President Donald Trump fired Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday and named his former personal lawyer, Deputy AG Todd Blanche, to serve as the acting chief of the Justice Department. This comes after reports stated that Trump was frustrated with Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files and her failure to successfully prosecute several perceived Trump political foes.
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country.”
Bondi “will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector to be announced at a date in the near future,” the president said.
Why Trump fired Todd Blanche
Bondi has been under fire from some Trump supporters for her handling of the release of the Justice Department files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The Epstein affair has been a major political liability for Trump, who was a longtime friend of the disgraced financier.
Bondi has also reportedly drawn Trump’s ire by falling short with efforts to prosecute perceived Trump opponents such as former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
According to The New York Times, Trump may name former Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to be the next attorney general.
What Todd Blanche, Lee Zeldin have said about the Epstein files
As scrutiny over the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files intensified, comments from Blanche, and a separate controversy involving Lee Zeldin, have surfaced.
Blanche, defending the department’s approach in a recent podcast interview, pushed back against claims that authorities have ignored victims or failed to act. “I’m not trying to defend Epstein. I’m not,” Blanche said. “I do defend the work that that this department is doing today, right now, which is going after every single perpetrator anywhere. And if there’s a narrative that exists that we’re ignoring Epstein victims, that is false.”
Pressed on why more prosecutions have not followed, he pointed to a lack of actionable proof. “Well, because you need provable evidence. And so what I can do as the deputy general is invite anybody with evidence to come to the FBI and tell us, which is what we’ve been screaming from the rooftops for a year.”
Blanche also dismissed several widely circulated conspiracy theories tied to Epstein. Addressing one line of questioning, he clarified: “I think there was all kinds of references to sexual, to underage women in the files, which is why Epstein was such a disgusting man. But that’s a different question. Do I believe that there’s any validity to the Pizzagate conspiracy? I do not.”
Lee Zeldin controversy
Separately, confusion surrounding the Epstein name recently drew attention on Capitol Hill, indirectly linking to former Congressman Lee Zeldin. During a House session, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett cited campaign donations made to Zeldin by “Jeffrey Epstein” – referring to contributions listed in Federal Election Commission records from 2020.
However, it was later clarified that the donor was not the convicted financier but a Long Island neurosurgeon who shares the same name.
The doctor, caught in the mix-up, responded with humor. “I think that I should contribute money to Jasmine Crockett and then let everybody know that she also took money from Jeffrey Epstein.”
He also expressed frustration at the sudden attention his name had attracted. “Until she said something, it was never an issue,” Dr Jeffrey Epstein told the NY Post.
Describing past reactions to his name, he added: “I say my name and sometimes people will give me a look, or whatever,” and, “I always look at them and say, ‘I don’t understand’, and I make it like I’m dumb. Listen, that’s my name.”
Reflecting on the broader awkwardness, he said, “Listen, anytime a doppelganger is tied to a less-than-desirable, it’s never a good situation,” before adding, “But it doesn’t matter to me. I couldn’t care less. The only thing that bothers me about having the name Jeffrey Epstein is people like you calling me to ask me these questions.”
