March 17, 2026
Here it is. It’s official…signed by the chairman of the House Oversight committee.
Attorney general Pam Bondi just got served with a subpoena today over her handling of the release of the Epstein files.
The letter that was attached to the subpoena and was publicly released said that the committee has “questions regarding the Department of Justice’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates and its compliance with the Epstein files transparency act. As attorney general, you are directly responsible for overseeing the department’s collection, review, and determinations regarding the release of files pursuant to the Epstein files transparency act, and the committee therefore believes that you possess valuable insight into these efforts.”
There have been accusations from both Republicans and Democrats that Bondi and her DOJ have been hiding and deleting Epstein file documents that they find problematic for whatever reason. But the law overwhelmingly passed by congress says – DOJ can’t do that. There are only a narrow list of reasons why files can be kept from the public. So the committee says they plan to ask Bondi those questions about why – and she will have to answer under oath on April 14th.
But the question is – will pam Bondi show up? Well, the justice department said “This subpoena is completely unnecessary. Lawmakers have been invited to view the unredacted [Epstein] files for themselves at the Department of Justice, and the Attorney General has always made herself available to speak directly with members of Congress.” So – it sounds like she might not show up because the DOJ says she’s done enough and the subpoena is unnecessary.
So – who – if anyone is going to force Bondi to comply with this subpoena? Well – the House oversight committee could file a civil lawsuit against her and maybe a judge could force her. But normally the attorney general is the one who decides how and when to enforce a congressional subpoena. So – in that case Pam Bondi would have to make the determination about herself? And even if congress goes as far as to hold her in contempt for not complying with the subpoena – which is also stretch – again — the attorney general is in charge of deciding when and how to prosecute that contempt.
Now – interestingly enough – along with this subpoena the House the committee chairman said Bondi and her deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche would be giving members of the House oversight committee a private briefing on all this tomorrow. But private briefings are not under oath and they are not the same as a deposition which is what the subpoena and the house oversight committee demanded when they voted on this issue. We’ll have to see whether Bondi shows up on April 14th or not.
Read the letter from House Oversight here.
