Former Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday refused to answer questions regarding President Donald Trump’s involvement in the Administration’s handling of investigations into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a transcribed interview with members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
During the closed-door interview, Bondi appeared to be “combative” at times and did not answer any question regarding whether Trump directed Bondi to redact any information regarding the Epstein investigations, according to Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
“In fact, she said that she would not speak or respond to any questions that had anything to do with President Trump,” Garcia said.
Throughout the interview, Bondi repeatedly pointed to Acting Attorney Todd Blanche in response to questions regarding the release of the so-called Epstein files and the criminal investigations into the disgraced financier, saying “Acting AG Blanche was managing the entire investigation” and that she “did not recall” a lot of the details about events from roughly six months ago, according to Garcia.
Regarding the Epstein files themselves, Bondi told lawmakers that there are still “about 3 million files” that have not been made public, and that these documents have been withheld given the fact that they relate to the Department of Justice’s decisions to prosecute. She also said she has not met with any of the survivors of Epstein’s abuse, some of whom were outside the congressional hearing room as the interview was under way.
“Let us be clear: What Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche did was criminal,” said Danielle Bensky, one of the Epstein survivors who was present. “As a nation, we deserve more than closed-door, backroom deals.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Guynn were sitting next to Bondi on behalf of the Justice Department during the interview. According to Garcia, Dhillon at times would put her hand on the mic before Bondi could respond, and told Bondi not to answer any questions. Bondi herself was not under oath, nor was the interview videotaped, a decision that was made by House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer after she was fired by Trump as Attorney General in April.
“It’s disgusting. It’s a cover up in broad daylight. And what they’re hoping will happen is we’ll walk out of here and we’ll stop. But we’re not going to stop,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, a Democrat.
Prior to the hearing, lawmakers from both parties have expressed frustrations over the lack of transparency in the process. Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who moved to subpoena Bondi to testify before the committee, called the decision not to require the former Attorney General to give an official deposition under oath and on tape “highly disappointing.”
Notably, Mace, along with most of the Republican members of the committee, did not show up to the interview. Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky was the only Republican present.
TIME has reached out to Mace’s office for comment.
The transcript of the closed-door interview will be reviewed by DOJ officials before being released to the public through a process known as “Notice of Errata.” A Committee official told TIME that it is a normal procedure for the transcript to be released. It is unclear when exactly the transcript will be made public.
Moving forward, some Democratic members of the panel told reporters that they plan to bring up motions to subpoena Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel regarding their involvement in the Epstein investigations, although it is unclear when it will happen. They also plan on using the subpoena power to compel the release of more of the Epstein files.
“I think there are still 50 percent of the documents that have not been released to the public or the Congress. You’re going to continue to get those. That’s breaking the law, the Transparency Act and the subpoena. And, of course, we have additional subpoena ideas on the way,” Garcia said.
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