Bondi Tells Lawmakers She Was 'Not Certain' of Trump's Knowledge of Epstein's Crimes

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before House lawmakers on Friday for a closed-door transcribed interview on Capitol Hill, in which she declined to address questions about President Donald Trump's involvement in the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case files. When directly asked whether Trump had prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes, Bondi gave an answer that stopped short of a denial — one that Democratic members said left key questions unanswered.

Democratic Rep James Walkinshaw of Virginia said he asked Bondi whether Trump had any knowledge of Epstein's crimes before they became public. Reading from his notes of the exchange, Walkinshaw told reporters that Bondi's response was, 'I'm not certain of the extent of his knowledge.' It was among the few direct responses Bondi gave on the subject of the president at all.

'Not Answering Any Questions'

Democratic lawmakers said that Bondi told them she would not speak about the president during the interview and, consulting with a lawyer from the Department of Justice, cited her ability to decline questions because she agreed to appear before the committee voluntarily.

Rep Robert Garcia of California told reporters after a break in the session that he personally asked the former attorney general five times, framed five different ways, about her conversations with Trump — whether he directed her at any point on the Epstein files, what he knew, and what he asked her to redact or not. According to Garcia, Bondi refused every time, saying she would 'not speak to or respond to any questions having anything to do with President Trump.'

Democratic Rep Dave Min, on the other hand, said: 'It's a sham in there. They are not answering any questions.'

Bondi Defends the Administration

In her opening statement, Bondi took a firm stance in favour of the Trump administration's record on the matter. 'The bottom line is: justice and transparency in this matter have been delivered at the direction of President Trump and his administration,' she said, according to a written copy of the statement.

Bondi said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general, had overseen the process to release the Epstein case files as mandated by a law passed by Congress and signed by Trump last year. She also referred questions about Epstein convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell's prison transfer to Todd Blanche, and confirmed that the DOJ held six million Epstein-related files, of which three million had been released.

Bondi confirmed she has never met with an Epstein survivor.

Maxwell and the Prison Transfer

The session also touched on Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and convicted accomplice. Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein but has maintained she is innocent, arguing she should not have been prosecuted. The Justice Department moved her from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas last August.

That transfer had already drawn scrutiny from House Democrats. In a letter sent to Bondi and Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall in August 2025, Rep Jamie Raskin and Judiciary Committee Democrats said Maxwell's transfer gave the strong appearance that the Trump administration was attempting to conceal the full extent of its relationship with Epstein. Bondi, at Friday's session, said she was not aware of and had no involvement in that decision.

Democrats Walk Away Unsatisfied

Democratic lawmakers left the session, calling it 'disappointing' and 'unimpressive.' Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari said, 'This entire Epstein investigation led by Chairman Comer has been absurd.'

Rep Melanie Stansbury said the meeting was 'a smokescreen to avoid Bondi testifying under oath,' and that 'DOJ attorneys are acting as her personal attorneys.'

Epstein survivor Liz Stein, who was present outside the Rayburn House Office Building ahead of the session, said the issue should not be reduced to partisan politics. 'This isn't a partisan issue; it's a crime, and criminals must be held accountable,' she said. 'Not believing the survivors creates a culture of silence.'

The closed-door interview was part of a broader congressional effort to determine how the Trump administration handled the mandated release of the Epstein case files — a process that was delayed and at points included personal details of potential victims. Bondi's ambiguous statement on Trump's prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes, combined with her blanket refusal to address other questions about the president, raises questions about how much of the full picture lawmakers — and the public — will ultimately be allowed to see.