Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has made an effort to distance himself from the scandal that helped cost his predecessor her job: The Justice Department’s handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Blanche, hours after taking the reins as the nation’s acting top prosecutor, insisted it’s time for the DOJ to move on from the scrutiny that has plagued the DOJ’s release of documents related to years of investigations into Epstein and his co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“I think that to the extent that the Epstein files was a part of the past year of this Justice Department, it … should not be a part of anything going forward,” Blanche said Thursday in an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
Blanche said the DOJ “has now released all the files with respect to the Epstein saga.” But even according to his own statements, that’s not true. He said in January that the DOJ had reviewed — but would not release — millions of pages of files that he has claimed are protected by one or more privileges. But p does not give the DOJ any right to hold back documents on privilege grounds or for reasons other than those expressly mentioned in the law itself.
President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Bondi followed frustration over her failure to successfully prosecute his perceived political enemies and enforce his policy agenda. She also faced bipartisan backlash over her department’s handling of the Epstein files.
The DOJ missed a congressionally mandated Dec. 19 deadline by months for the full release of the Epstein files. The law required redactions to protect victim identities, but left no room for redactions that protected the identities of powerful individuals. Bondi justified her department’s failure to comply with the release deadline by saying the department was working around the clock to ensure victim identities were properly protected.
But MS NOW’s review of the documents released by the DOJ found that despite Bondi’s vow, and sworn obligation, to protect the identities of victims, the DOJ has produced troves of documents revealing the names and other identifying details of Epstein’s known survivors.
Survivors, as well as their legal teams and families, have since publicly condemned the botched redactions. In a combative, hourslong hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in February, Bondi defended the DOJ’s release of the files but refused to stand to apologize to survivors sitting in the hearing audience.
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Those survivors had previously disclosed that documents released by the DOJ included their real names and, in some instances, nude images without adequate redaction. Meanwhile, the identities of powerful men remained largely shielded.
Blanche was also present at the House Oversight hearing, which he pointed to as evidence of full transparency related to the files in his Wednesday interview with Watters.
But Blanche’s and Bondi’s testimonies did little to assuage lawmakers’ concerns about releasing the files. Ahead of her dismissal, Bondi was formally subpoenaed by Kentucky Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, to testify before the committee as part of its ongoing investigation into the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files.
The subpoena marked a sign of the growing tensions between Bondi and her fellow Republicans. Whether Bondi has to appear before the House Oversight Committee for her deposition on April 14 remains to be decided. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican on the committee who pushed to subpoena Bondi, celebrated her firing in a post on X on Wednesday.
It’s unclear how long Blanche will helm the DOJ, with rumors already swirling about who Trump will formally appoint to replace Bondi, but it’s clear he wants his time as acting attorney general to be free of the ongoing Epstein files saga.
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.