Pam Bondi will not appear at a House deposition over Epstein files

Ryan Tarinelli, CQ-Roll Call on Apr 8, 2026

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WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi will not appear for her scheduled deposition next week as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation of deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a panel spokesperson said Wednesday.

The panel stipulated the April 14 deposition date in a letter to the then-attorney general last month, after a bipartisan coalition voted to subpoena her to come before the panel to answer lawmaker questions about the Justice Department’s compliance with a law Congress passed last year that ordered the release of records related to the late financier.

A panel spokeswoman, in a statement Wednesday, said the Justice Department has said that Bondi would not appear for the April 14 deposition because she is no longer attorney general and was subpoenaed in that capacity.

“The Committee will contact Pam Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition,” the committee spokeswoman said in a statement.

News that Bondi would not show for the April 14 deposition was roundly criticized Wednesday by lawmakers who backed the subpoena.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., in a social media post, said Bondi “cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General.” The subpoena motion was related to Bondi by name, not by title, Mace said in a post on social media.

“She will still have to appear before the Oversight Committee for a sworn deposition. The American people deserve answers, and we expect her to appear as soon as a new date is set,” Mace wrote.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House oversight panel, noted the subpoena was bipartisan and said it applied to Bondi whether or not she was the attorney general.

“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,” Garcia said.

Rep. James R. Walkinshaw, D-Va., a member of the House oversight panel, said in a statement that the subpoena did not “become null and void” when Bondi was ousted.

“She must come before the Committee. If she doesn’t, we must immediately hold her in contempt,” he said.

President Donald Trump announced last week he was ousting Bondi, a staunch ally of his.

The refusal to show for the April 14 date is the latest in a power struggle between the Justice Department and congressional lawmakers looking for answers into the much-criticized rollout of the Epstein files.

Bondi critics have hammered the Justice Department for the breadth of documents it has decided to withhold.

The department failed to fully redact the names and identifying information of victims, all while it overly redacted information that could identify people who may have been co-conspirators or enablers of Epstein’s abuse, critics say.

Lawmakers argue those actions violate the Epstein disclosure law they passed last year — an effort the White House lobbied against — and Democrats have made accusations that the Trump administration is engaged in a cover-up.

And among the files made public, the documents have sparked deep questions over why more people have not faced further Justice Department scrutiny in connection to Epstein’s abuse.

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