using the briefing to avoid testifying under oath.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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.
Mychael Schnell
Mychael Schnell is a reporter for MS NOW.
Syedah Asghar
Syedah Asghar covers Congress for MS NOW.
Nora McKee
Nora McKee is the D.C. coordinator for MS NOW.
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