‘The most egregious cover up in American history’: Lawmaker on Bondi hearing, Epstein files

[0:00] Former Attorney General Pam Bondi admits the Epstein files rollout wasn't perfect, [0:05] but she wants you to know it wasn't her fault. She said so during a voluntary closed-door [0:10] interview before the House Oversight Committee yesterday, and she appeared [0:14] to place blame squarely on the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the mishandling [0:20] of the Epstein files. Although she later disputed this characterization and said Blanche's ethics [0:25] are, quote, beyond reproach. During her prepared remarks, Bondi said that she, quote, [0:31] did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review herself, [0:37] adding that she delegated that process to Blanche. But current and former DOJ officials tell the New [0:43] York Times that, quote, not only was Bondi informed of every key development in the Epstein case, [0:49] but she also signed off on every major decision, including by issuing a memo in July 2025 [0:55] that formally ended the government's review of the files. Joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman [1:02] Yasmin Ansari of Arizona. She sits on the Oversight Committee and is one of the lawmakers who grilled [1:08] Bondi yesterday. So, Congresswoman, can you talk us through how this entire hearing unfolded, [1:16] starting from the agreement that Bondi apparently struck that this was not under subpoena? [1:24] First of all, thank you so much for having me. The crimes and corruption within the Trump [1:32] administration and this Department of Justice that has clearly been weaponized is so extreme. [1:37] Yesterday, Pam Bondi came before us for something called a transcribed interview, [1:42] which means that it was behind closed doors, she was not under oath, and there was no video [1:47] recording. We have issued a legal, lawful subpoena that Chairman Comer, the Republican chairman of the [1:54] Committee actually signed himself, that Pam Bondi was supposed to come before us under oath and answer [2:00] questions in front of the American people. What happened yesterday was a disgrace. She actually had [2:05] senior officials from the Department of Justice, basically there as her personal counsel, [2:10] whispering back and forth in her ear, telling her, you know, what to say, what not to say. She refused [2:15] to answer any questions pertaining to President Trump. And of course, she blamed the vast majority [2:21] and put responsibility of the mishandling of the Epstein files squarely into the hands of Todd Blanche, [2:29] but also Kash Patel. She mentioned his name a couple of times and some of the things that she had asked [2:35] from him as director of the FBI that he failed to do. To me, the entire thing was ridiculous. It is so [2:43] disgusting how the Trump administration has weaponized the Department of Justice and the way that [2:48] Republicans in Congress, led by James Comer and Mike Johnson, are enabling the most egregious cover-up in [2:55] American history. [2:57] Congresswoman, one of the things that was reported out of that hearing that you attended [3:02] was that apparently the former AG, Pam Bondi, said that she did not think that Donald Trump [3:09] should pardon Ghislaine Maxwell. According to the New York Post, Assistant Attorney General [3:14] Harmeet Dillon told the Post, following Bondi's four-hour transcribed interview before the House [3:18] Oversight Committee, that the 60-year-old also declared twice, in fact, that Maxwell, the accomplice [3:24] and occasional girlfriend of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, should not receive a presidential [3:29] pardon. What more can you tell us about the context in which those statements were apparently [3:35] made, that twice Pam Bondi said that Maxwell should not receive a pardon? And are you encouraged [3:42] by those comments from Bondi? [3:46] Well, there were several lines of questioning about Ghislaine Maxwell in particular, because, [3:51] of course, the entire circumstances around her transfer from a higher security prison to now a very [3:56] low and minimum security prison is very suspicious. And so we asked her about that and who made those [4:02] decisions. That is one of the areas in which she really talked about Todd Blanche and mentioned that [4:08] she didn't know, you know, how it came to be that Todd Blanche went to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, [4:15] whether Maxwell's team had reached out or the Department of Justice had reached out. [4:19] So, you know, she said it was he who decided to do so. He went and interviewed her. And then she said [4:25] she did not know how the decision came that she was moved and that we would have to ask the Bureau [4:32] of Prisons about that. So we, of course, probed on, you know, Ghislaine Maxwell and Bondi's opinion of [4:38] her. She did call Maxwell a monster. And, you know, I don't want to give her kudos. That is an obvious [4:46] statement. This is a person who was, you know, was convicted of child sex trafficking. And we know that [4:51] she was a monster. But I think what the, you know, the tension that this brings to light is that there [4:57] are many Republicans in Congress who haven't ruled out the idea of giving Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon. [5:04] Donald Trump himself has not ruled out giving Ghislaine Maxwell a pardon. And to me, the fact that [5:08] the president's former personal attorney, Todd Blanche, is responsible for, you know, the entirety [5:16] of this Epstein files coverup and saga and, you know, was involved in this interview, that's very, [5:23] very questionable to me. And I think all of this needs to be investigated. I think there are, you [5:28] know, avenues that we need to explore around prosecution of these individuals in the Department [5:32] of Justice. The fact that so many Jane Doe's identities were revealed in the rollout of the [5:40] Epstein files, to me, that is witness tampering. To me, that means that we are, you know, the Department [5:45] of Justice was trying to scare these survivors from speaking out. And now that I know that Todd Blanche [5:51] was running all of this, it makes all the more sense. Congresswoman, one of the things, just to set [5:56] the scene here, I want to acknowledge is that, yes, this was a Friday before a holiday weekend. And so [6:01] one of the fun stats is that there was exactly one Republican present, and it was James Comer, [6:07] who had to be there because he was the chairperson. So you're talking about political damage and the [6:11] political costs, potentially. What does it say to you that no other Republicans showed up? [6:19] It says everything that we need to know. Republicans do not give a damn about this investigation. They [6:23] never have. It's always been a spectacle to them. And now that they know, and it's so obvious that [6:30] a cover-up is underway, they don't want to take part. They've only taken part in the elements of [6:37] this investigation that have to do with trying to go after Democrats. There were over a dozen of [6:42] them in New York. I was in New York for, you know, the depositions of Secretary Clinton and former [6:50] President Bill Clinton. All of that was videotaped and released to the public. And all of these [6:55] Republicans felt the need to fly out and show up there. But none of them, other than the chairman, [7:01] showed up for the most important interview, arguably, that we've had with the former attorney [7:06] general who handled all of this. I think that just demonstrates it's a slap in the face to the [7:11] survivors. It's a slap in the face of this investigation. But my message to them is we're [7:16] not letting this go. This is just the beginning of this investigation. And accountability will come [7:22] for not only the people who perpetrated and enabled Epstein's crimes, but for the people [7:27] in the Trump administration and any other administration who were part of the cover-up. [7:33] Yeah, not wanting to even ask questions feels like a relevant fact in this whole scenario. [7:38] But Congressman Yasemin Ansari, thank you for answering our questions at the very least.