Pam Bondi has told US lawmakers who oversaw the release of the long-disputed Jeffrey Epstein files. The disclosure came during a congressional hearing examining Bondi’s Justice Department’s handling of the case.
The former attorney general appeared before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on May 29. She faced questions about redaction errors, the protection of survivors’ identities, and the department’s broader compliance with a federal transparency mandate. Her testimony is the first time a senior official has publicly assigned responsibility for the document release process since the Epstein files began reaching the public domain.
Pam Bondi says Todd Blanche was ‘in charge’ of ‘entire release’ of Epstein files
In sworn testimony, Pam Bondi identified her former deputy, Todd Blanche, as the person who managed the review and disclosure of the Epstein files. According to a transcript released by the committee on Thursday, she stated, “He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files.”
Bondi told the panel she did not personally conduct the document review. “I delegated oversight over this process,” she said in her opening statement. Further adding that she did not “lead every aspect” of the department’s effort. The former attorney general acknowledged that “there were redaction errors” in the material made public. However, she insisted the department had acted “committed to accountability and transparency” from the outset.
Bondi’s testimony follows mounting backlash over the Justice Department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Lawmakers from both parties, along with survivors of Epstein’s abuse, have criticised certain redactions and the inadvertent disclosure of sensitive personal information in the released files.
During a break in the hearing, several Democratic members told reporters that Bondi was shifting blame for the errors. One lawmaker said she indicated it was Blanche who “was leading the Epstein investigation and quite frankly, all of the mistakes that we saw”. Bondi later rejected that account on X, calling it “NOT TRUE”. In her testimony, she said she was not “blaming anything on Todd”, describing him as “one of the most highly ethical individuals I know” and praising his handling of “a Herculean task”.
(Source: The Guardian)
