Attorney General Pam Bondi is now being accused of protecting elites by the same group of lawmakers who recently forced the Justice Department to dump records related to infamous child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, warning her that she could be subject to daily fines for contempt of Congress if the files remain under heavy redactions. The criticism exploded after the DOJ put out a batch of Epstein material that many on the left claim reveals little about the powerful individuals allegedly connected to the deceased billionaire’s sex trafficking operation, with increasingly anti-Trump Thomas Massie, regarded by many in MAGA as a RINO for his attacks on the president, leading the charge.
Members of Congress from both the Democratic and Republican parties are saying that the most damaging information is still being kept under lock and key in unpublished FBI interview memos with Epstein’s victims and witnesses. “This is where the survivors have named other men who either raped them or visited Epstein’s rape island or covered up the abuse,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA.), a sponsor of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, told the media.
“What the American people want to know is, Who are these other powerful financiers and powerful politicians who trafficked these women, or abused these women as girls or covered it up?” he continued. “That is in those witness interviews, the FBI interview memorandum. They have not released a single one.” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the top GOP cosponsor of the legislation, played an integral part in applying pressure to the administration and has leveled accusations at the DOJ of defying Congress in order to protect high-profile individuals.
“Right now the DOJ is violating the law to protect those individuals,” Massie said, according to Trending Politics News. “We will first pursue all options to force the DOJ to release those names, and several options remain.” One of the options Massie outlined includes reading names into the Congressional Record, a move that is protected from the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause. The tactic was most famously employed in 1971, when then-Sen. Mike Gravel used it to release the Pentagon Papers.
Massie then stated that the FBI is in possession of a series of documents that identify 20 powerful men who are connected to Epstein’s operation. During a hearing in September, he revealed the name of one such individual, former CEO of Barclays, Jes Staley, who later stepped down from his position. “To be clear, I do not have the names myself. They reside with the survivors and their lawyers,” he explained.
The Kentucky Republican previously stated that the list includes a hotshot Hollywood producer, a royal prince, a major banker, a former politician, a figure from the music industry, a rock star, a magician, and a total of six billionaires, one of which comes from Canada. Khanna stated that he’s currently putting together a resolution that would provide Bondi with a 30-day period to comply before she would begin to receive fines of $5,000 a day for contempt of Congress.
“I don’t want to embarrass Pam Bondi. I want to embarrass the Epstein class that visited Epstein’s rape island and raped these young girls,” Khanna explained. He believes the measure has a real chance of being passed, thanks in large part to the interest of Republicans, stating that the goal is not political theater as many critics have assumed, but to apply pressure to the administration. “The goal is to raise the pressure so that she does the right thing and releases the documents that the survivors want to see and that the law requires,” he added.
"*" indicates required fields
Bondi isn’t taking the matter lightly, offering pushback by saying, “The Department of Justice previously stated we will bring charges against anyone involved in the trafficking and exploitation of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. We reaffirm this commitment.” The attorney general then encouraged victims to come forward, saying both the DOJ and FBI would launch investigations right away.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video