Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on Capitol Hill to answer questions about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and files, but she refused to say anything about her old boss, Donald Trump.
Bondi has been under fire for her handling of the files on the convicted sex offender and has been accused of covering up for the president, a longtime Epstein associate.
The former attorney general, who was fired by the president about two months ago, appeared before members of the House Oversight Committee for a long-awaited deposition, months after she was subpoenaed in their probe.
However, Democratic House members who stepped out of the closed-door session expressed frustration over her refusal to discuss the president or answer many of their questions.
“She said she would not speak or respond to any questions that have anything to do with President Trump,” Ranking Member Robert Garcia told reporters.
He said he asked Bondi about the conversations she had with Trump, whether he directed her at all regarding the Epstein files, what he knew, and what he asked her to redact, but she would not answer any questions.
Democrats accused her of refusing to answer questions, pleading ignorance, and casting blame on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche throughout the session.
Rep. James Walkinshaw said Bondi did answer one question about Trump and argued it was an example of why she needed to answer questions under oath.
“She was asked specifically about Donald Trump, President Trump’s awareness of Epstein’s crimes before they became public knowledge. She had the opportunity to say Donald Trump certainly wasn’t aware of those crimes; she had the opportunity to say ‘I know Donald Trump, and if he was aware of those crimes, he would have done something.’ Instead, she said, ‘I don’t know,’” Walkinshaw told reporters. “She also said, quote, this is a direct quote, ‘I’m not certain of the extent of his knowledge.’”
Joining Bondi in the closed-door session were Justice Department lawyers who, according to Democrats, stepped in multiple times and told Bondi she would not answer questions.
They said the Justice Department official specifically intervened to stop her from speaking about what the president had directed Bondi to do.
“When asked specifically about a conversation with Donald Trump, one of the Department of Justice Attorneys intervened and said that she did not have to answer the question because it was a voluntary interview, and said, in fact, ‘we don’t even have to assert privilege because of that’ and said ‘we refuse to provide answers,’” recalled Democratic Rep. Melanie Stansbury.
“That means the United States Department of Justice is intervening on behalf of Pam Bondi to stop her from answering questions about what happened in the cover-up of this case, and her conversations with Donald Trump, and is asserting that she does not have to answer questions because she is not required to because she is not being deposed under oath. This is a cover-up,” Stansbury declared.
Bondi met with members of the committee while she was still attorney general, but Democrats accused her of trying to hold the meeting to answer questions and avoid appearing under oath in response to the subpoena.
Then, Bondi was fired by Trump right before she was supposed to be deposed as attorney general. The Justice Department used it to claim she did not have to comply with the subpoena because she was no longer the attorney general, despite it being issued for her by name.
Unlike some others who went before the committee, including Hillary and Bill Clinton, she was neither under oath nor interviewed on camera behind closed doors.
Democrats accused Bondi of being combative and Justice Department lawyers of rolling their eyes as they tried to shut down questions about the president and the administration’s handling of the files.
They said that Bondi admitted the Justice Department had not released about three million of the six million Epstein documents. But Blanche recently said the department did not plan to release any more files.
Democrats are demanding that the acting attorney general also appear before the committee for its investigation and have threatened to force a subpoena vote should Chairman James Comer not call him in.
