Congress
Bondi punts blame for the Epstein files to Todd Blanche
Current acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was, as deputy attorney general, responsible for the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, former Attorney General Pam Bondi repeatedly told members of Congress and staff in a closed-door interview last month.
The revelations come the day after President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Blanche to replace Bondi, who he fired in April, as the head of DOJ — and as Blanche contends bipartisan blowback over now-abandoned plans to launch a $1.8 billion fund awarding payouts to victims of “lawfare.”
It also comes as Bondi has continued to face scrutiny of her own for how she facilitated the release of the Epstein files, which came only after prolonged delays and botched or incomplete redactions.
According to a transcript released Thursday of Bondi’s hourslong interview with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its Epstein investigation, Bondi frequently said Blanche was in charge of the task and noted that “Blanche supervised [the] entire process” to fulfill requirements of the the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law passed by Congress in November that mandated the DOJ release materials in the case.
If there was any training for those completing the redactions, it would have been overseen by Blanche, Bondi told lawmakers. She also said it was Blanche’s responsibility to determine whether a document was privileged, Bondi told lawmakers.
“He was leading the Epstein matter and the release of everything from the beginning,” Bondi said, according to the transcript.
Bondi’s repeated invocation of her likely successor casts a new, potentially unflattering spotlight on Blanche as his fate in the top post at DOJ is uncertain, with early indications from key GOP senators that his path to confirmation could be tumultuous.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bondi was subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee in March to answer for the administration’s handling of the Epstein files, after five House Republicans voted with Democrats to force her testimony. Bondi was later ousted by Trump, and Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) downgraded her appearance to a transcribed interview, meaning it would not be videotaped nor conducted under oath.
Oversight Democrats quickly argued that, given Bondi’s remarks, the committee needed to hear from Blanche and suggested they could soon force a committee vote to subpoena his testimony as well. Blanche’s expected nomination to lead the Justice Department, coupled with the release of Bondi’s interview transcript, could amplify calls for Blanche to testify.
Despite Bondi’s departure from the administration, DOJ staff joined her for the interview last week, at times interjecting on her behalf. Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, maintained that she was there “to represent the interests of the DOJ and its interest in effectuating the Transparency Act.” DOJ has said it was not there to represent Bondi in a personal capacity.
But during the interview, Dhillon reminded Bondi she could not discuss “protected communications” and asserted that inquiries were beyond the agreed upon scope of the conversation. She also noted that Bondi’s appearance on Capitol Hill was a voluntary interview — not a deposition — so Bondi did not need to assert a privilege in declining to answer a question.
Other than Bondi’s multiple references to Blanche, her transcribed interview appeared to offer little in the way of new, bombshell information about the administration’s handling of the Epstein case.
Bondi could not recall who managed the process that led to a July 2025 memo on Epstein that sparked immediate outrage in the case. That unsigned memo from the DOJ and FBI stated that authorities did not have a so-called client list, nor did they plan to release further information about the Epstein case. Many accused the administration at that time of reneging on its promise of transparency, laying the groundwork for eventual passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Bondi also declined to give a status update on the case out of the Southern District of New York, where she had directed the U.S. attorney’s office to continue to investigate the Epstein matter — instead referring questions on the matter to Blanche or U.S. attorney Jay Clayton.
When asked about a conversation she had with Trump, in which she reportedly told him he was mentioned in the Epstein files, Bondi refused to speak about any potential conversation with the president. At one point, Bondi invoked “privilege” over her conversations with Trump; when pressed about the nature of that privilege, Dhillon said those kinds of questions were non-starters.
“We’re not going to get into any conversations that the former Attorney General had with other senior members of the — executive members of the White House and the immediate staff of the President,” Dhillon said to the Oversight Committee, according to the transcript.
Bondi did, however, provide details on the White House Situation Room meeting between top administration officials and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who was one of few House Republicans who signed onto the discharge petition that forced a floor vote on the Epstein files transparency bill.
The former attorney general quibbled, however, with the characterization that the topic of the meeting was to lobby Boebert against the bill, saying she “recall[ed] the discussion with her was the concern about passing the bill would jeopardize the identity of victims. Which is exactly what ended up happening after the bill was passed; victims’ names were inadvertently released. I recall the topic being protecting victims.”
Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley rescheduled a planned vote on Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general late Friday in a preemptive move as negotiations between the Trump administration and GOP holdouts continue.
The vote, now set for Tuesday after a scheduled Thursday vote was postponed, isn’t an indication that a deal allowing for Blanche’s confirmation is near, so much as it is a nod to Judiciary Committee rules that require three days of notice for a panel meeting.
There is no sign that President Donald Trump is about to acquiesce to the unflinching demands of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who wants a controversial settlement agreement between Trump and the IRS substantially pared back.
Cornyn, who lost his primary to a Trump-endorsed candidate, wants the Justice Department to nullify a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and limit the scope of a tax audit immunity component of the pact.
Trump told reporters earlier Friday the fund is “dead” but added “I wish it weren’t.”
“I’d like to see them compensated,” he added, referring to people he considers victims of government abuse, including participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
To advance Tuesday, Blanche needs to pick up Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), another senator on the panel with similar concerns. He can’t lose any GOP votes if he wants to be reported favorably out of the Judiciary Committee.
“Chairman Grassley wants Todd Blanche’s nomination to be successful,” said a Judiciary Committee spokesperson, who declined to be named. “Noticing the markup gives more time for the White House to secure the votes for the President’s nominee. Grassley would like to see Blanche confirmed before the August recess as he has an excellent record restoring law and order and keeping Americans safe.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is zeroing in on one of House Republicans’ biggest contests — a purple district in Nebraska — when he starts his recess campaign sprint.
Scalise will travel to Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District in the Omaha area for an event with Republican Brinker Harding in the coming days, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to share plans not yet made public. Republicans are digging in to defend the seat, which Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential race and is among Democrats’ best pick up opportunities this fall as they seek to flip the House.
Harding is running against Democratic consultant Denise Powell to replace retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. Bacon, a moderate-leaning Republican, flipped the Omaha district red in 2016.
After Nebraska, Scalise is planning to travel across the country throughout August, including to defend GOP incumbents Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ and Zach Nunn’s key battleground seats in Iowa’s 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts and Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
He’ll boost candidates working to flip blue districts like Laurie Buckhout in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, Derek Merrin in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District and Mike LiPetri in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
Scalise also plans to travel to Michigan, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas for campaign events over the August recess.
President Donald Trump goaded John Cornyn on social media Friday morning, accusing the Texas senator of withholding his vote on Todd Blanche’s attorney general nomination in retaliation for Trump’s central role in his political demise.
Cornyn, who lost his May primary to Texas’ scandal-ridden attorney general, the Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton, has threatened to block Blanche’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee until the White House promises to permanently shelve its $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” in writing — something Trump appears unwilling to do.
“John Cornyn never had a problem with the so called “Fund,” which will not benefit me, but rather the great American Patriots who were hunted down like dogs and whose lives were unfairly and illegally destroyed by the Crooked Joe Biden Administration, until after I decided to Endorse and Support his Republican Primary opponent in Texas, who easily won the Nomination for the United States Senate,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Several Republicans bristled at the fund, which could have been deployed to compensate Americans who faced charges after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and which gives the president and his family audit immunity over taxes. At his July confirmation hearing, Blanche said that the fund, part of a settlement the president reached with the IRS, was defunct. But the administration has been “reluctant to change” the text of the settlement, Cornyn told reporters Thursday.
Trump signaled his continued support for the Jan 6 rioters on Friday.
“I will always feel that these victims of government abuse should be paid back for what they were forced to endure, their lives have been ruined!” he wrote. “Millions of people agree with me, as was proven in my landslide Presidential win, where this was a major subject of debate, and so did John Cornyn, until he lost his Election to an opponent that I Endorsed.”
On Thursday, the president suggested that he could punt a Senate vote on Blanche until after Cornyn — and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — leaves the chamber at the end of the year. Cornyn, however, suggested on social media that there are other Republican senators with concerns about the fund.
“After the midterms, who knows who’s going to be the next United States senator from North Carolina or Texas?” Cornyn told reporters.
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