Pam Bondi sets new date to testify before Congress on Epstein files
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to testify before Congress about the Epstein files on May 29 after she failed to appear for a previously scheduled deposition.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee confirmed the appearance, an arrangement made after discussions with Bondi’s personal attorney.
Bondi was subpoenaed to testify after a surprise motion in March by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who gained the support of four GOP colleagues and all Democrats on the panel.
The news came as Democrats on the committee introduced a resolution to hold Bondi in contempt.
“Pam Bondi has illegally defied our committee, skipped her deposition, and has refused to cooperate. We have introduced a contempt resolution, to hold her accountable. Bondi has extensive personal knowledge about the Trump Administration’s handling of the Epstein files, and regardless of her job title, her testimony and cooperation are crucial,” ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said in a statement.
He went on to accuse Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) of “trying to run out the clock” on Bondi.
After Bondi was fired by President Trump, the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued she no longer should have to appear. But Democrats rejected that argument, noting she was one of many former attorneys general subpoenaed by the committee and still had valuable knowledge of DOJ’s handling of the files.
Four of the five GOP members who had backed Bondi’s subpoena later expressed resistance to joining Democrats in seeking to hold her in contempt and questioned the value of speaking with her at all.
“Let’s get somebody in that knows what’s going on,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) previously told The Hill before describing Bondi as not being particularly knowledgeable about the Epstein files.
“First thing she said was she’s going to release all this stuff that nobody had, and it was stuff everybody had. I just don’t think she — I think she just didn’t have the knowledge of any of that stuff.”
Democrats said she had a wealth of knowledge about the issue, including accusations the department has still yet to release many of the files.
“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t think the former attorney general, who is the sole reason why so many files were withheld for so long, and who had custody over them and complete control over the situation wouldn’t have information about why 2 and a half million files have been withheld,” Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Va.) previously told The Hill.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) noted the panel has also subpoenaed other former attorneys general and said Bondi’s tenure was especially significant.
“Listen, Pam Bondi has served as the AG for over a year,” she said.
“She violated a congressional subpoena demanding the files, and she repeatedly, over her entire term of service as the AG, engaged in manufactured lies to the American people over the Epstein case. In addition to that, based on what I’ve seen in the unredacted files, there are dozens of potentially prosecutable crimes and cases in the Epstein files, and they have not pursued a single investigation,” she added, including claims that directly relate to Trump.
This story was updated at 10:39 a.m.
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