WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Capitol Hill, a high-stakes investigation into Jeffrey Epstein is hitting yet another roadblock.
Pam Bondi failed to show for a scheduled deposition Tuesday with the House Oversight Committee, less than two weeks after she was ousted as attorney general.
The House Oversight Committee’s Epstein probe is intensifying—but so is the tension—after former Attorney General Pam Bondi failed to show for the closed-door deposition.
Lawmakers had subpoenaed Bondi, seeking answers about her role in handling sensitive files connected to Epstein and the roughly three-million files still being held by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Shortly after Bondi was ousted, the DOJ said Bondi would not appear because she’s no longer the attorney general. Oversight Committee Democrats say it doesn’t matter—she still must show.
“Pam Bondi is evading a lawful congressional subpoena by failing to appear,” said House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif. “This subpoena applies to her regardless of her title.”
“We’re going to be working to make sure, in a bipartisan way, that her deposition gets rescheduled, or she will be held in contempt. We have the votes to do that,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a member of the Oversight Committee.
Oversight Committee Republican, Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., said he believes this particular deposition should be less about the person and more about the position.
“Whether it’s her or the current attorney general coming in, it’s more the role than the person,” said Rep. Langworthy. “There’s nothing about Pam Bondi as a person that makes her role necessary to come in.”
“You cannot avoid a personal subpoena by quitting your job. If that were true, everybody who was subpoenaed- if they didn’t want to show up- would just quit their position. Legally, she has to appear,” said Shari Karney, a survivors rights attorney who has been practicing law for 30 years.
As a survivor herself, Karney has followed the Epstein case closely.
“This Epstein case has shown us everything. It’s taken the veil off, it’s removed the curtain worldwide,” Karney said.
Of course, following the case also means following consistent roadblocks that she says have prevented the level of transparency and accountability that victims deserve. She points to Bondi’s failure to show for the deposition as one recent example.
“Silence protects predators. Accountability protects survivors,” she said.
Karney says the issue is about more than politics. It’s about whether a legal system—which she still has faith in—will finally deliver what it’s supposed to: Justice.
“Criminal consequences, arrests, indictments, investigations and grand juries should be convened. What the hell? These are crimes,” said Karney. “The bill is due and these people are expecting protection.”
