Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee for her scheduled deposition April 14, an announcement that garnered a flood of condemnation from Democrats.
Bondi argues that since she no longer leads the Department of Justice, she is no longer obligated to honor the summons – a claim all Democrats and some Republicans reject.
“This isn’t something you can opt-out of,” Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, a member of the committee, said on X Wednesday. “Pam Bondi is trying to weasel out of accountability by refusing to testify about the Epstein files. Whether she’s Attorney General or not, she will come before the Oversight Committee to reveal the truth about this White House cover-up.”
Committee Republicans have essentially shrugged off Bondi’s defiance, responding that they “are following up with Pam Bondi’s personal attorney about scheduling her deposition” and telling rankled Democrats on X to “touch grass.”
Democrats, however, are planning to hold Bondi in contempt of Congress – which could potentially result in criminal charges – if she does not appear.
“Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not,” Oversight committee Vice Chair Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said in a statement. “She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in Congress.”
The DOJ and Bondi have been heavily criticized for their handling of the release of federal files on the late convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The department failed to comply with the congressionally mandated release deadline and excessively redacted thousands of documents.
Although the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act forbid redactions of relevant information unless it could potentially jeopardize victim privacy, national security, or prosecution efforts, the DOJ apparently violated that edict.
As revealed on social media by political commentator Ed Krassenstein, one of the uncovered redactions included information on how Epstein attempted to pay off witnesses of his sex trafficking operations and destroy evidence of his crimes.
Though millions of files have been released and many prominent figures connected to Epstein have been questioned by the Oversight committee – including billionaire Les Wexner, former president Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – investigative efforts have not resulted in any criminal convictions.
Besides Bondi, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a former friend of Epstein, is also scheduled to testify before the committee, as well as a security guard on duty at the jail where Epstein died in 2019.
