The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi for questioning about the Justice Department's handling of Epstein documents. The vote passed with 24 members in favor and 19 against, with all Democrats and five Republicans supporting the subpoena. The Justice Department has faced months of criticism for its publication of millions of Epstein documents.
Hundreds of thousands of documents have not been released despite a December law requiring the entire Epstein investigation to be made public. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee stormed out of a closed-door briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi after roughly half an hour. During the briefing, Bondi repeatedly answered that she planned to follow the law regarding the deposition.
Committee Democrats interpreted Bondi's statement as a refusal to commit to appearing for the deposition. Bondi said they were there to answer questions and gave the committee as much time as they wanted. Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, who accompanied her at the briefing, defended the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files, insisting it had been as transparent as possible.
I made it crystal clear, I will follow the law. We were there to answer questions. It's the evening. We came at their convenience. We gave them as, really, as much time as they wanted. We sat there saying, 'Anything you want to ask us, ask us, anything you want to ask us.'
5 million documents released were the height of the Eiffel Tower. A shouting match erupted between Democratic Rep. Summer Lee and Republican chairman James Comer during the briefing.
Lee complained that Bondi had not offered any information about the Epstein investigation and had turned the briefing into a hearing without the cameras. Comer responded by asking Lee if she wanted him to scoot some chairs around and make a circle to make it feel more like a briefing. Comer said Lee had wasted three minutes of everybody's time kind of bitching.
Comer said he personally does not see any reason for Bondi to do a deposition because she is the sitting attorney general and is turning over documents. He said he thinks Democrats want to do the deposition to embarrass Bondi. Bondi has been subpoenaed by the GOP-led panel to take questions under oath on April 14.