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The Parnas Perspective
Breaking: Bondi Testimony Erupts as She Throws Patel and Blanche Under the Bus
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Every style, every home. Pam Bondi just finished testifying in front of the House Oversight Committee. And, well, she did give us some things. Not everything. She didn't. She deflected a lot. Didn't answer many questions. I have the inside scoop for you of exactly what happened inside the room today. Let me set the boundaries. Number one, Pam Bondi's testimony was not under oath. She was never sworn in. Now, a lot of people are saying she should have been sworn in. I agree. But if she lied to Congress, whether she was under oath or not, it is still a crime to lie to Congress. It just wouldn't be perjury. It would be making false statements, number one. Number two, and most significantly, in my opinion, she had a Department of justice lawyer representing her, Harmey Dillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, who was in there telling Pam Bondi not to answer certain questions as it relates to Donald Trump. Here is what Pam Bondi did answer. She threw Todd Blanche and Cash Patel under the bus. And I spoke with a congresswoman who was inside the room, Melanie Stansbury, to talk about exactly what she learned from this deposition. I just got back from Capitol Hill, was with survivors, was with lawyers and advocates. Make sure to like, comment, share, get the word out. And please, if you can subscribe to my substack link below to support my work. Before we get to my interview with Span Stansbury, I want you to hear what Congressman Robert Garcia, the leading Democrat on the Oversight Committee, what he had to say about today's deposition review and
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Congressman Robert Garcia
what she's saying here in her words and remarks, is that it was Todd Blanche, the current acting AG that was leading the Epstein investigation. And quite frankly, all of the mistakes that we saw, the redactions, not protecting survivors, she continues to push that back onto the acting ag, Todd Blanche, who by the way, was Donald Trump's former personal lawyer. I also personally asked the former AG five times and five different questions about her conversations with President Trump, whether he directed her any at any given time on the Epstein files, what he knew, what he asked her to redact or not. And she refused to answer any questions about President Trump. In fact, she said that she would not speak or respond to any questions that had anything to do with President Trump.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
It's also here's what else Congressman Garcia had to say.
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Congressman Robert Garcia
Also interesting that sitting next to her is DOJ counsel, somebody that currently works for the Department of Justice, who on multiple occasions stepped in and told the former attorney General that she was not going to answer those questions, especially when we asked questions of what the president directed her to do. And so the DOJ is in there right now stopping questions about President Trump and about what happened in the release of these files and why so many survivors were doxed and their information, of course, released to the public. And let me also just say finally, before I turn this over to, to Liz, to Ms. Stein here. We asked questions about Ghislaine Maxwell in the transfer and again she referred those questions to Todd Blanche in the Bureau of Prison. So let's be clear. We have many questions for Mr. Blanche and for the Bureau of Prisons that yet Republicans are refusing to ask why was she transferred to a Lesson secure facility? And Ms. Bondi claims to have no knowledge of the of the actual transfer, no knowledge that it was a less secure prison and didn't know about it until she found out, found out after the fact, and then will refuse to
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
answer when asked Harmony Dylan, the DOJ employee, the Assistant Assistant Attorney General, essentially why she didn't let Pambani answer basic questions. Here's what she had to say.
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Say that your presence was a conflict for Ms.
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ZipRecruiter Advertiser
Bond. What, what's your response to, to criticism
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
that your presence of the department is
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ZipRecruiter Advertiser
a potential conflict for Ms. Bondi given that her interests might diverge from the party? That is silly.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
And that is silly. So that's kind of where we got. That's where we got. But Congresswoman Melanie Sansbury was inside the room. I speak with her right now. Make sure to like, comment, share and subscribe to my substack below. Here's my interview with Congresswoman Stansbury. Excited today to be joined by Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury. Congresswoman, you were inside the Pam Bondi testimony today. Can you give us a quick high level rundown? What happened? Did she answer your questions? Do you feel satisfied coming out of the testimony?
