Fired AG Pam Bondi Dodges Epstein Deposition as Lawmakers Threaten Contempt

Bondi Skips Out on Scheduled Testimony

Pam Bondi was supposed to sit for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on April 14. She's not showing up. The fired Attorney General is ducking questions about how the Justice Department buried critical evidence in the Jeffrey Epstein case, including FBI interview notes that identified witnesses who could back up a survivor's claims.

The committee subpoenaed Bondi in a rare bipartisan effort led by South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace. Now lawmakers from both parties say they're prepared to hold her in contempt of Congress if she keeps refusing to testify.

"Pam Bondi cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General," Mace said in a statement.

What the DOJ Was Hiding

At the center of this fight: records the Justice Department deliberately withheld from public release. The Post and Courier reported April 3 that DOJ officials kept FBI agents' handwritten interview notes out of the so-called "Epstein Library," a public portal supposedly containing all documents related to the Epstein investigation.

Those notes contained something the sanitized public versions did not: the names of potential corroborating witnesses for a woman who detailed her involvement with Epstein as a teenager on Hilton Head Island.

The woman gave four separate FBI interviews starting in 2019. In those sessions, she described how Epstein trafficked her and claimed he introduced her to Donald Trump, who she says forced her to perform a sex act when she was about 13 years old. The White House has denied the allegation and attacked the woman's credibility by citing her criminal history.

The Justice Department initially released only a report from the first FBI interview. After intense public pressure, officials released summaries from three more sessions with more detailed allegations. But they never uploaded the handwritten notes that named witnesses who might verify parts of her account.

Those notes are technically available to members of Congress, but only if they make an appointment to view them in a private DOJ reading room. That's the kind of "transparency" that keeps evidence hidden from the public while letting officials claim they've released everything.

A Pattern of Obstruction

The Bondi deposition was supposed to address broader failures in how the Justice Department handled the Epstein file release. Officials missed the legal deadline for publishing records, uploaded documents that identified victims and witnesses by name, redacted huge blocks of information without explanation, and withheld files entirely.

Bondi and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made a private visit to the Oversight Committee on March 18 to answer questions about the botched release. That clearly wasn't enough for lawmakers who've been hearing from Epstein's victims about the department's lack of action stretching back to his 2008 conviction for engaging a minor for prostitution.

After Trump fired Bondi on April 2, he elevated Blanche to interim Attorney General. In a Fox News interview shortly after, Blanche tried to close the book on the whole mess.

"To the extent the Epstein files was part of the last year of this Justice Department, it should not be a part of anything going forward," he said.

Translation: We're done talking about this. Move along.

Contempt Charges on the Table

House Oversight Committee Democrats aren't moving along. Minority leader Robert Garcia of California said the committee will pursue contempt charges if Bondi continues to defy the subpoena.

"She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in the Congress," Garcia said.

If Mace joins that effort, it wouldn't be her first contempt vote. In 2021, she voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt after he refused to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 committee.

The Oversight Committee says it will work through Bondi's private attorney to schedule a new deposition date. But if she keeps stalling, lawmakers have made clear they're willing to use the tools Congress has to compel testimony.

Why This Matters

The Epstein case represents one of the most significant failures of the American justice system to protect children from a serial predator with powerful connections. For years, federal prosecutors gave Epstein sweetheart deals while his victims were left without answers or accountability.

When Congress finally passed legislation requiring the Justice Department to release all Epstein-related files, it was supposed to mark a turning point toward transparency. Instead, DOJ officials under Bondi's leadership released incomplete records, protected potential witnesses from scrutiny, and tried to declare victory while keeping critical evidence locked away.

Bondi's refusal to testify under oath suggests she has something to hide about those decisions. Survivors of Epstein's trafficking operation deserve answers about why the department withheld evidence that could corroborate their accounts and identify others who enabled his crimes.

Mace and other Oversight Committee members have promised Epstein's victims they won't let this go. Now they need to follow through on that promise, even if it means holding a former Attorney General in contempt.