By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) – A Republican U.S. lawmaker on Wednesday accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of concealing the names of powerful associates of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as she faced questions about the Justice Department’s handling of investigative files in a charged hearing before a House of Representatives panel.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, who helped lead the effort to require the files’ release, accused the Justice Department of a “massive failure” to comply with the law as he questioned why billionaire Leslie Wexner’s name was redacted in an FBI document listing potential co-conspirators in the sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.
Bondi said Wexner’s name appeared numerous times in other files the department released and that the DOJ unredacted his name on the document “within 40 minutes” of Massie spotting it.
“Forty minutes of me catching you red-handed,” Massie replied.
LAWMAKERS COMPLAIN OF EXCESSIVE REDACTIONS
Bondi had a series of other heated confrontations with members of the House Judiciary Committee who expressed frustration with the amount of Epstein material the department has redacted and withheld. Several victims of Epstein’s alleged crimes watched from the public gallery.
The Justice Department released what it called a final tranche of more than 3 million pages of documents late last month, drawing renewed attention to wealthy and powerful individuals who maintained ties with Epstein even after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Lawmakers have complained that redactions in the files appear to go beyond the limited exemptions allowed in a law Congress passed nearly unanimously in November. The department has also declined to publish a large volume of material, citing legal privileges.
Bondi responded to the criticism in many cases with personal attacks and insults directed at lawmakers. Flipping through a binder, she accused Democrats of being indifferent to crime victims in their districts and called the panel’s top Democrat a “washed-up lawyer,” a notably partisan tone from the chief law enforcement officer in the U.S.
Bondi said more than 500 Justice Department lawyers worked on a compressed timeline to review reams of material. Any disclosure of victims’ identities was inadvertent, she said.
“I have spent my entire career fighting for victims, and I will continue to do so,” Bondi said in her opening statement.
Wexner, a former CEO and founder of Victoria’s Secret-owner L Brands, hired Epstein as his personal money manager starting in the 1980s. He has accused Epstein of using his money to buy properties and goods and says he severed ties around 2007, after Epstein was first criminally charged. Wexner has denied knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.
BONDI BLASTS ‘THEATRICS’
The Epstein files have dogged Bondi throughout her tenure as Trump’s attorney general. The Justice Department’s decision last summer to initially not release further material sparked a furious reaction from some of Trump’s online supporters. It drew new scrutiny to Trump’s past friendship with Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal, of Washington, asked Bondi to apologize to victims of Epstein’s alleged crimes for the department’s rollout of the files, including the disclosure of victims’ names in some cases.
Bondi questioned why Jayapal had not asked the same question of her predecessor under Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration and said she would not “get in the gutter for her theatrics.”
Bondi’s appearance before the Republican-controlled panel came the day after a federal grand jury declined to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a video they made urging the U.S. military not to comply with unlawful orders.
The department’s tradition of independence in criminal investigations has eroded as it has pursued investigations into Trump’s political adversaries and aligned with his grievances.
It unsuccessfully sought to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, two officials who led investigations into Trump.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Stephen Coates, Rod Nickel and David Gregorio)
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