The United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Wednesday voted to subpoena Pam Bondi for a deposition over the United States Department of Justice’s handling of its investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and its compliance with a law mandating the public release of related documents, as per reports.
The motion reportedly passed by 24 votes to 19 following mounting criticism of the Justice Department for failing to disclose the full set of so-called ‘Epstein files’, and reports that tens of thousands of documents previously released had been removed from public access.
As per reports, the move to subpoena Bondi was introduced by Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who earlier criticised the department for withholding many of the records linked to the case.
“AG Bondi claims the DOJ has released all of the Epstein files. The record is clear: they have not,” Mace wrote in a post on X. She added that the Epstein case represented “one of the greatest cover-ups in American history”.
Mace also shared a video on YouTube showing her formally submitting the motion during the committee proceedings.
Four other Republicans joined most Democrats on the panel in backing the subpoena: Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, and Michael Cloud of Texas.
Under the Epstein Transparency Act — which was passed by Congress with near-unanimous support last year — the Justice Department was required to release all documents related to Epstein and his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
In late January, the department reportedly made more than three million documents public but later said it would not release the remaining files, which reportedly amount to more than 2.5 million additional records.
Since then, several media outlets have reported that some of the released files had subsequently been removed from public access. As per reports, by late February, the Justice Department had taken down more than 47,000 files comprising roughly 65,500 pages.
Some of the withheld material reportedly includes internal memos and notes from interviews conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including those relating to a woman who has alleged that Donald Trump sexually abused her when she was a minor.
Trump has never been charged with any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has previously said he was unaware of his former associate’s criminal activities.
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