Former Attorney General Pam Bondi declined to answer questions Friday about President Donald Trump’s involvement in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, drawing a line that is certain to escalate congressional demands for full disclosure on a matter that has generated bipartisan pressure for years. Bondi spent roughly four hours in a closed-door interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and in her opening statement she defended the Department of Justice’s handling of the case files while deflecting questions about the president’s role.
Bondi told lawmakers that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — now serving as acting attorney general and previously Trump’s personal attorney — had overseen the process to publish the files, according to a person familiar with the interview. The Associated Press reported that Bondi was “again defiant when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation,” signaling that the former attorney general held firm to the same posture she had maintained during her tenure at the Justice Department.
The interview, held at the Rayburn House Office Building, marked the first time Bondi has faced congressional questioning on the Epstein matter since leaving the Justice Department. Committee members have pressed for answers on why the administration has not released additional case files, and Bondi’s refusal to address Trump’s role directly leaves a significant gap in the congressional record. The Epstein case has been a persistent subject of oversight demands from both parties, with lawmakers arguing that the public is entitled to know the full scope of the investigation and any material the Justice Department has withheld.
Bondi’s appearance came under a deposition format rather than a public hearing, meaning her full testimony will not be immediately available to the public. The committee has not indicated whether it will seek to compel Bondi to answer the questions she declined to address or whether it will call additional witnesses, including Blanche, to testify about the file-release process. For now, the former attorney general’s four hours on Capitol Hill have produced a public posture of defense without disclosure, leaving the central question — what role the president played in the Epstein files release — unanswered.