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Garcia says DOJ stopped Bondi from discussing Trump at Epstein hearing
STORY: :: Garcia says the DOJ stopped Pam Bondi from answering questions about Trump in her Epstein testimony
:: Washington, D.C. / May 29, 2026
:: Rep. Robert Garcia, (D) California
"It is clear injustice this, this part of the interview that she continues to push all of the investigation and the blame on acting AG Todd Blanche, she said, and I quote, 'acting AG Blanche was managing the entire investigation,' end quote. // I also personally asked the former AG five times and five different questions about her conversations with President Trump, whether he directed her any, at any given time on the Epstein files, what he knew, what he asked her to redact or not, and she refused to answer any questions about President Trump. In fact, she said that she would not speak or respond to any questions that had anything to do with President Trump. It's also interesting that sitting next to her is DOJ counsel, somebody that currently works for the Department of Justice who on multiple occasions stepped in and told the former attorney general that she was not going to answer those questions. And especially when we ask questions of what the president directed her to do. And so the DOJ is in there right now, stopping questions about President Trump and about what happened in the release of these files. And why so many survivors were doxed and their information, of course, released to the public."
Under Bondi, the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of records but faced criticism for holding some of that material from the public. DOJ officials said they would not release information that exposed victims or compromised ongoing investigations, but Democrats and some Republicans accused Bondi of trying to shield President Donald Trump from scrutiny. Trump opposed the release of the information until shortly before Congress overwhelmingly passed a law ordering their release.
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 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
He 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.