Could Pam Bondi have prosecuted Jeffrey Epstein when she was Florida's top legal officer?
Legally, yes, she could have, legal experts say. The bigger question, however, is whether she should have felt compelled to do so.
Bondi's Justice Department announced on July 7 that there was no evidence of an Epstein "client list" and that no further documents on the late wealthy Palm Beacher and sexual predator would be released, despite her earlier promises.
President Donald Trump has been trying to weather the ensuing political firestorm after some of his MAGA supporters call for more transparency in the Epstein case.
More: MAGA supporters Trump is calling 'weaklings' over Jeffrey Epstein files: Here's a list
What happened in the Palm Beach County Jeffrey Epstein case?
Epstein was charged in 2006 by a Palm Beach County grand jury with a single count of solicitation of prostitution despite having heard from only two underage victims.
Then-State Attorney Barry Krischer's prosecutors had tanked their own case during the secret proceeding, telling the girls during questioning that they themselves were the criminals, the transcripts show. The Palm Beach Post fought in court for nearly five years to make the transcripts public. They were released in July 2024.
Palm Beach police had found dozens of girls and young women who told similar stories of sexual abuse at Epstein's island mansion. When then-Police Chief Michael Reiter saw that Krischer's prosecution was not in line with the case his department had built, he sent his evidence to the feds. Had the charges reflected that evidence, Epstein would have faced decades in prison.
In the end, Epstein pleaded guilty to only two prostitution-related felonies in 2008 in a "deal of the century" arranged by both Krischer and federal prosecutors. He was sentenced to 18 months in the county jail, of which he served 13. He was out in July 2009.
Who is Pam Bondi?
Bondi took office as Florida's first female attorney general in 2011. She served until 2019 and later that year represented Trump during his first impeachment proceeding.
Born in the Tampa area, she worked as an assistant state attorney for Hillsborough County, prosecuting among other cases Major League pitcher Dwight Gooden for violating his probation after he pleaded guilty to charges of speeding away from a police DUI traffic stop in 2005.
Was it negligent of Pam Bondi not to investigate Epstein?
Despite the fact that Epstein had already been convicted of Palm Beach County crimes, federal prosecutors in New York leveled sex trafficking charges against Epstein in July 2019. Epstein was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell less than a month after his arrest.
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?
Not necessarily, says Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeasten University.
Unless someone brought it to Bondi, "there was no reason to start a new investigation,' he said, after one had already been concluded by both federal and state prosecutors.
Some of the 2019 cases were also based in Florida. At least two Palm Beach County victims testified in the Ghislaine Maxwell case.
"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 said. "Thus, Pam Bondi could have tried Epstein."
But would she?
"I would not criticize her for not doing anything for what seem to be a case that had already been adjudicated and dealt with and punishment handed out," Jarvis said.
Holly Baltz is an editor at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hbaltz@pbpost.com.
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