Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) on Monday called for Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer questions to Congress about the Jeffrey Epstein files amid growing debate in Washington over who the convicted sex offender was.
Davidson, known as a maverick GOP lawmaker, appeared to become the first House Republican to demand Bondi deliver congressional testimony on the matter as the Trump White House faces increasing pressure from both sides of the aisle to release more information related to the Epstein case.
“I don’t really see why we would do anything other than bring Pam Bondi in and say, you know to committee a jurisdiction and say you know, please explain,” he said during comments to CNN.
“I really would like the committee of jurisdiction to bring her in and say, hey, you start this off, you’ve got binders,” Davidson continued. “Please explain. You know, we’re led to believe there are going to be some prosecutions. If we’re going to prosecute, we assume there’s going to be convictions. And I think that’s really the disconnect.”
Other Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), have also suggested Bondi could be called before committees overseeing the Justice Department, albeit not as explicitly as Davidson.
The Nebraska Republican noted that Congress has oversight authority and “those who are interested” would have an opportunity to question Bondi, during comments on Monday to CNN.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), while calling on Bondi to release “all the credible information” related to the Epstein case, said Monday he didn’t believe further congressional action was needed at the moment to handle the matter.
“My belief is we need the administration to have the space to do what it is doing, and if further congressional action is necessary or appropriate, then we’ll look at that, but I don’t think we’re at that point right now, because we agree with the president,” Johnson said. “There is no daylight between the House Republicans … the House and the president on maximum transparency,” he continued, adding that the president wants “all the credible files” on Epstein to be released and has already called on Bondi to produce grand jury testimony related to the case and “all of that is in process right now.”
Davidson’s move to further challenge President Donald Trump’s Justice Department comes after he has built a reputation as a Republican rebel, leading to his ouster from the conservative House Freedom Caucus last July after endorsing the primary challenger to caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA).
The Ohio lawmaker also made waves in May when he became one of just two Republicans to vote against Trump’s sweeping “big, beautiful” tax cuts bill when it first came through the House due to concerns the legislation would add to the national deficit.
Davidson later flipped his vote in June to push the final version of the bill across the finish line after being pressured to do so by Trump.
“I got to say, no one puts a deal together like President Trump. He’s a master. But I think one of the other persuasive things was just looking at the Democrats’ reaction to it. Well, maybe the bill is better than I thought,” he said in comments to The Hill. “Democrats’ reaction helped me persuade that, wow, maybe this bill does, does do some really good things.”
EPSTEIN’S BROTHER DEMANDS TO SEE BANNON’S UNSEEN FOOTAGE OF SEX OFFENDER
Davidson’s scrutiny about Epstein follows growing scrutiny into the now-deceased New York financier’s past.
Democrats are probing his ties to Trump. Others, including some MAGA-affiliated Republicans like Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, have raised questions about Epstein’s potential connections to the intelligence community, suggesting interested parties such as the CIA or Israel’s Mossad could have built Epstein as a government construct to monitor and influence influential figures across political, academic, scientific, and cultural spaces — allowing such agencies to shape public discourse.