{"id":1173,"date":"2026-05-30T04:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1173"},"modified":"2026-05-30T04:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T04:34:09","slug":"bondi-refuses-to-answer-lawmakers-questions-about-trumps-involvement-in-epstein-files-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1173","title":{"rendered":"Bondi refuses to answer lawmakers\u2019 questions about Trump\u2019s involvement in Epstein files release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Former Attorney General\u00a0Pam Bondi\u00a0refused to answer questions Friday on President Donald Trump\u2019s involvement in the release of the\u00a0Jeffrey Epstein\u00a0case files as she defended the Trump administration\u2019s actions before House lawmakers scrutinizing the process.<\/p>\n

Read more Dangerous pest from Mexico found in Arizona<\/a><\/p>\n

Bondi, who spent roughly four hours on Capitol Hill for her closed-door interview,\u00a0was again defiant\u00a0when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation. In her opening statement, she stood behind the Department of Justice\u2019s handling of the case files and said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general and Trump\u2019s former personal attorney, had overseen the process to publish them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom line is: justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President Trump and his administration,\u201d she said, according to her opening statement.<\/p>\n

Bondi\u2019s transcribed interview presented lawmakers with an opportunity to question a Cabinet official who was central to\u00a0the political firestorm\u00a0over Epstein that at times has rattled Trump\u2019s Republican administration. She initially raised expectations for the full release of the Epstein case files, only to later backtrack. That reversal prompted Congress to step in and pass the law requiring the release.<\/p>\n

But Democratic lawmakers said that Bondi told them she would not speak about the president in the interview and, consulting with a lawyer from the Department of Justice, said that she could decline those questions because she agreed to appear before the committee voluntarily.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a sham in there,\u201d said Democratic Rep. Dave Min of California during a break in the interview. \u201dThey are not answering any questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia said he asked Bondi whether Trump had any knowledge of Epstein\u2019s crimes before they became public. Reading from his notes of the exchange, Walkinshaw told reporters that Bondi\u2019s response was, \u201cI\u2019m not certain of the extent of his knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Epstein\u00a0killed himself in a New York City jail cell\u00a0in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking and sexually abusing underage girls. Trump was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s but has said he cut ties with him years before Epstein pleaded guilty to Florida state charges in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.<\/p>\n

Survivors tried to confront Bondi<\/h4>\n

Several survivors of Epstein\u2019s abuse gathered outside the Capitol office where the interview was taking place. They tried to make their presence known to Bondi as she entered the room, but several said they were shoved aside by police officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope that she does have a moment where she remembers her own humanity and our humanity and finds her compassion and remembers that this is a bigger story than political rhetoric,\u201d said Danielle Bensky, one of the survivors.<\/p>\n

The survivors also implored lawmakers to hold Bondi accountable for the handling of the Epstein case files\u2019 release, which included the personal information of potential victims.<\/p>\n

They confronted the committee chair, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, and he told them that he would press for the complete release of case files mandated by law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want justice for the survivors, we do,\u201d Comer added.<\/p>\n

Bondi told lawmakers in her opening statement that releasing the Epstein case files was \u201can enormously complicated and labor-intensive process\u201d and conceded that the Justice Department had made redaction errors. But she mostly defended the department\u2019s work, saying that it had complied with the law and demonstrated \u201can unprecedented commitment to transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after being\u00a0ousted as attorney general\u00a0last month, Bondi has stayed within the Republican president\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

Read more Bus hits cars in Virginia, killing 5 people and injuring 34, state police say<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump appointed Bondi, who revealed this week that she is being treated for thyroid cancer, to a White House panel on artificial intelligence this week, and she was be accompanied Friday by Justice Department officials, including Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, acting as her counsel.<\/p>\n

Democrats called that arrangement a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n

Dhillon told reporters after the interview that she had been there to \u201crepresent the interests of the Department of Justice\u201d because Bondi was answering questions about her time as attorney general. She said she had advised Bondi to only answer questions that were within \u201cthe ground rules laid with the committee\u201d and not on other topics.<\/p>\n

Interview was not videoed<\/h4>\n

Friday\u2019s interview was only the latest clash between Bondi and Democrats.<\/p>\n

Bondi was\u00a0subpoenaed by the committee\u00a0in March in a bipartisan vote, but she tried to head off that demand by holding a closed-door meeting with lawmakers. The maneuver only added to the enmity between her and Democrats on the committee.<\/p>\n

Bondi\u2019s departure from the Justice Department also raised doubts about the enforcement of the congressional subpoena. After the committee\u2019s Democrats maneuvered to press for a civil contempt of Congress resolution against Bondi, she agreed to sit for a transcribed interview rather than a sworn deposition.<\/p>\n

Democrats on the Oversight panel criticized that arrangement, saying it allowed Bondi to decline to answer questions. They also objected to Comer\u2019s decision not to video the interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to be incredibly disappointed of the decision to not have this interview videotaped and then released to the American public,\u201d said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the panel.<\/p>\n

Comer has said he allowed Bondi to sit for a transcribed interview rather than a deposition as an incentive to cooperate. Previously, he had enforced a subpoena on\u00a0former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton\u00a0after they resisted the demand. Both of their depositions were video-recorded.<\/p>\n

Comer said that Bondi could face prosecution if she lies to Congress and that the committee would release a transcript of the interview.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Democrats suggested they could still press to enforce the subpoena for Bondi. They also said they wanted to subpoena Blanche. Both actions would need Republican support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that we continue to keep this pressure on them,\u201d said Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein case at\u00a0https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/jeffrey-epstein.<\/p>\n

Read more Nevada Supreme Court blocks parental notification law for minors\u2019 abortions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is standing behind the Trump administration\u2019s release of the case files on Jeffrey Epstein. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nBondi refuses to answer lawmakers\u2019 questions about Trump\u2019s involvement in Epstein files release - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1173\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bondi refuses to answer lawmakers\u2019 questions about Trump\u2019s involvement in Epstein files release - 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