Bondi will testify in House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein probe

(CNN) — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to testify next month in the House Oversight Committee’s Jeffrey Epstein probe.

Bondi’s appearance – now set for May 29, according to a committee spokeswoman – comes as the panel has pushed in recent months to hear from the former top Trump administration official about how the Justice Department handled the Epstein case files under her leadership.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers initially subpoenaed the then-attorney general amid outrage over how the department’s failure to release all of the files as compelled by law. But once Bondi was ousted, the department argued she could no longer appear in her official capacity and would not sit for the previously scheduled deposition, even though the subpoena named her directly.

While the committee had initially moved for Bondi to appear for a deposition, she will sit next month for a transcribed interview instead. As such, Bondi will no longer have to be sworn in under oath. She will be reminded at the start of the interview, however, that making false statements to Congress is subject to criminal prosecution.

A number of Republicans had waffled before Bondi’s departure over whether she needed to testify under oath, after she met voluntarily with the panel to answer questions. That meeting on Capitol Hill – also attended by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who is now serving as the acting attorney general – grew contentious with Democrats ultimately storming out of the room.

The date for Bondi’s new appearance was revealed as Democrats on the Oversight Committee announced they had filed civil contempt charges against Bondi for not appearing.

The top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Robert Garcia, said he had heard nothing from Bondi’s personal attorney, committee Republicans nor the Trump administration ahead of the deposition announcement.

“So as far as we’re concerned, we’ve now spent weeks with zero communication from somebody that was legally obligated to appear,” Garcia said ahead of the announcement.

Upon learning of the new date, Garcia praised the development as “great news,” saying: “Clearly we’re being effective.”

“It’s interesting how it’s only when we take action, and when we actually have to force Republicans to do anything, to call subpoenas, to get in front of our committee, that they actually ever do anything,” he said.

But House Oversight Chair James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, swiftly pushed back, saying the announcement was made “as quick as we could get the day confirmed.”

“I said we would get a date. They have a history of being drama queens in the minority on the Oversight Committee,” Comer added.

Republicans on the panel separately criticized their colleagues’ civil contempt push as “all theater and completely unnecessary.”

“They were happy giving the Clintons a free pass for months,” the panel’s Republicans posted on X, referring to the six months it took to secure appearances from former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated how Bondi will testify. She will sit for a transcribed interview, rather than an under-oath deposition.

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