5 takeaways from Pam Bondis House Oversight Committee transcript in Epstein probe

The House Oversight Committee on Thursday released the transcript of former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s closed-door interview with lawmakers investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case.The 111-page transcription of Bondi’s May 29 interview, which was not recorded on video, shows the former attorney defending the Trump administration’s handling of files related to the notorious convicted sex offender, while refusing to answer numerous questions about any conversations she may have had with President Trump about the matter. Here are 5 key takeaways from the transcript: “As the head of a large department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort nor conduct that document review myself,” Bondi told congressional investigators.“I delegated that oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.” Blanche, who is now acting attorney general and Trump’s pick to lead the DOJ on a permanent basis, was mentioned by Bondi 96 times during the roughly four-hour-long hearing. “He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” the former attorney general said at another point in the hearing. Bondi noted that she was not trying to blame her successor for “anything” related to the handling of the documents.  “He managed this investigation — and it was a Herculean task — with very little error,” she said.

“And Todd did an excellent job, in my opinion, and is doing an excellent job as our Attorney General. “I’m not blaming anything on Todd.” The former attorney general insisted that she had “nothing to do with” Ghislaine Maxwell being moved to a cushy prison camp last year – days after Epstein’s convicted accomplice met with Blanche. “I read about it in the newspaper, or online, after it happened.I had nothing to do with that,” Bondi said. “I don’t want to speculate, but I believe it was for security reasons,” she added.

“You’d have to ask t...