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Yeah. Well, I think one thing is very clear, that this administration is involved in an Epstein cover up. And today was just yet another chapter. And in the COVID up because Pam Bondi was subpoenaed to be deposed by Congress under oath and she refused to appear. She did not appear on the date she was scheduled to. And instead of appearing for her deposition, Chairman Comer allowed her to do a voluntary transcribed interview today. And what happened throughout the entire interview in the room is there were Department of Justice attorneys sitting next to her, even though she was supposedly appearing in her personal capacity. They claim that they were there to represent DOJ's equities. And anytime she was asked any question about Donald Trump, about the administration, about communications, about the release of the files, basically DOJ's attorneys intervened and these are political appointees, and told her she didn't have to answer the questions. And because she's not under oath, we couldn't compel the answers in the way in which you would normally under a deposition. So they were trying to have it both ways. They were trying to say, look, she appeared for her deposition even though this was voluntary. And at the same time they didn't want to answer any questions and essentially asserted that they didn't have to. In fact, I wrote down a specific quote from one of the DOJ attorneys when we asked about Donald Trump. And, and one of the attorneys said specifically, we don't even have to assert privilege because this is a voluntary interview. And when pressed, he said, well, we just refuse to answer. We refuse to provide answers. So basically this is the Trump administration Saying, we're not going to make Pam Bondi appear. We're going to send our lawyers to watch what's happening, and we're going to intervene and make sure that she doesn't tell Congress what actually happened in the disclosure of these files.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Now, I was reading, I have a copy of her opening statement that she read to you guys, and one part stood out to me, which was it seemed like she was kind of throwing Todd Blanch a bit under the. Is that what you got as well? From her testimony today, I would say
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
that she really named three individuals over and over again as being essentially culpable in the handling of this case, and made it clear repetitively, over and over again that Todd Blanche was the manager of the Epstein Files Transparency act, that he managed the disclosure of the files, that he met with Ghislaine Maxwell. But here's the thing. The buck stops with the Attorney General. She is the Senate confirmed person who is responsible for compliance with the law. She's the named person in the Epstein Files Transparency actually oversaw the department. She was communicating with the White House. And she is the person, over the course of the last year and a half that she was, or a year and a quarter she was in office, was essentially going to the media and saying she had the files, then she didn't have the files, then Trump was in them, then he wasn't in them, you know. And so, again, she's trying to have it both ways. But I have a theory about the whole Todd Blanche situation, which is I don't think she's just throwing him under the bus. This was a carefully orchestrated effort to not have to appear for her deposition, to not have to appear under oath. And she kept referring us to Todd Blanche. Speak to Todd Blanche. And what I think is going to happen is, is that Todd Blanche, as we all know, is not only the acting attorney general, he is Donald Trump's personal attorney. In fact, he has defended Donald Trump in multiple cases of sexual assault and federal cases against him by the doj. I am afraid that they are essentially telling Congress, well, we don't have any information. You're going to have to talk to Todd Blanche. And Todd Blanche isn't going to talk. Right. Because he'll assert some sort of privilege as Donald Trump's lawyer. So I don't think it was necessarily her throwing him under the bus. I think this is a carefully orchestrated strategy to try to close the box so that nobody will talk.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
You mentioned three people. Blanche was one of them. Who are the other two that she mentioned? Repeatedly.
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Well, there was a lot of questions about the FBI files that ultimately led to the DOJ investigation. So of course she said, I don't know. You'll have to talk to Cash Patel. So he's the second person. And then she named a Department of justice attorney in the district in Florida named Jay Clayton, who she said was ordered to investigate potential crimes that were in the Epstein files. But let's be clear, when we asked her specific questions about what investigations were opened, individuals that were named in the files, she said, well, I don't know, or I don't recall, or you're going to have to ask Todd Blanche or you're going to have to ask Jay Clayton. So she was not there to answer questions.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
I do got to ask you, because I've read through maybe over 100,000 files myself, and there are a couple of files that stood out to me in particular, one of which related to Leon Black and an NDA that he forced a survivor to sign. Another was this kind of PowerPoint that the DOJ was required or the FBI was required to put together that listed out allegations against a whole host of individuals. Did specific files get brought up and certain, like, redactions and investigative leads from those files be discussed at all in this testimony?
