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The United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted Wednesday to subpoena Pam Bondi, the U.S. attorney general, to testify as part of its investigation into the federal government’s handling of the case involving convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The committee approved the subpoena following a motion introduced by Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, with five GOP lawmakers joining Democrats in support of the effort.
Republicans backing the subpoena included Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Michael Cloud of Texas and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
The United States Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the vote.
Scrutiny Over Epstein Files Release
The subpoena comes as lawmakers from both parties intensify scrutiny of how the Justice Department released records related to its investigation of Epstein.
Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act last year with bipartisan support, and Donald Trump signed the legislation into law in November. The measure required the Justice Department to disclose all materials from its investigation into Epstein.
Millions of records were subsequently released, with the final tranche of documents made public in late January.
Ahead of the committee’s vote Wednesday, Oversight Chairman James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, said Bondi had offered to brief members at the Justice Department regarding the files and other issues connected to the Epstein investigation.
Democrats, however, said the attorney general should testify publicly before the committee.
Lawmakers Demand Answers
Robert Garcia, a California Democrat and the panel’s ranking member, said the public still has “significant questions” about the government’s handling of the documents.
“The attorney general has gone to speak, obviously, to other committees,” Garcia said. “I think it’s important that she is in front of our committee. She can directly answer questions about the release of the files, about transparency, about ensuring that victims and survivors are protected.”
Bondi previously testified before the United States House Committee on the Judiciary last month, where she faced sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers.
Some Democrats accused her of orchestrating a “cover-up,” arguing that the department shielded prominent individuals whose names appeared in the documents while failing to properly redact the identities of Epstein’s victims and survivors.
Controversy Over Document Releases
The Justice Department has also faced criticism over the timing and structure of the document releases.
Under the transparency law, all materials were required to be made public by Dec. 19, 2025. Instead, the department released the files in several batches.
The first tranche contained few references to President Trump, while documents disclosed in a later release did include mentions of him. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing related to Epstein.
An analysis by CBS News found the Justice Department later removed tens of thousands of files from the online archive, including records that contained explicit images or identifying information about survivors. Other removals — such as a call log with redacted names — were not fully explained.
Other Officials Could Testify
Bondi may not be the only member of Trump’s Cabinet to appear before the Oversight Committee as part of the investigation.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has faced questions about his past communications with Epstein, has agreed to sit for an interview with the panel, Comer said Tuesday. A date for his testimony has not yet been announced.
Documents released by the Justice Department showed Lutnick remained in contact with Epstein for several years after the financier’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida to state prostitution charges. Epstein later died by suicide in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex-trafficking charges.
Clinton Depositions
As part of its investigation, the Oversight Committee has also sought testimony from former government officials and individuals who had close ties to Epstein.
Investigators last month conducted closed-door depositions with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Video recordings of those depositions were released earlier this week.
Bill Clinton told investigators that he never witnessed behavior suggesting Epstein was trafficking women.
“There’s nothing that I saw when I was around him that made me realize he was trafficking women,” the former president said.
Hillary Clinton similarly told investigators she knew “nothing about him,” according to the released footage.
The committee’s subpoena of Bondi marks the latest step in what lawmakers say will be an ongoing congressional inquiry into the government’s handling of Epstein’s crimes and the broader network of individuals connected to the disgraced financier.
