Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, fresh off surgery for thyroid cancer, was back on Capitol Hill to answer another round of questions about her handling of the Epstein files.
Ms. Bondi began testifying Friday morning in a closed-door inquiry led by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The interview will be transcribed and released to the public later.
“This is the second time she’s come voluntarily. She came a few months ago for a briefing. Unfortunately, the Democrats got up and walked out of that briefing,” said Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Kentucky Republican.
Democrats and some Republicans criticized Ms. Bondi for failing to release all of the government’s documents related to the federal investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking ring. They plan to ask Ms. Bondi additional questions about the Trump administration’s handling of the files.
Ms. Bondi was pushed out of the Trump administration in April. She was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer and underwent surgery in mid-May.
Some lawmakers blamed Ms. Bondi for the slow release of the thousands of pages of investigatory documents related to the crimes committed by Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. She explained the process wasn’t as simple as making the files public.
The documents had to be carefully scanned and redacted to protect Epstein’s many victims, who in some cases were underage girls when the crimes took place.
Teams of FBI agents and other personnel were tasked with poring through the files. Despite those efforts to protect victims, some names were left unredacted, drawing additional criticism of Ms. Bondi’s efforts. She was also blamed for over-redacting material.
Democrats have glommed onto the notion that the Trump administration, through Ms. Bondi, was hiding information about Epstein to cover up his own participation in the sex trafficking scheme or to conceal the involvement of other powerful and wealthy men.
“Pam Bondi was at the heart of a White House cover-up, and Oversight Chairman Comer is working to hide her testimony from the American people,” Sara Guerrero, a spokeswoman for Democrats on the panel, said.
