'It's disastrous': Expert warns Pam Bondi just put Todd Blanche in legal jeopardy
The Epstein files and Pam Bondi's testimony released on Thursday could come back to haunt Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he approaches his Senate confirmation hearing process, a legal expert said.
During a live broadcast with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted that Bondi, who served as the former attorney general until she was fired by President Donald Trump in April, told lawmakers that Blanche was overseeing the release of the Epstein files and could come under further scrutiny because of her comments.
"It has to be a big problem for Todd Blanche, Jake, because there's nothing good in this whole mess of the Epstein files, legally or politically," Honig said.
"And if you look at today's transcript, Pam Bondi truly does Todd Blanche no favors," Honig explained. "And I don't think she's trying to hurt him."
He argued that Bondi was making an effort during the closed-door testimony with the House Oversight Committee to "praise Todd Blanche's skill and ethics and his handling of this whole process."
"But the bottom line is it's disastrous," Honig added. "Todd Blanche was in charge. Pam Bondi makes that clear: the process that resulted in the release of victims' names, the process that resulted in the improper redaction of wrongdoers' names, and a process that was chaotic, overdue, and satisfied no one. And there's no way for Blanche to get out of that. It's actually surprising when you read the transcript how little Bondi knew about what was going on. This seems like it was a complete delegation, and you can bet this will come up in a big way when Todd Blanche goes in front of the Senate for his confirmation hearings."