California Congressman Demands Pam Bondi’s Epstein Testimony Be Public and Recorded

Congressional oversight on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has hit a frustrating snag, but one former official is not getting off easy. California Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding that Pam Bondi’s upcoming testimony on the Justice Department’s bungled handling of the Epstein Transparency Act files be recorded and made fully public.

Bondi, who was abruptly fired by President Trump last month, is scheduled to testify on May 29. Unlike other high-profile figures linked to Epstein—such as former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick—whose hearings were quietly paused or converted into off-the-record “roundtables,” Bondi’s testimony remains on the docket. Garcia has called out the committee’s chair, Republican James Comer, for shifting the Epstein hearings away from formal, on-the-record sessions to informal discussions that are neither sworn nor open to the public.

In a pointed letter to Comer, Garcia wrote, “Bondi’s testimony must be filmed and made available to the American people in the interest of transparency.” He also raised alarms about Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon potentially representing Bondi during questioning, noting concerns over conflicts of interest and the integrity of the process.

The committee’s decision to cancel hearings for other key witnesses like Ruemmler—who has deep ties to Epstein and was set to testify about her role during the Obama administration—has fueled suspicions of a cover-up. Ruemmler’s connections include an email exchange with Epstein around the time the Justice Department reduced the sentence of Enron’s former CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, and questions about her influence on President Obama’s veto of legislation aimed at holding foreign sponsors of terrorism accountable.

The Epstein files have repeatedly exposed how powerful figures leveraged their influence to evade accountability. The move to limit public scrutiny by switching to private roundtables only deepens concerns that Congress is failing to fulfill its duty to uncover the full truth.

Garcia’s demand for transparency in Bondi’s testimony is a rare pushback against the committee’s retreat from public accountability. It underscores the urgent need for Congress to stop shielding elites and start delivering justice for Epstein’s victims—and for the American people who deserve to know who enabled this trafficking network and how.

We will be watching closely to see if Comer heeds this call or continues to let Epstein’s enablers slip through the cracks under the cover of secrecy.