What did Attorney General Pam Bondi say about Jeffrey Epstein's victims in 2008?

1. No contemporaneous 2008 quote found in the provided reporting

A careful review of the supplied sources turns up no contemporaneous quote or statement by Pam Bondi from 2008 addressing Jeffrey Epstein’s victims; the materials instead center on Bondi’s actions and remarks after she became U.S. attorney general and on later scrutiny of the Justice Department’s document releases ^{[1] [2] [3]}. The absence in these sources means there is no documented statement from Bondi in 2008 that can be reliably cited here; reporting does note that Bondi did not become Florida attorney general until 2011 and later served in federal office, which frames why 2008-era statements by her about prosecution choices are not documented in these materials ^[7].

2. What Bondi did say later about the Epstein files and victims

When Bondi, as U.S. Attorney General, announced declassification and the first phase of Epstein files, she framed the move as fulfilling a commitment to transparency and said the Department was “following through” on lifting a veil on Epstein and his co‑conspirators; the DOJ release described the files as relating to the sexual exploitation of over 250 underage girls in New York and Florida among other locations ^[1]. In subsequent letters and filings Bondi characterized the document review as “time‑intensive” and said the Department had made “substantial progress” while emphasizing the need to protect victims’ identifying information and to perform redactions before broader publication ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Survivors, lawmakers and reporters contested Bondi’s handling and messaging

Those assurances drew immediate pushback: survivors’ attorneys and advocacy groups said redaction failures and “ham‑fisted” handling exposed victims and that releases had revealed identifying material despite promises of protection ^{[6] [5]}. Progressive lawmakers and commentators publicly called for further accountability and even for Bondi’s impeachment over what they described as disregard for victims or failure to comply with statutory requirements for the files’ release ^[4]. Media reporting and congressional filings tracked both the DOJ’s claims of progress and critics’ allegations that the department missed legal deadlines, over‑redacted some material and under‑protected survivors in others ^{[2] [3] [6]}.

4. Conflicting narratives and institutional context that shape what Bondi “said” about victims

The practical meaning of Bondi’s public words is colored by institutional actions and third‑party commentary: the DOJ repeatedly emphasized coordination with victims’ lawyers and the need to withhold child sexual abuse material and personally identifying information, while critics point to specific instances where materials or images were released and to requests from Congress for more oversight ^{[6] [1]}. Reporting also records broader critiques of the department’s pace and methods — including calls from bipartisan lawmakers that the release process be overseen by special monitors — which complicate a simple reading of Bondi’s statements as either protective or negligent ^{[2] [3]}.

5. Bottom line: the direct 2008 answer and the larger record

Directly answering the narrow question: the provided reporting contains no evidence that Pam Bondi made public statements in 2008 about Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, and it does not supply any 2008 quote to attribute to her ^[7]. The available record instead documents Bondi’s later public descriptions of the DOJ’s transparency efforts, her emphasis on redacting victim‑identifying information, and the fierce criticism those efforts provoked from survivors, lawmakers and some outlets after material was released ^{[1] [2] [4] [5] [6]}.