DOJ says Bondi won’t sit for Oversight deposition on Epstein files

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not comply with a subpoena to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee as part of its investigation into the Epstein files, the panel’s Republican leadership said in a statement.

“The Department of Justice has stated Pam Bondi will not appear on April 14 for a deposition since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General,” a spokesperson for the committee said in a statement.

The Committee will contact Pam Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition.”

The panel’s Democrats have refuted that argument, noting that Bondi was subpoenaed by name to sit for a deposition with the panel, as were other former attorneys general.

“Now that Pam Bondi has been fired, she’s trying to get out of her legal obligation to testify before the Oversight Committee about the Epstein files and the White House cover-up,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the panel’s ranking member, said in a statement.

“Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not. She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in the Congress. The survivors deserve justice.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) did not respond to a request for comment.

But in a letter obtained by The Hill, the DOJ asked Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to “confirm that the subpoena is withdrawn” and argued “compulsory process is unnecessary in light of our demonstrated willingness to voluntarily assist your oversight efforts.”

“Ms. Bondi no longer holds that office. As a result, because Ms. Bondi no longer can testify in her official capacity as Attorney General, the Department’s position is that the subpoena no longer obligates her to appear,” Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote.

The letter is addressed only to Comer and did not copy Democrats onto the correspondence, defying practice where agencies typically communicate with both parties.

The panel’s Democrats have previously said it would take a vote by the panel to withdraw the subpoena, which was introduced by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and passed in March.

Four GOP members backed the move to subpoena Bondi, as did all the committee’s Democrats.

It is unlawful to defy a subpoena, and the panel could seek to escalate the matter by voting to refer the matter to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, something the full House would have to back.

Even if such a measure did advance, it would rest with Trump’s Justice Department whether to file charges.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday declined to say whether Bondi would comply with the subpoena.

“What happens now that she’s the former attorney general and there’s the subpoena out there is, I think I’ll leave to Chairman Comer and others to figure out — I don’t have an answer to that,” he said, later adding he would not rule out invoking privileges that might complicate Bondi’s duty to appear.

Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) last month walked out of a closed-door meeting Bondi and Blanche had with the panel, arguing the then-attorney general was seeking to sidestep the subpoena by holding a meeting with members where, unlike a deposition, she would not be under oath.

“For those keeping track, Pam Bondi is about to be out of compliance with not one but two lawful subpoenas if she fails to show up for a sworn deposition next week,” Lee wrote Monday on the social platform X.

“Even after being fired, she’s still legally obligated to show up. So we’ll see her soon.”

Mace and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), one of the sponsors of the bill requiring the release of the Epstein files, urged Comer on Tuesday to enforce the subpoena, noting the committee subpoenaed six former attorneys general last year.

We moved to subpoena Pam Bondi, and the Committee voted to approve this motion on a bipartisan basis, because the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) still has not complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and because serious questions remain regarding the DOJ’s non-compliance and their handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates while she was Attorney General,” they wrote in a letter to Comer.

“The removal of Pam Bondi as Attorney General does not diminish the Committee’s legitimate oversight interests in seeking her sworn testimony or the need for accountability and information about files withheld from the public by the DOJ. On the contrary, it makes her sworn testimony even more important, especially with respect to actions she took as Attorney General, matters already under investigation, and decisions made under her leadership.”

Bondi has already faced a number of questions about decisions she made in handling the files, including at one point saying Epstein’s client list was sitting on her desk, only for the DOJ to turn around shortly thereafter and release a memo saying there was no such list.

Former Cabinet members have already appeared before the panel. That includes former Attorney General Bill Barr and former Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.

Comer also threatened a vote to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress when the couple resisted complying with subpoenas mandating their appearance to answer questions on the Epstein files.

While the former president did travel with Jeffrey Epstein, the former secretary of state said she did not recall ever meeting the deceased sex offender and questioned why her presence was necessary to the investigation.