Republicans on the House Oversight Committee said Wednesday that former Attorney General Pam Bondi will testify before the panel on May 29 as part of its sprawling investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi, whom Trump fired earlier this month, was scheduled to testify before the committee on April 14, but she skipped the deposition, with the Justice Department arguing that she was subpoenaed in her capacity as attorney general — not in her personal capacity.
The new date for Bondi’s appearance was announced less than an hour after Oversight Democrats introduced a civil contempt resolution against her for skipping the scheduled deposition earlier this month. Like the other witnesses who have sat for depositions related to the Epstein investigation, Bondi’s hearing will be closed.
“Well look at this… 45 minutes after we file contempt charges against Pam Bondi for defying her subpoena to testify, @GOPoversight finally announces a date for her appearance,” Oversight Democrats said in a post on X. “When Democrats fight, we win.”
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bondi in March to testify about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files and their release. But President Donald Trump fired Bondi as the nation’s top prosecutor on April 2, and the DOJ subsequently said she would not attend the deposition.
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Republicans on the committee on Wednesday dismissed their Democratic colleagues’ contempt resolution as “all theater and completely unnecessary” as they announced her new deposition date.
“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,” California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement Wednesday about the contempt resolution. “The survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse deserve answers and the American people deserve the truth.”
Democrats on the panel have repeatedly accused their GOP colleagues of trying to stymie the committee’s probe into the DOJ’s botched release of the Epstein files.
In an April 17 letter to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., committee chair, Garcia said Republicans have repeatedly claimed they are working with Bondi’s team to schedule her deposition, but “there has been zero indication that there, in fact, has been any concrete progress toward a rescheduled date.”
Democrats on the committee “are not aware of any communication with Ms. Bondi of any kind,” Garcia said, adding, “Should Ms. Bondi fail to cooperate with the Committee’s investigation, the Committee must be prepared to take all possible steps to hold accountable those who obstruct our work.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
Syedah Asghar
Syedah Asghar covers Congress for MS NOW.