Pam Bondi was supposed to sit down in Congress under oath on Tuesday and answer questions about the Jeffrey Epstein files. But since it was the Trump administration, she didn’t show up at all.
The former Attorney General of the United States — subpoenaed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers under her own name, not her former title — simply didn’t appear for her scheduled deposition before the House Oversight Committee.
There were no answers, no testimony, no accountability — just an empty chair where the truth was supposed to be delivered.
The response to this serious failure of government responsibility — from both sides of the aisle — was quick and very angry.
Ranking Member Robert Garcia (D-CA) was direct: “Pam Bondi is avoiding a lawful congressional subpoena by not showing up for a deposition about the Epstein files and the White House cover-up.
If she keeps ignoring the law, Oversight Democrats will move forward with contempt proceedings immediately.”
What makes this situation really unusual is that it’s not just Democrats criticizing Bondi for deliberately ignoring Congress.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Nancy Mace — who first introduced the subpoena — made it clear that Bondi was specifically subpoenaed, not in her role as attorney general, and that the subpoena is still valid even after she was fired. Mace has threatened contempt if Bondi continues to refuse. Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) went even further: “I previously moved to hold her in contempt; there’s no reason we cannot try again.”
Let’s look at the timeline, because it’s very suspicious.
Bondi was subpoenaed in March. Her deposition was set for April 14th. She was fired in early April — just days before she was supposed to testify under oath. The Justice Department quickly used her firing as an excuse for why she wouldn’t appear. Bondi said she needed a month to finish her work, but Todd Blanche took over the acting AG role almost immediately. The DOJ quietly removed Bondi from its website. And as of Tuesday, Bondi’s own social media still listed her as attorney general.
She was either fired just in time to avoid testifying, or she’s using her firing to avoid testifying.
Either way, the Epstein files remain hidden, the Justice Department still hasn’t fully followed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, and the woman accused by Rep. Garcia of “leading a White House cover-up” and “putting survivors in harm’s way by exposing their identities” is not under oath answering for any of it.
Contempt of Congress is a crime.
Defying a subpoena is a crime. The irony that the former top law enforcement officer of the United States is now openly breaking the law shouldn’t be ignored by anyone.
Epstein’s survivors are still waiting.
Congress is still waiting. The American people are still waiting. But Pam Bondi apparently doesn’t care. She’s got important things to do, like updating her social media bio.
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