Trump Nominates Todd Blanche as Attorney General After Bondi Testifies He Oversaw Epstein Files Release Process

President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Todd Blanche as permanent Attorney General shortly after the House Oversight Committee released the transcript of former Attorney General Pam Bondi's May 29 closed-door hearing. Bondi testified that she delegated oversight of the Epstein files document review and release process to Blanche, who was then serving as Deputy Attorney General.

She stated that Blanche was in charge of the Epstein files release process from the beginning, including overseeing the redaction process, protocols, guidelines, privilege determinations, and corrections.

"As the head of a large department with broad responsibilities, I did not lead every aspect of this effort nor conduct that document review myself. I delegated that oversight over this process to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche," Bondi said during the hearing. Blanche has served as Acting Attorney General since April 2, when President Trump announced Bondi's dismissal.

He also announced during a hearing that the Justice Department will eliminate its Anti-Weaponization Fund. Bondi stated that the joint DOJ-FBI statement declaring no evidence of an Epstein client list was penned by Blanche. She also said Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell in prison weeks after the joint memo release.

Fox News reported that President Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. Bondi stated that Blanche oversaw the release of millions of documents after the act was signed. Fox News reported that a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter in March requesting that the Government Accountability Office investigate the Justice Department's redaction process for the Epstein files.

The letter stated that records disclosed were largely already public, that some were heavily redacted, and that several records appeared to have been removed without explanation. Bondi stated that the redaction error rate for the Epstein files was 1 percent and that Blanche managed the task with very little error.

" Bondi stated she was not blaming Blanche and praised his management of the Epstein files release.

After her testimony, she posted on X that she had praised Blanche's management and said his ethics are beyond reproach. Fox News reported that in February 2025 Bondi told Fox News that the Epstein client list was sitting on her desk. Bondi and the White House later clarified that the statement referred to the files as a whole.

Fox News reported that the Justice Department faced criticism for website glitches, missing documents, heavy-handed redactions, failure to redact all victim-identifying information, and release of previously public records in the Epstein files disclosure.

Sen. Adam Schiff launched a Senate Judiciary Committee inquiry last month into whether Blanche disregarded ethics guidance to recuse himself from Trump-related matters.

Fox News reported that Blanche previously served as a personal lawyer to President Trump. A White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, stated that Blanche is an American patriot who fearlessly fought on behalf of President Trump against the Democrats' illegal and unprecedented lawfare campaign.