Pam Bondi is facing mounting scrutiny over her handling of the “Epstein files,” after the Justice Department released a memo last week stating that no new information will be disclosed.
The Attorney General has been under fire since February, when she teased the release of “a lot of names, a lot of information” related to Epstein’s clients, but there were no bomb shell revelations.
Jeffrey Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls in the early 2000s. The case drew widespread attention, in part because of Epstein and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's links to royals, presidents and billionaires.
During his campaigning last year, Donald Trump promised to release files relating to the late sex offender, sparking frustration and disappointment when nothing materialised.
Who is Pam Bondi?
Pam Bondi is the 87th Attorney General of the United States.
The US Attorney General represents the nation in legal matters and provides advice to the President and heads of executive departments.
Born in Tampa, Bondi is a fourth-generation Floridian. Her mother, Patsy, was an elementary school teacher and her father, Joseph, was the mayor of Temple Terrace, Florida, in the 1970s. She has two siblings.
Bondi studied criminal justice and law, then worked as a prosecutor for over 18 years, trying cases that included domestic violence and capital murder.
In 2010, she became Florida’s first female Attorney General, serving for two terms from 2011 to 2019.
During this time, Bondi unsuccessfully brought cases that sought to maintain the state’s ban on same-sex marriage and undermine the Affordable Care Act.
On November 21 2024, Trump named Bondi as his US attorney general. She received a 54-46 vote from the Senate.
Is she married and does she have children?
Bondi has kept her personal life largely out of the public eye. She doesn’t have children and while she has a partner, it’s not publicly known whether they are married.
Bondi was married to Garret Barnes from 1990 to 1992. In 1996, she married Scott Fitzgerald, but the couple divorced six years later.
In 2012, Bondi got engaged to an ophthalmologist named Greg Henderson. However, the pair never married, and are thought to have split in 2015.
In 2017, a new man appeared on Bondi’s Instagram: John Wakefield, a founding principal at Varner Wakefield Equity Partners, a private equity firm specialising in US real estate investments.
Wakefield has three children from an earlier relationship. In his Instagram bio, he writes: "My three monster children are roaming the world."
Trump has reportedly referred to Wakefield as Bondi’s husband, however neither of them have confirmed him.
What has she said about the Epstein files ?
“A lot of names”
Earlier this year, Pam Bondi confirmed plans to release fresh information about people associated with Jeffrey Epstein.
"I think tomorrow ... you're going to see some Epstein information being released by my office," she told Fox News on February 26.
“What you’re going to see hopefully tomorrow is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information” on Epstein, she said, adding: “It’s pretty sick what that man did.”
Bondi had been facing mounting pressure from the press and lawmakers to release the names. The week before, when asked whether the justice department would be releasing Epstein’s client list, Bondi said: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump.”
The file flop
The US government released the first wave of the ‘Epstein files’ on February 27, however, no new bombshells were revealed.
Bondi was criticised for hyping up the documents, which didn’t contain information that wasn’t already publicly known.
She suggested in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that more records had recently been discovered.
Bondi ordered the FBI to hand over "the full and complete Epstein files" to her by the morning of February 28 and directed Patel to "conduct an immediate investigation" into why her order to the FBI to turn over all documents was not followed.
She claimed that the FBI subsequently handed over a “truckload” of evidence including thousands of pages of additional documents.
“No credible evidence”
Those documents, however, were never made public. On 7 July, the Justice Department released a memo stating that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
According to the two-page document, investigators found no “incriminating list” of clients and “no credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed high-profile individuals.
The revelation was met with frustration. Bondi was slammed by reporters about the decision, and some senior members of Trump’s base suggested that she should resign.
"I don't think they're telling us the truth about Epstein," said podcaster Brandon Tatum.
Journalist Megyn Kelly said: "Pam Bondi was either telling the truth then, or she's telling the truth now, but both cannot be true."
Bondi confirmed that she had no intention of stepping down.
“I’m going to be here for as long as the president wants me here,” Bondi said. “And I believe he’s made that crystal clear.”
She said that the memo “speaks for itself and we’ll get back to you on anything else.”
