The Handling

House lawmakers questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi today behind closed doors about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

I want to note two things about this sentence.

First: the questioning was behind closed doors. This is standard procedure for certain kinds of oversight hearings. The public was not present. The press was not present. What was discussed behind the closed doors of the hearing room is not, at this point, part of the public record.

Second: the Epstein files are also behind closed doors. This is the subject of the hearing.

Bondi was confirmed as Attorney General in part on the assurance that she would make the handling of the Epstein materials transparent. Transparency means open. The closed-door hearing was about the files that are not open, held inside a room that was also not open, to discuss why the files have not been opened.

A survivor who has been waiting for the files spoke to reporters outside the closed-door hearing. She said: "Don't talk about the Dow today. No deflection." She was referring to a pattern she had observed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 51,000, partly because the word "deal" appeared in a press release about Iran. The survivor would like the conversation to be about something else.

Bondi has handled the Epstein files carefully. That is the right word. Careful handling involves knowing where things are, controlling who sees them, and deciding, at each point, what the appropriate next step is. Pam Bondi is an attorney general. She knows about appropriate next steps.

The next step, after today's closed-door hearing, will be a statement. The statement will describe the hearing in general terms. It will note that important topics were discussed. It may note that progress was made.

The files will remain where they are.