Former Attorney General Pam Bondi told House lawmakers on Friday that the Justice Department made mistakes in how it redacted sensitive material from the Epstein files, but insisted the release met legal obligations and reflected a genuine commitment to transparency.
In a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee, Bondi acknowledged "redaction errors" in the document release but argued that her team had been assured all materials withheld were either non-responsive, legally privileged, or duplicative. She claimed the department "produced everything required" under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and that "all potentially responsive documents that could be reasonably located would see the light of day."
Bondi, who was fired by Trump last month, said she delegated oversight of the document review to then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general. She emphasized that the department "stands ready to review any potential evidence of criminal activity" and would pursue prosecution wherever facts warranted it.
The hearing revealed sharp divisions over what happened with the files. Top committee Democrat Robert Garcia of California said Bondi refused to answer his questions about communications with President Trump regarding the Epstein release. Garcia said he asked her five separate times whether Trump directed her actions or instructed her on what to redact, and each time she declined to respond.
"The DOJ is in there right now, stopping questions about President Trump and about what happened in the release of these files," Garcia said during a break in the interview. He also criticized the presence of Harmeet Dhillon, a top DOJ official, in the room with Bondi, saying it had a chilling effect on questioning about the Trump administration's role.
Dhillon told reporters afterward that "ground rules" had been established with the committee beforehand about what topics would be covered and what temporal limits would apply.
Garcia claimed Bondi had said Blanche bore responsibility for the mistakes in handling the files. Bondi swiftly pushed back on social media after the hearing, writing "NOT TRUE" and praising Blanche's management of what she called "this Herculean task." She said his "ethics are beyond reproach."
Democrats vowed to press Committee Chairman James Comer to bring Blanche in for testimony and said they would seek to force a subpoena if necessary. Dhillon indicated the administration was not prepared to discuss whether Blanche would testify.
The controversy over the Epstein files stems from a rocky rollout in which heavily redacted documents were released publicly, but survivors' names were exposed despite assurances they would remain protected. The release also led to criticism that the names of men accused of participating in the abuse remained hidden. The firestorm intensified after Bondi claimed in February on Fox News that she had an Epstein client list on her desk, a claim that never materialized. In July, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo stating there was no evidence of such a list or that Epstein had blackmailed prominent figures, and concluding he died by suicide.
The backlash prompted Congress to pass legislation last year requiring the DOJ to release its Epstein-related records. Blanche blamed delays in the final release on the sheer volume of materials and the sensitivity involved in redacting sensitive information.
Survivors gathered outside the hearing room Friday to press Chairman Comer on whether the committee would investigate why their identities were made public while those of accused perpetrators were protected. Comer said the committee would seek answers and that he was taking the investigation seriously, noting the government has "failed" Epstein survivors.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Bondi's refusal to discuss Trump's involvement, combined with the DOJ's heavy-handed presence in the room, suggests there's far more to this story than the administration is willing to say."
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