Bondi is expected to have a key role in the House Oversight Committee’s continuing inquiry into the government’s handling of the “Epstein files,” according to a response from the Justice Department that the panel communicated Wednesday. The department indicated that Bondi will not appear for a deposition scheduled for April 14 before the committee, House Oversight Committee spokeswoman Jessica Collins said.
Collins said the department signaled Bondi would not testify because she was subpoenaed “in her capacity as attorney general.” She said the committee will contact Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps about scheduling the deposition or other interview arrangements.
The committee’s scrutiny of Bondi centers on how the Justice Department released millions of Epstein-related case files and met the timeline set by Congress. The Justice Department’s release, the AP reported, contained multiple errors and ran behind a deadline established by Congress, and Bondi faced additional scrutiny for the department’s handling of those records.
After President Donald Trump announced Bondi’s ouster from his cabinet on April 2, Bondi posted on social media that she would be “working tirelessly to transition the office” over the following month. The AP reported that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has been elevated to the top Justice Department job, at least in an acting capacity, and is performing the duties of the department’s top official, while the Justice Department’s website listed Bondi as attorney general as of Wednesday.
Some Republicans who joined Democrats to subpoena Bondi said they would still insist on having her appear before the committee. Rep. Nancy Mace, who initiated the motion to compel Bondi’s appearance, said on social media that Bondi “cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General.”
Mace added that the motion was “by name, not by title” and that committee leaders “expect her to appear as soon as a new date is set.” The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, said he would also push to enforce the subpoena and threatened to press for contempt of Congress charges if Bondi does not appear.
In a statement, Garcia said that “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.” The committee’s head, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, has previously enforced subpoenas in the panel’s investigations, including the committee’s push for testimony from Bill and Hillary Clinton earlier this year.