Former US Attorney General Implicates Todd Blanche in Jeffrey Epstein File Scandal

Todd Blanche, the person chosen by President Donald Trump to lead the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), has been identified as the party fully responsible for the process of releasing the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s confidential documents. This information was revealed through a transcript of a closed interview between former Attorney General Pam Bondi and the US House Oversight Committee which was released recently. In her testimony, Bondi, who was sacked in early April, appeared to be trying to distance herself from the political fallout arising from the dispute over the handling of the files. “He is responsible for the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” Bondi said when asked about her institution’s role in complying with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Although the DOJ has released approximately 3 million documents, parliament continues to press for an explanation as to why another 3 million files have not yet been made public. Bondi argued that the remaining documents were duplicate copies or legally protected material. However, the claim drew bipartisan criticism in parliament, with members assessing that the government deliberately withheld documents, excessively censored material, and committed carelessness that caused the victims’ identities to leak. Bondi also affirmed that these redaction errors were under Blanche’s authority. Beyond the document issue, Bondi’s testimony also touched on the controversial transfer of Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas. The transfer was considered irregular for an inmate with a criminal record like Maxwell’s. Bondi asserted that she was not at all involved in that decision and only learned about it through media reports. The transfer itself occurred right after Todd Blanche conducted a two-day interview with Maxwell at a high-security prison in Florida. When asked about the connection between the two events, Bondi admitted she did not know. “I read it in the newspaper, or online, after it happened. I had nothing to do with it,” Bondi stated, adding that Maxwell was “a monster, just like Jeffrey Epstein” who should “die in prison” without receiving a presidential pardon. Meanwhile, the US House Oversight Committee also released an interview transcript with Tova Noel, the prison guard believed to be the last person to see Epstein alive before he committed suicide at a federal facility in New York in August 2019. Noel firmly denied various conspiracy theories alleging Epstein was murdered. “My only connection to Mr Epstein’s death was the coincidence that I was assigned to work overtime when he died… I did not conspire to cause Mr Epstein’s death,” Noel asserted, believing Epstein purely took his own life because there was no one else in the cell. Testimony from this series of interviews is predicted to complicate Todd Blanche’s senate confirmation process to become Attorney General, given that his name is now attached to two major controversies in the second period of the Trump administration: the handling of the Epstein files and the controversial ‘anti-lawfare’ compensation fund.