Bondi refused to answer questions about Trump and Epstein files, Democrats say

Former US attorney general Pam Bondi rebuffed questions about President Donald Trump’s involvement in handling records of the Justice Department’s investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Democratic lawmakers said.

“She refused to answer any questions about President Trump,” congressman Robert Garcia, the top-ranking Democrat on the House panel investigating Epstein, told reporters during a break in the committee’s closed-door questioning of Bondi.

Bondi also pushed any blame for missteps with Epstein-related documents onto Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, formerly deputy attorney general, Garcia said. He added that Democrats would seek to subpoena Blanche to testify before the panel.

Democrats and some Republicans have criticised the Justice Department for being slow to comply with a law forcing release of files and withholding key information.

The Justice Department released 3.5 million pages of related documents out of more than 6 million pages it identified as potentially relevant, according to a January 30 memo, which indicated documents may have been withheld because they were privileged, subject to protective orders, or duplicative.

“What documents remain? Why haven’t they been turned over?” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters ahead of Bondi’s testimony. “I want every document. I don’t want anything held back.”