Epstein Victims Torch Bondi Over Missing Files
The rebuke came as the Attorney General called for Epstein’s victims to come forward with information.
The victims of Jeffrey Epstein have sharply criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of the Epstein case, accusing the Justice Department of illegally withholding information from the public regarding the sex trafficker and his powerful network.
Days after the department released only a small portion of the information it possessed about Epstein and the government’s efforts to stop his heinous crimes, a group of 19 women who were abused by him lambasted the department for its inaction and violations of the law.
In a joint statement released Monday, the women pointed to a series of failures attributed to Bondi and her department: missing Friday’s deadline for releasing all the records, releasing heavily redacted documents, and omitting some victims’ names.
“We have been told that hundreds of thousands of pages of documents have still not been released,” they said. “These are blatant violations of the law.”
The statement added: “The victims and their representatives have not been contacted regarding the unreleased materials, the reasons why hundreds of thousands of documents were not made public within the legal timeframe, or the steps the Department of Justice is taking to prevent other victims from being wrongly identified.”
The statement continued: “While more transparent communication would not change the fact that the law has been violated, its absence suggests a continued willingness to keep the victims and the public in the dark for as long as possible.” This statement comes amid political fallout from the Epstein case. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a resolution Monday morning calling for the Justice Department to be held accountable for violating transparency laws in the Epstein case.
Donald Trump reluctantly signed the law last month, which mandates full disclosure of information, with few exceptions. In the House of Representatives, Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie – the two members of Congress who introduced the legislation – threatened Bundy with contempt of court charges and did not rule out impeachment proceedings next year.
Although Schumer’s resolution is unlikely to gain broad support in the Republican-controlled Senate, it is the latest sign that the storm that Trump and Bondi have weathered throughout the year is far from over.
The president was a long-time friend of the disgraced financier, and his name appears in several documents released to date, although references to him remain limited.
One document concerns a previous case against Ghislaine Maxwell, in which one of the victims testified that she was 14 years old when Epstein took her to Mar-a-Lago.
The document states: “Epstein nudged Trump playfully and, pointing to [Jane] Doe, asked, ‘She’s a good girl, isn’t she?’ Trump smiled and nodded in approval. They both laughed, and Doe felt uncomfortable, but at the time, she was too young to understand why.”
Trump also appeared in a photo with Epstein, which the Department of Justice quietly removed without explanation on Saturday, sparking outrage and accusations of a cover-up.
On Sunday afternoon, the Department of Justice announced that it had reposted the photo “without any modifications or deletions.”
The Department of Justice post on X, which included a link to the photo, stated: “The Southern District of New York provided a photo to President Trump for consideration of potential further action to protect victims.”
“As a precautionary measure, the Department of Justice temporarily removed the photo for further review.” After review, it was determined that there was no evidence to identify an Epstein victim in the photo, which was therefore republished without any modifications or deletions.” Among the survivors who signed the statement were Jess Michaels, who was raped by Epstein at age 19; Maria Farmer, who filed one of the first complaints against Epstein in the 1990s; Amanda and Skye Roberts, representing Skye’s late sister, Virginia Giuffre; and two women who wished to remain anonymous.
The statement also called for congressional oversight of the document release “to ensure that the Department of Justice fulfills its legal obligations.”
On Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch insisted that the department “has nothing to hide” and is fulfilling its obligations.
Bondi also wrote on X that his office is committed to prosecuting “anyone involved in the trafficking and exploitation of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims,” and urged victims to come forward and provide any information they have.
However, this statement drew sharp criticism, with many observers pointing out that the department had been in possession of the records since the beginning of the year. Indeed, Bondi had told Fox News in February that the list of Epstein’s clients “is currently sitting on my desk.”
