Outgoing Attorney General Pam Bondi’s scheduled deposition in front of the House oversight committee over her handling of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is in limbo after President Donald Trump fired her Thursday.
Bondi was slated to appear before the committee on April 14 after the committee issued a subpoena for her testimony over the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein files amid mounting frustration over how the department managed and released materials tied to Epstein and his associates.
However, it’s unclear whether the GOP-led committee will force Bondi to appear before the panel now that she is no longer representing the Trump administration.
“Since Pam Bondi is no longer Attorney General, Chairman Comer will speak with Republican members and the Department of Justice about the status of the deposition subpoena and confer on next steps,” a GOP spokeswoman for the House oversight committee told the Washington Examiner.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who led the charge for Bondi’s appearance before the panel, claimed the subpoena still stands, saying she did it by name, not by title.
“Pam Bondi will soon leave her job as the Attorney General,” Mace said in a post to X. “My subpoena still stands. When the Oversight Committee moved to subpoena Bondi, I did it by name, not by or not as the sitting Attorney General of the U.S. RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES.”
Democrats have also argued back that the subpoena is valid and enforceable.
“She will not escape accountability and remains legally obligated to appear before our Committee under oath,” House Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia (D-CA) wrote in a statement. “She must answer for her mishandling of the Epstein files and the special treatment she has given Ghislaine Maxwell.”
The committee issued the subpoena last month after a March 4 bipartisan committee vote authorizing the move amid bipartisan frustration over Bondi’s leadership, including falsely claiming she had a so-called client list on “sitting on” her desk to review, which the DOJ later said did not exist, and also invited conservative influencers to the White House to receive binders full of already public documents.
In a two-page cover letter with the subpoena, Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said the committee is examining “possible mismanagement” of the federal investigation into Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The committee also planned to scrutinize whether the DOJ has complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which governs the review and release of records related to the case.
TRUMP FIRES ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI
In a statement after her departure was announced, Bondi said that she will be working over the next month to hand the department over to Todd Blanche, who is taking over as acting attorney general.
“Leading President Trump’s historic and highly successful efforts to make America safer and more secure has been the honor of a lifetime, and easily the most consequential first year of the Department of Justice in American history,” Bondi wrote.
Kaelan Dease contributed to this article.