{"id":274,"date":"2026-05-31T11:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=274"},"modified":"2026-05-31T11:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T11:04:04","slug":"bondi-testifies-before-us-house-panel-on-epstein-files-but-dems-blast-her-for-evasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=274","title":{"rendered":"Bondi testifies before US House panel on Epstein files, but Dems blast her for evasion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2014 Former Attorney General Pam Bondi was on Capitol Hill Friday for a closed door interview with lawmakers about her role in the release of the federal investigation files of Jeffrey Epstein \u2014 the now deceased wealthy sex offender who surrounded himself with influential entrepreneurs, academics and celebrities, including President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=272\">Trump ordered limits on voting by mail. The Postal Service is moving to make states comply.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But Democrats speaking to reporters outside the session criticized Republicans for not conducting the interview under oath or on camera and said Bondi did not answer many questions and blamed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the chaotic release of files related to Epstein. Bondi later denied on social media she evaded questions or tried to target Blanche.<\/p>\n<p>Bondi sat for a transcribed hours-long interview before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as the panel continues its probe into the government\u2019s handling of the Epstein case and sexual abuse survivors.<\/p>\n<p>Epstein died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Pam Bondi out as Trump\u2019s attorney general<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"lt3f3sWySj\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"282\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" scrolling=\"no\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnewsline.com\/2026\/04\/02\/repub\/pam-bondi-out-as-trumps-attorney-general\/embed\/#?secret=h3AzgUe1Hi#?secret=lt3f3sWySj\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cPam Bondi out as Trump\u2019s attorney general\u201d \u2014 NC Newsline\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters before the early morning interview began that the panel is \u201ccontinuing to move along, and hopefully today will be beneficial.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Epstein estate subpoena<\/h4>\n<p>The committee\u00a0 Epstein\u2019s estate in August 2025 and made public all documents it received, Comer said. He said the committee has since conducted more than a dozen interviews and has six more scheduled throughout the summer, including with Epstein\u2019s former assistant Lesley Groff, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and private equity investor Leon Black.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has failed the survivors. There\u2019s no question about that, and that dates back five presidential administrations,\u201d Comer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Comer credited Bondi for appearing a second time before the committee and criticized Democrats who he said \u201cgot up and walked out\u201d of the first meeting in March while Republicans \u201casked questions for a couple of hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><em><span>Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Summer Lee, D-Pa., who sit on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, spoke to reporters on Friday, May 29, 2026, outside the committee\u2019s closed door interview with former Attorney General Pam Bondi. (Video by Ashley Murray\/States Newsroom)\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Committee Democrats were highly critical.<\/p>\n<p>The panel\u2019s ranking member, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said the interview ground rules barring video and allowing Bondi to speak without taking an oath are a \u201cdisservice to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>House Oversight Democrats, and an Epstein abuse survivor, spoke to reporters outside the committee room for roughly 30 minutes following their portion of questioning.<\/p>\n<p>The minority members said Bondi refused to answer any questions related to Trump\u2019s knowledge of how the Department of Justice was handling the Epstein documents, and that a current DOJ lawyer was in the room with Bondi, choosing which questions she would answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They also said Bondi sidestepped responsibility for the mishandled release of the files that initially unmasked victims\u2019 names.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe continues to push all of the investigation and the blame on acting AG Todd Blanche. She said, and I quote, \u2018Acting AG Blanche was managing the entire investigation,\u2019 end quote,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=270\">Flesh-eating screwworms head for American livestock<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Blanche, whom the president named as the acting attorney general after Bondi\u2019s exit, was Trump\u2019s personal lawyer prior to his second term. Committee Democrats said they plan to request Blanche come before the panel for questioning.<\/p>\n<h4>Bondi fires back<\/h4>\n<p>Bondi denied Garcia\u2019s statement to reporters that she pushed blame on Blanche for the Epstein files release.<\/p>\n<p>In two posts on X Friday afternoon, Bondi wrote, \u201cI praised Acting AG Blanche\u2019s management of this Herculean task. I said his ethics are beyond reproach and that he is an incredible Attorney General.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also denied\u00a0remarks to reporters by panel member Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., that she was not forthcoming about the president\u2019s knowledge of Epstein\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMISREPRESENTATION by Walkinshaw.\u00a0 What the world knows to be true is President Trump banned Epstein from Mar a Lago decades ago bc Epstein was a despicable creep!!\u201d Bondi wrote.<\/p>\n<p>States Newsroom contacted the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Trump has denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein\u2019s crimes.<\/p>\n<p>A Department of Justice spokesperson confirmed in a written statement to States Newsroom that department personnel accompanied Bondi to the interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAssistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and other Department of Justice personnel attended former Attorney General Bondi\u2019s transcribed interview to assist the Committee in understanding the Department\u2019s role in implementing and complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act during her tenure,\u201d according to the statement.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson continued: \u201cBecause former Attorney General Bondi oversaw the Department at the time the Act was enacted and carried out, DOJ\u2019s presence was solely to ensure accurate representation of Department processes, facilitate any necessary clarifications, and support a complete factual record for the Committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs with any congressional engagement involving past Department actions, DOJ routinely provides staff with relevant institutional knowledge to support transparency, accuracy, and cooperation with oversight responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Survivor speaks out<\/h4>\n<p>Epstein survivor Liz Stein, now a human trafficking specialist and advocate for the organization World Without Exploitation, said outside the committee room that the Trump administration needs to do more to deliver justice to victims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese files contain leads, names, connections, friendships, patterns, witnesses, travel records, financial relationships and institutional failures,\u201d Stein said. \u201cIn any other sex trafficking case of this magnitude, those leads would be aggressively pursued, but in this case they have not been.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=268\">More cities are pressing pause on data centers as local backlash grows<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bondi sat for a transcribed hours-long interview before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform as the panel continues its probe into the government\u2019s handling of the Epstein case and sexual abuse survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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