‘Exactly what we should have done’: Deputy AG defends Bondi hearing, calling Democratic walkout a ‘stunt’ that ignores victim privacy

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche criticized Democratic lawmakers for walking out of a closed-door briefing on Wednesday with him and Attorney General Pam Bondi. He called the move a “stunt,” firmly defending the decision to keep the meeting private to protect victims.

Per The Hill, the two Trump officials were there to brief the House Oversight Committee on the Justice Department’s (DOJ) ongoing investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Things got heated pretty quickly with Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) over how the forum should run, and about 30 minutes in, the Democrats decided to make their exit.

Blanche told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, that the closed-door format was the right call. “So, you want to talk about victims, you want to talk about mistakes that you think this department made, let’s do it,” he said. “Ask any question you want, and we’ll answer it.” He then questioned the practicality of their concerns: “Do you think we should have had a meeting open to the public when we’re going to talk about concerns they have over redactions and our process?” 

All Trump officials seem to have a knack for twisting the narrative

On the other side, Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was not impressed with the meeting, labeling it a “fake briefing” and “shameful” on Thursday. He believes Bondi is trying to avoid a proper, sworn deposition. 

Comer has been leading Congress’s investigation into documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and he’s been busy requesting congressional testimony from several high-profile individuals whose names pop up in those files. He even subpoenaed Bondi to testify under oath next month about the DOJ investigation. 

Democrats, however, were worried that Wednesday’s closed-door meeting with Bondi and Blanche might somehow replace that scheduled deposition. After the briefing, Comer even stated he didn’t “see any reason for [Bondi] to do a deposition,” which I imagine didn’t sit well with the Democrats.

One of the big sticking points for Oversight Democrats has been their argument that the DOJ didn’t handle the redaction process properly when they released files related to the Epstein probe. Blanche addressed these concerns head-on, stating that the Trump administration has made all redacted names available to Congress. 

Blanche acknowledged “some complaints” from lawmakers about errors. “When complaints were identified, no problem, we will address it and we will fix it,” he told Cuomo. He explained that the “narrative putting things up on your screen that show big chunks of redactions, that’s what happens in sex trafficking cases.”

 It sounds like they’re dealing with a lot of sensitive material, and he stressed that “That’s what happens when women who were abused and tell their stories to the FBI come in and tell them, there are large pages that are redacted, as the law requires.” It’s a tough balance between transparency and protecting victims.