WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer questions from Congress on whether President Donald Trump was aware of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's activities that led to his criminal indictments or whether he directed her to redact Justice Department files that were made public, Democratic lawmakers said on Friday.
In a closed-door interview before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on Friday, Bondi also said Todd Blanche, who now serves as acting attorney general, had been responsible for the documents' release.
"I did not lead every aspect of this effort or conduct that document review myself. I delegated oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche," Bondi said in a prepared statement obtained by Reuters.
Bondi later said that she backed Blanche in her testimony. "I praised Acting AG Blanche’s management of this Herculean task. I said his ethics are beyond reproach and that he is an incredible Attorney General," she wrote on X.
Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters Bondi refused to answer questions pertaining to Trump, saying aJustice Department lawyer sitting next to her "stepped in and told the former attorney general that she was not going to answer those questions."
Under her tenure, the Justice Department said it would not release information that exposed victims or compromised ongoing investigations.
Bondi faced sharp criticism from Democrats and some Republicans during her tenure for her handling of the release of millions of documents related to Epstein.
Democrats and some Republicans accused Bondi of trying to shield Trump from scrutiny. Trump opposed the release of the information until shortly before Congress overwhelmingly passed a law ordering its release.
Democratic Representative Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said Bondi told the committee that the Justice Department has released 3 million out of 6 million Epstein-related documents."This is a cover-up," she said.
In her opening statement to the panel, Bondi acknowledged "redaction errors" but did not detail those mistakes. She also defended the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case and the release of the documents.
"To the best of my knowledge, the departmentproduced everything required," she said in her statement, which was obtained by Reuters.
The interview with Bondi concluded without her speaking to reporters gathered outside the committee room.
Before Bondi's testimony began, Chairman James Comer of Kentucky told reporters: "We will be asking today about why documents still are not released ... what documents remain and why they haven't been turned over."
Trump fired Bondi on April 2, in part due to her handling of the Epstein files.
Trump and Epstein socialized in the 1990s and early 2000s, but Trump has repeatedly said he ended the relationship before Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 tosoliciting prostitution from a minor.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 and charged with sex trafficking of minors, accused of recruiting and abusing underage girls in New York and Florida. His death that year in a New York jail cell was ruled a suicide.
The Epstein files revealed the financier's ties to powerful people including Trump,former President Bill Clinton and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York. All have said they had no knowledge of Epstein's alleged sex trafficking.
Garcia criticized Comer's decision to not videotape Bondi's interview, which he said would have allowed the public to gauge her demeanor.
One survivor of Epstein's abuse also was on hand to criticize Bondi's handling of the material.
"It boggles my mind that the Department of Justice released nude photos...the Department of Justice released pornography. That is unacceptable," survivor Sharlene Rochard told reporters outside the committee hearing room.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Doina Chiacu and Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)
