Republicans frustrated with Bondi over Epstein, Comey 'messes' at DOJ [View all]

Source: msn/The Hill

12h


Senate Republicans are venting their frustration over Attorney General Pam Bondi’s management of thousands of records related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and, more recently, mistakes made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in handling a controversial indictment against former FBI Director James Comey.

Several Republican senators say that controversies at the Justice Department under Bondi’s leadership have become a growing “distraction,” although GOP lawmakers acknowledge that Bondi has a tough job responding to the mercurial demands of President Trump. Their biggest gripe is with Bondi’s conflicting statements on the Epstein files, which they believe triggered the backlash from Trump’s MAGA base that put pressure on Congress to pass a law this past week requiring the Justice Department to release all unclassified files related to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.

GOP lawmakers think Bondi fueled the firestorm — which Democrats have delighted in stoking — by telling Fox News anchor John Roberts in February that Epstein’s client list was “sitting right now on my desk to review.” Months later, the Justice Department and FBI released an unsigned memo asserting there was “no incriminating ‘client list’” and that federal investigators “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” That memo provoked widespread skepticism and accusations that the Trump administration wasn’t being fully transparent.

“There’s a lot of frustration with the Epstein stuff. People thought the DOJ really mishandled that in general, and unnecessarily elevated that,” one GOP senator, who requested anonymity to discuss frustration with Bondi, told The Hill. The senator called Bondi’s statement to Fox News in February and the conflicting July memo an “unforced error.”

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/republicans-frustrated-with-bondi-over-epstein-comey-messes-at-doj/ar-AA1QWiUQ