A Republican lawmaker who called on President Donald Trump to release as much information as possible regarding sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein voiced his "disappointment" with the way Attorney General Pam Bondi has handled the entire situation.
The New York Times quoted Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) calling the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury testimony "a good start,” then added that "he still wanted to see as many files as possible released."
On CNN Monday, Burchett doubled-down on his harsh critique of Bondi and his lack of trust in the DOJ.
"I have a saying: It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Burchett said. "If she finishes strong, then I would trust her. In the past, I didn't think that things that she had done were — I won't say appropriate — I just don't think they were as efficient as they could — the white binders that they gave out was pretty much information everybody already had. I think she took some bad advice on that."
Burchett gave Bondi some leeway since "they confirmed her very fast" after Trump's initial nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) dropped out of contention to become AG.
"I suspect the learning curve was very steep. So yeah, I'm disappointed in her. I've been disappointed in her."
Burchett admitted that "generally, you don't speak out against somebody in your own party. But generally, I haven't really followed those rules. If I'm unhappy with somebody, I just say it.... I'm very much on transparency."
Earlier in the interview, Burchett said that although he wanted as much information about the Epstein case released as possible, it was important to "protect the innocent children" from having their names released. "Apparently, there's close to a thousand people this dirtbag offended, and I assume the devil is taking care of him right now. But I do not want to release those children's names and innocent people."
Burchett was careful to exonerate anybody who might be inadvertently associated with Epstein.
"If you flew on his plane, dadgum, it doesn't mean you're a pedophile...so I would hope there's some sort of filter or way we could screen that," he said.