Bondi And Patel Have A Problem

The fact that the Epstein files haven’t yet been released demonstrates that the President doesn’t yet have operational control of the DOJ and FBI.

It could take a while to establish, or as with his first term, it might never be established.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 28, 2025

Opinions are divided on Attorney General Bondi, but the Epstein Files fiasco isn't turning out well. Sundance at Conservative Treehouse has never been a fan of either Bondi or Patel:

AS PREDICTED, don’t expect the DOJ/FBI silos to be anything except a hot mess. The appointed leaders have all the support needed, but the nominated heads generally do not seem to have any idea how to get their “arms around” the problems. The DOJ/FBI reform agenda is not likely to go anywhere.

Celebrate all the success in the areas where serious people are operating strategically. But be practical in looking for DOJ/FBI structural silo changes; that really is unlikely to happen. The Bondi/Patel partnership are the wrong leadership people for that type of change.

Ben Shapiro, not much trusted in alt media, nevertheless has a similar take:

Remember the scene from the TV special “The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults” in which Geraldo Rivera tried to open Al Capone’s vault, finally did, and there was nothing inside?

The reveal of the Epstein files was like that. And this has led to speculation that the Epstein files are still secretly somewhere, and the lack of justification for more material being out there is demonstrated by the lack of material.

This sort of stuff is annoying. I want all the Epstein files exposed, every single piece of them — all of it unredacted as much as humanly possible. Theoretically, the only information that should be redacted is information to protect the victims, certainly nothing to protect the allegations against perpetrators.

I want to know exactly who Jeffrey Epstein was, who was opping him — because the question of how he made his money is a serious question — and why law enforcement basically allowed him to gallivant around performing atrocities against young women on behalf of powerful men with his girlfriend, paramour, and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

But that did not happen on Thursday, and I think these distractions are not great for the Trump administration.

Luckily, the Oval Office blowup with Zelensky yesterday took the focus off the Epstein files, at least briefly. Elsewhere,

Laura Loomer, a political activist and prominent right-wing personality, didn’t mince her words over the farcical nature of the rollout and also called on Bondi to resign. “I hate to say it, but the American people can’t trust the validity of the Epstein files released today,” Loomer wrote on X. “It was released in an unprofessional manner with paid, partisan social media influencers to curate their binders for us. I can’t trust anything in the binder.”

Loomer also took shots at the influencers who received the documents, writing in another post, “Most of the influencers took selfies of themselves holding the binder and said ‘exclusive’ and then proceeded to not post online for hours. That’s called gate keeping.”

Possibly in an effort to cover for the binder blunder, Bondi then almost immediately insisted that the real files were still being hidden by the FBI:

Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed Thursday that “thousands of pages” of documents in the FBI’s investigation into the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were withheld from her.

And she’s demanding that they be turned over by Friday morning.

Bondi, 59, disclosed in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel a tipster said that all but “approximately 200 pages of documents” were still being kept secret at the FBI’s office in New York — despite her repeated requests for the “full” Epstein files.

The initial batch included flight logs, phone numbers and the names of victims, but a source in the FBI’s New York office reached out and said that hundreds additional documents were not included.

“By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained,” Bondi said.

But as of yesterday morning, there was no indication that any of those allegedly missing Epstein items had been delivered -- or, alternatively, that any recalcitrant FBI officials had been fired. And where was Director Patel? If the allegation was that the New York office was sitting on those files, wouldn't you expect Patel to be up there, commandeering a conference room, and asking hard questions? Apparently not. This is what we actually heard from him yesterday:

In a rare and extraordinary pushback, new FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday night that media reports claiming a female agent ran a “honeypot” operation against Donald Trump during the Obama years was not true and unfair to the agent.

“A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure- she was NOT a honeypot,” Patel wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

“I have reviewed the matter, again, and she did the limited job assigned to her. These actions were also reviewed by Special Counsel John Durham and he found no evidence of any wrongdoing by her,” the director said. “This agent has dedicated her life to public service, and I will have her back for it.”

The statement by Patel was extraordinary since he was a critic of the FBI before he took over as its director, and helped unravel the misconduct of the FBI during the unfounded Russia collusion case known as Crossfire Hurricane brought against Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Wait a moment. In her letter to Patel on Thursday regarding the allegedly missing Epstein material, which she demanded by yesterday morning, she also said, "I am also directing you to conduct an immediate investigation into why my order to the FBI waws not followed. You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days."

Except that, having presumably received this letter by fax or hand delivery on Thursday, Patel seems to have spent yesterday preparing his announcement that there was no such thing as a Comey honey pot so they could get it out for the Friday afternoon bad news dump. If I had gotten an e-mail or letter from my boss saying I was "directed to conduct an immediate investigation", I would take that as an expectation that I should drop everything else and get on the project, and probably sleep on my office floor until it was done.

Apparently Patel didn't see it that way. Instead, he apparently spent that afternoon working on a statement about how John Durham had found nothing suspicious in all his months of work, and he saw things the same way. Meanwhile, other questions keep turning up:

It’s been almost nine months since a seemingly mild-mannered 20-year-old attempted to assassinate then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Butler.

And we still have no good reason why.

Sources told The Post the FBI has obstructed efforts to solve the mystery of why Thomas Matthew Crooks, who left no manifesto, did what he did. It’s left local law enforcement as well as Crooks’ former friends, classmates and teachers frustrated.

. . . “By the way, why do we know nothing about that guy in Butler?” Elon Musk yelled out to the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, before warning that FBI Director “Kash [Patel] is going to get to the bottom of it.”

Yup, Director Patel is gonna get to the bottom of everything, just you wait. But first, he's gotta toughen the agents up:

Kash Patel just took over as FBI director, and he’s already working on a big idea, partnering with the UFC to toughen up his agents. As per Reuters, he shared this plan during a call with all 55 FBI field office leaders this past Wednesday, suggesting UFC fighters and coaches could teach better fighting skills. He also mentioned fitness plans to keep agents in top shape for their jobs.

His deputy, Dan Bongino, a big UFC fan picked by President Trump, sparked this whole thing. Bongino’s love for the sport got Patel interested, and now the Indian-American lawyer turned FBI chief wants to mix some cage-fighting edge into law enforcement.

. . . He’s only been in charge a few days, so nothing’s final yet. No word on how soon he’ll push this UFC plan. Picture FBI agents learning punches and kicks from pros, it could change things big time. Whether it happens fast or slow, it’s a story worth watching. Could UFC fighters really make our cops tougher? We’ll find out soon enough.

No word on whether the investigation into the Epstein files will put this key reform on hold. I sure hope it doesn't!