Democrats in the United States have slammed ex-Attorney General Pam Bondi for refusing to appear for the Epstein hearing.
The U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives have called on Pam Bondi to address a committee probing how the government handled 'sensitive files' related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee accused Bondi of stonewalling Congress’s oversight powers and defying a subpoena for her testimony.
“It is shameful that Pam Bondi is still trying to protect powerful men and their connections to Jeffrey Epstein,” the Democrats said in a social media post. “She must come before our committee and answer our questions.”
Their statement comes one day after the Department of Justice said Bondi would not testify since she was no longer attorney general and was fired on April 2.
With reference to that, Bondi was subpoenaed last month to testify about the release of the Epstein files, which was compelled under the November passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
Notably, the Epstein files have become a persistent political headache for the administration of President Donald Trump, which has faced accusations that it shielded powerful people connected to Epstein from public scrutiny.
Trump himself had a close relationship with Epstein for years. He repeatedly called the scrutiny over the Epstein files a “hoax” and a "scam" and even called some Republicans “stupid” for calling for their release.
But critics have said his administration openly flouted the law by withholding certain documents and heavily redacting others in a way that goes beyond what is allowed.
About half of the respondents said they believed Trump was involved in crimes committed by Epstein, who is accused of leading an international sex-trafficking ring.
Epstein, a wealthy financier, died in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. As attorney general at the time, Bondi was in charge of seeing the records published in accordance with the law.
Congressman Robert Garcia warned that Bondi could be held in contempt of Congress if she refuses to appear.
“Legally, at the end of the day, if somebody is under subpoena, it doesn’t matter if they change jobs or if they have a job or if they don’t. They’re still expected to appear before the Congress,” Garcia said.
“If she doesn’t come forward under her legal subpoena — which still stands, by the way — then we will hold Pam Bondi in contempt.”