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Yes and no. So the way in which these recorded interviews happen is that essentially the majority. So that's the Republicans. And by the way, it was Comer's decision as the chairman, to make this a recorded interview, a transcribed interview, rather than a deposition. He made that decision unilaterally, even though we had a subpoenaed deposition, is that the first hour is the majority. So they ask their questions, you take a brief break, then the Democrats, who are in the minority ask their questions, and it goes back and forth. And normally a deposition or a recorded interview of this gravity would go all day. But what is notable is that not a single Republican other than Comer even showed up. I mean, which is kind of outrageous if you think about it. You know, a few months ago, we deposed the Clintons, and, like, half of the Republican members of the committee flew to New York to go depose the Clintons and make statements to the press, but not a single one of them could actually be bothered to show up, to actually ask Pam Bondi questions about the files, about survivors, et cetera. So I would say that overall during the hour and change, that the Republicans asked questions. They didn't ask a lot of serious questions. They didn't press for answers. But when members of the Democratic side asked questions about Specific files about specific individuals. Basically, we were told one of four or five things I don't recall. Ask Todd Blanche or Kash Patel or one of these other individuals. I'm asserting privilege. She couldn't answer what kind of privilege? I'm not going to answer that question. Or she was just outright told us she wasn't going to tell us, which I think is part of what was outrageous. Because under a normal deposition, if somebody is refusing to answer a congressional oversight question, you can hold them in contempt for refusing to comply with the deposition.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Will you look to bring her back in under oath? If you all take the majority, I mean, certainly.
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
I think it is a priority to get her under oath. You know, one of our lines of question was, do you believe that this satisfies your deposition? And she wouldn't even answer that question. We went back and forth. The DOJ attorneys tried to intervene. They're like, no, she's here in a private capacity. But it's very clear this was not compliant with her subpoena. So, yeah, we need to get her back under oath. I think, in addition to that, it's very clear for us as the House Oversight Democrats, that Todd Blanche is next on the list. We need to get him in right away. Kash Patel and some of the other individuals that were named by her is being in charge of aspects of this case.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Now, Congressman, before I let you go, you do represent New Mexico, Zorro Ranch, obviously a big part of New Mexico. I just want to ask, do you have an update on what the statuses of the investigation regarding Zorro Ranch and the Truth Commission that was set up there? A lot of folks have been curious about that.
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Yeah, so New Mexico's Truth Commission was passed in our legislative session. And, you know, one thing that's important to know is that New Mexico is the last state in the country that has a volunteer legislature. And so that means our state representatives actually have day jobs and they do this as volunteers. And so sometimes it takes a minute to get things set up. But our bipartisan Truth Commission has been working diligently for the last several months, since our special session, to stand up the Truth Commission to put the structures in place to hire the investigators. And they will be holding their first public hearing on a bipartisan basis next week on June 1st. And that will be broadcast and live streamed on the state legislative site. So encourage people to tune in. And through that, it's my understanding that the state will give an update on their investigation of Zorro Ranch. But, you know, I think one of the things that is both frustrating and important for folks to understand is that many of these crimes occurred over the last 30 to 40 years. And so in order to understand why what happened in the various locations, why, you know, investigations did not happen to subpoena documents, to bring in witnesses, it takes time. It's it isn't just something that happens overnight. But New Mexico is taking this investigation very seriously. And I know New Mexico's state AG and Department of Justice has conducted a physical investigation of the property at Zorro Ranch, including including flying imaging radar over the property, as well as a physical investigation of the premises. So I'm hopeful that they'll make all of that public on their first hearing next week and we'll hear more about what they found.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Awesome. Congresswoman, thanks so much for taking the time.
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Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury
Yeah, thank you.
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Podcast Host / Interviewer
Hey folks, thanks so much for watching. Feel free to add this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you watch for the latest breaking news and daily hits throughout the day. Make sure to follow subscribe. See you soon for more.