In July, the Justice Department and the FBI released a categorical joint statement: After “an exhaustive review” of officials’ “investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein,” federal law enforcement had concluded that the investigation was closed. Based on all of the available information, they agreed that there was nothing to sustain opening further inquiries into anyone.
Last week, however, Attorney General Pam Bondi completed a dramatic U-turn, reopening the case and tapping a federal prosecutor to “take the lead” on advancing the investigation she had closed four months earlier.
And why, pray tell, did the nation’s chief law enforcement official reverse course? A reporter asked Bondi that question at a DOJ press conference on Wednesday.
“Information,” the attorney general said. “That has come, information. There’s information, new information, additional information.”
As for what “information” she was referring to, neither Bondi nor Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would not say.
It’s certainly possible that the Justice Department’s and the FBI’s “exhaustive review” missed important detail, which emerged four months later, but there’s a more logical explanation.
With last week’s disclosures in the Epstein scandal adding fresh fuel to the political fire, Donald Trump took an extraordinary step late last week, directing the Justice Department and the FBI to launch a new investigation into the case of the convicted sex offender — though the president said he wanted federal law enforcement officials to only investigate his perceived Democratic foes and critics, not himself, despite the frequency with which Trump was referenced in Epstein emails. Four hours later, Bondi did as she was told, discarding her own declarations from the summer. The new line is that the series of events is merely coincidental. Sure, the president who has effectively taken control of the Justice Department barked a foolish order. And sure, his loyalist AG acted four hours later. But what really happened, according to Bondi, is that officials just happened to learn of new “information” she wasn’t at liberty to share at the same time as Trump published a silly tweet telling the DOJ what to do. Maybe that’s true, or maybe the attorney general wasn’t comfortable saying “I do whatever Trump tells me to do, regardless of merit” during an on-camera press conference.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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