‘Left Him Holding The Bag’: Dem Lawmaker Says Bondi Blamed Todd Blanche ‘For Everything’ in Epstein Hearing

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) told CNN’s Kate Bolduan on Friday that former Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “for everything” at her recent hearing surrounding Jeffrey Epstein.

Bondi spoke before the House Oversight Committee last week for a long-awaited interview on her handling of the DOJ’s release of documents relating to Epstein.

Bondi denied blaming Blanche for the majority of the Justice Department’s deeply flawed action around Epstein, after Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) accused her of passing the buck to Blanche.

“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,” Bondi wrote on X.

The transcript of her appearance, released on Thursday, tells a different story.

“Todd Blanche supervised that entire process,” claimed Bondi when asked about her role in releasing the files, later adding, “He was leading the Epstein matter and the release of everything from the beginning.”

Bondi said Blanche “oversaw the entire investigation” and answered a slew of questions about Epstein by claiming Blanche would know.

Boldaun asked Krishnamoorthi for his opinion on Bondi’s appearance, questioning him on whether the former AG blamed her successor.

“Oh, she absolutely blamed him,” he said.

Krishnamoorthi continued:

She left him holding the bag. She basically said that he handled the entire kind of disclosure or non-disclosure of the Epstein files, which is, you know, in contravention of the law. She said she read about the whole Ghislaine Maxwell situation online with regard to her transfer to a low security prison. So, I think that it’s fair to say that she blames Todd Blanche for everything. And that’s, in part, why I believe Todd Blanche needs to answer these questions. I think he’s not really fit to be the attorney general in light of this whole Epstein debacle, as well as the anti-weaponization fund, which we can talk about later, too.

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he would nominate his acting AG for the permanent role, which does not appear to have full support from his party.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) claimed it was “hard to say” whether he would approve the nomination, while Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he needed Blanche to condemn Jan. 6 insurrectionists who assaulted police, or else the acting AG wouldn’t “have a prayer of my vote.”

Watch above via CNN.

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