Pam Bondi Backs Out Of Deposition On Jeffrey Epstein | EUROtoday

WASHINGTON — Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is backing out of a deposition scheduled for later this month with the House committee investigating the federal government’s recordsdata on baby intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) final month subpoenaed Bondi following a bipartisan committee vote, during which 5 Republicans joined all Democrats to demand Bondi’s testimony. But the Justice Department is now telling the panel she now not has to seem earlier than them since she received fired final month by President Donald Trump.

“The Department of Justice has stated Pam Bondi will not appear on April 14 for a deposition since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General,” stated a committee spokesperson. “The Committee will contact Pam Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition.”

It’s a curious excuse, because the committee beforehand issued subpoenas to each latest former U.S. lawyer normal. All of them besides Bill Barr, who served as lawyer normal throughout Trump’s first time period, issued sworn statements that they didn’t know something in regards to the Epstein case. But Barr got here in for a transcribed interview. Why can’t Bondi?

A Justice Department spokesperson stated the division is dedicated to “working cooperatively” with the committee, however reiterated its declare that Bondi can ignore her subpoena as a result of it was from when she was lawyer normal.

“Because of the leadership transition at the Department, the subpoena no longer applies,” claimed the spokesperson.

Bondi’s firing might have resulted at the least partly from Trump’s frustration together with her dealing with of the recordsdata on Epstein, America’s most infamous intercourse prison and a former shut pal of the president. Epstein died by obvious suicide in jail whereas dealing with federal prices in 2019.

Early final 12 months, Bondi claimed she had Epstein’s “client list” sitting on her desk, solely to backtrack months later when the Justice Department issued a press release saying there was truly no shopper listing and no proof within the authorities’s possession that might be used to cost anybody else concerned in Epstein’s crimes. A right-wing furor resulted within the committee issuing a subpoena for the division’s full recordsdata on Epstein, and Congress passing a regulation requiring the fabric be made public in a searchable database.

Under Bondi’s management, the Justice Department struggled to adjust to the statutory deadline to launch the recordsdata and admitted to mistakenly redacting some paperwork and improperly withholding others.

Still, loads of the fabric launched throughout Bondi’s tenure has been embarrassing for the president, together with a creepy birthday message Trump wrote to Epstein in 2003 and FBI recordsdata recounting a girl’s unverified allegation that Trump sexually assaulted her when she was a minor within the Eighties. Some paperwork stay hidden.

In a Wednesday letter, committee members Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) urged Comer to verify Bondi nonetheless complies together with her subpoena.

“Leaving office doesn’t mean you get to dodge accountability,” Mace stated in a press release. “Pam Bondi was subpoenaed by name, not by title, and because the DOJ stonewalled Congress and refused to follow the law, she needs to appear before the Oversight Committee and answer for it.”

“She promised she would comply,” added the Republican lawmaker. “April 14 is her chance to prove it. Chairman Comer must make one thing clear: show up or face contempt.”

Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-Va.), additionally a member of the committee, stated the panel ought to maintain Bondi in contempt if she refuses to seem earlier than it.

“The House Oversight Committee issued a lawful subpoena that did not become null and void when she was fired,” he stated in a press release. “Bondi must comply.”