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Attorney General Pam Bondi abruptly canceled her scheduled Wednesday appearance at CPAC’s anti-trafficking summit in Washington, D.C., citing her recovery from a health issue.
Bondi was expected to speak at CPAC’s Summit Against Human Trafficking when it was revealed she could not make her scheduled appearance.
“I do have a note from the attorney general, from Attorney General Pam Bondi, that I wanted to share,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti told attendees.
Galeotti then read Bondi’s statement to the crowd.
“I’m sorry to miss all of my CPAC friends today,” Bondi said in her statement.
“Unfortunately, I am recovering from a recently torn cornea, which is preventing me from being with you,” she continued. “I truly wish I was able to join you and support all of the work being done on this critical issue.”
After reading the statement, scattered applause was heard from the audience.
“We appreciate the applause for her and not boos for me,” Galeotti joked. “So I will do my best to fill those big shoes.”
The Justice Department did not disclose additional information about Bondi’s health condition.
Other Trump administration officials spoke at the event, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan.
Bondi’s canceled appearance comes as she has faced recent scrutiny over the Trump administration’s refusal to release documents surrounding the case of deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Bondi notified President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein documents.
The attorney general said earlier this year that an Epstein “client list” was on her desk before the Justice Department and FBI recently claimed that Epstein killed himself and that there was no evidence he kept such a list. Bondi also walked back her earlier comments, saying she was referring to the Epstein case file, not a “client list.”
Trump has sought to avoid the Epstein topic in recent weeks, repeatedly arguing the issue does not matter anymore. He also said he no longer wants the support of his past supporters who continue to press the Epstein case, criticizing them as “weaklings.”
The president said at the White House last week that Bondi could release “whatever’s credible” related to the Epstein case as he defended her work on the matter and criticized Republicans who are still pushing for Epstein material to be released.
“He’s dead. He’s gone,” Trump said of Epstein. “And, all it is, is the Republicans, certain Republicans got duped by the Democrats, and they’re following a Democrat playbook and no different than Russia, Russia, Russia and all the other hoaxes.”
The administration eventually asked for a judge to unseal transcripts from Florida grand jury proceedings into Epstein amid calls for transparency about the case, but the request was denied.
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