Pam Bondi ‘could have tried Epstein' while Florida AG, law professor says
President Donald Trump's embattled Attorney General has been mired in controversy over the release of the Epstein files, which she claimed were sitting on her desk in February.
The Department of Justice announced on July 6 that no more evidence in the case would be released and that the disgraced financier did not have a 'client list.'
Following widespread outrage from MAGA, Trump ordered Bondi to release certain Epstein files and relevant grand jury testimony 'subject to court approval.'
Before joining the Trump administration, Bondi, who represented Trump during his first impeachment proceedings in 2019, served as Florida's first female attorney general.
The Palm Beach Post asked the question: 'Should Bondi have looked into Epstein's crimes between the time of his jail release in 2009 and the filing of the criminal charges in 2019, when many have alleged that he sexually assaulted hundreds more?'
Theoretically, she could have, said Nova Southeastern University law professor Robert Jarvis.
'The federal government and the state government, of course, are two different political entities, and both have the power to try the same person for the same crime, using their respective laws,' Jarvis told the Post. 'Thus, Pam Bondi could have tried Epstein.'
The Independent has contacted Bondi's office for comment.
Jarvis, however, added that Bondi would not necessarily have had cause to initiate a new investigation unless someone had specifically brought a case to her attention.
'I would not criticize her for not doing anything for what seem[s] to be a case that had already been adjudicated and dealt with and punishment handed out,' Jarvis told the outlet.
Authorities in Palm Beach started investigating Epstein in Florida in 2005. A grand jury charged him with one count of solicitation of prostitution in 2006 as accounts of sexual abuse from his island mansion began to come to light.
In 2008, despite an overwhelming amount of evidence, Epstein was given the 'deal of the century' that saw him serve 13 months out of an 18-month sentence for only two prostitution-related felonies. He was released in July 2009.
Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein a decade later.
Bondi said a motion to release grand jury testimony in the Epstein case was filed on Friday in a post on X.
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