Lawmakers have warned the former Justice Department chief that a congressional subpoena for her testimony remains in effect.
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Lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives have called on former Attorney General Pam Bondi to address a committee probing how the government handledfilesrelated to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused Bondi of stonewalling Congress’s oversight powers and defying a subpoena for her testimony.
Their statement comes one day after the Department of Justice said Bondi would not testify since she was no longer attorney general. She wasfiredon April 2.
“It is shameful that Pam Bondi is still trying to protect powerful men and their connections to Jeffrey Epstein,” the Democrats said in a social media post. “She must come before our committee and answer our questions.”
Bondi wassubpoenaedlast month to testify about the release of theEpstein files, which was compelled under the November passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
As attorney general at the time, Bondi was in charge of seeing the records published in accordance with the law.
In an interview on Thursday with the television channel MS NOW, Congressman Robert Garcia warned that Bondi could be held in contempt of Congress if she refuses to appear.
“Legally, at the end of the day, if somebody is under subpoena, it doesn’t matter if they change jobs or if they have a job or if they don’t. They’re still expected to appear before the Congress,” Garcia said.
“If she doesn’t come forward under her legal subpoena — which still stands, by the way — then we will hold Pam Bondi in contempt.”
The files have become a persistent political headache for the administration of President Donald Trump, which has faced accusations that it shielded powerful people connected to Epstein from public scrutiny.
Trump himselfhad a close relationship with Epstein for years. He repeatedly called the scrutiny over the Epstein files a “hoax” and a “scam”, and even called some Republicans “stupid” for calling for their release.
The US president ultimately switched his stance and backed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November.
