Washington — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next week to answer questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the panel said Wednesday.
“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 spokeswoman for the Oversight Committee said. “The Committee will contact Pam Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition.”
The subpoena, issued by Oversight Committee chairman James Comer last month, required Bondi to appear for a closed-door deposition on Tuesday. The full Oversight panel had approved a motion on March 4 to subpoena Bondi, who was then serving as attorney general. Five Republicans voted with all Democrats in support of the move.
As attorney general, Bondi oversaw the Justice Department’s review and release of files related to the federal investigation into Epstein. The material was made public after Congress approved a measure, called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required its disclosure by Dec. 19.
The Justice Department ultimately released roughly 3 million pages of documents related to Epstein out of more than 6 million pages. Top department officials said roughly half of the material was withheld for various reasons, including because some of the records contained survivors’ personal information or risked jeopardizing an active federal investigation.
Bondi was ousted from her post as attorney general last week.
After Mr. Trump replaced her, Bondi initially said she would stay on the job for a month to help her deputy, Todd Blanche, with the transition to acting attorney general. But Blanche held a press conference on Tuesday as the acting head of the Justice Department, and the department has referred to him as such, an indication that he has officially taken over.