House panel subpoenas Bondi over Epstein files

What happened

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Wednesday voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi over the Justice Department’s handling of its Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who introduced the motion, and four other Republicans joined all of the committee’s Democrats in the 24-19 vote to compel Bondi to testify under oath.

Who said what

The five GOP defections “amounted to a sharp rebuke of Bondi,” The Associated Press said, and underscored the “continued frustration among conservatives” about her compliance with a bipartisan law compelling the release of all DOJ files on Epstein. Being deposed could force Bondi to “contend more seriously with lawmakers’ questions” than at congressional hearings, where she might “perform for live television cameras and fall back on prepared talking points,” The New York Times said.

Bondi “has been instrumental in orchestrating the White House’s cover-up of the Epstein files” for months, said California Rep. Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat. Bondi “claims the DOJ has released all of the Epstein files,” Mace said on social media, but “the record is clear: they have not.” The Justice Department said Wednesday that 47,635 Epstein files “were offline for further review,” and those missing documents include FBI notes on interviews with a woman who alleged that both Epstein and President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1980s when she was a minor, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What next?

Complying with congressional subpoenas “is not optional,” but “several past attorneys general” have refused, The Washington Post said. And it’s up to the DOJ to “prosecute any contempt charges recommended by Congress” for rejecting subpoenas.