U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi promised over the weekend to get “every document” regarding the late financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein following reports last week that an FBI field office was withholding “thousands” of them.
Bondi revealed in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that she had been told by sources that FBI agents in the New York field office were withholding “thousands” of Epstein-related documents after she requested that all materials related to the late convicted pedophile be turned over to her for eventual release.
In her letter, she did not blame Patel, who was sworn in as FBI Director on February 21, and acknowledged that her request for the documents predated his arrival.
“Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein’s list of contacts, and a list of victims’ names and phone numbers,” she wrote.
“Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files. When you and I spoke yesterday, you were just as surprised as I was to learn this new information,” the Attorney General said, giving Patel a hard deadline of last Friday to obtain all requested records and deliver them to her office.
It’s not clear that the deadline was met, but during an appearance on Fox News with host Mark Levin over the weekend, Bondi was asked about the situation and how she planned to resolve it.
“I think the American people are very curious about who’s on this list or these lists. You’ve been doggedly trying to get all the information. And now we learn, thanks to you, that you have been stonewalled by people in New York. You want to explain that?” Levin asked.
“So, as you know, we released about 120 pages of documents. And I started asking for these documents right when I came into office, before Kash Patel was in there. So, I ended up getting about 120 pages,” Bondi began. “We carefully redacted them, of course, to be sure the 254 young girls, women who were victims of sex crimes and sex trafficking, their personal information was redacted and out of there to protect them.
“So I’m going through it and I kept saying, ‘There has to be more, there has to be more.’ I am assured that is it. Kash asked the same questions, assured there is no more,” Bondi, who previously served as the Florida attorney general, continued. “I found out this week that — a source told me New York, SDNY, they are sitting on thousands of pages of documents regarding Epstein, thousands. Thousands.
“And of course, you’ve seen the very strong letter. We will get everything. We will have it in our possession. We will redact it, of course, to protect grand jury information and confidential witnesses, but the American people have a right to know. And Donald Trump is the most transparent president in our nation’s history. So not only will America get the full Epstein files, they will get JFK, they’ll get Martin Luther King,” Bondi said, referencing an executive order by the president directing all information related to those cases be publicly released.
Levin responded: “Well, that is fantastic, but I assume the Southern District of New York is or has been holding onto this information for a reason. That is, they do not like the names on the list. And of course, we know New York is a hotbed of the Democrat Party, and that includes legal circles. Do you think that’s part of the issue here, that they are trying to protect a lot of names and individuals?”
“I have not reviewed the information yet,” Bondi replied. “As a lawyer, as a prosecutor, I want to review everything before I make a firm conclusion. But I think it’s very interesting that they withheld that from us. And I will find out who withheld that, and they will not be working for us anymore.”
Levin then said, “So once all that is gathered, you’re just going to put out in the public with the obvious and necessary redactions, including the people who were the victims and the phone numbers and so forth. But for the perpetrators, I assume we will see those names, yes?”
“Well, certainly. Nothing can be withheld on that. Of course, as you note, grand jury information, anything confidential will be withheld under the law,” the AG said. “And we are going to do everything in our power to protect the victims so they’re not further victimized also.”
