Pam Bondi, the previous lawyer normal whom President Trump fired final week, won’t seem subsequent week for a scheduled deposition with the Home Oversight Committee as a part of its inquiry into the convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The committee stated in an announcement on Wednesday that it might work with Ms. Bondi to schedule one other date for her testimony, which is required below a subpoena {that a} bipartisan group compelled the panel’s Republican chairman, Consultant James R. Comer of Kentucky, to situation final month.
Mr. Comer in that subpoena summoned Ms. Bondi to testify on April 14 in regards to the Justice Division’s investigation of Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in 2019 whereas dealing with intercourse trafficking prices, and its dealing with of investigative materials about his case.
However a spokeswoman for the committee stated that the Justice Division stated Ms. Bondi wouldn’t seem as a result of she was not the lawyer normal. Her stumbles in dealing with the Epstein investigation performed a pivotal function in Mr. Trump’s determination to terminate her.
The Justice Division didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The committee plans to debate subsequent steps, together with scheduling, with Ms. Bondi’s private authorized staff. The panel’s prime Democrat, Consultant Robert Garcia of California, stated the subpoena nonetheless held even after Ms. Bondi’s dismissal.
“Now that Pam Bondi has been fired, she’s making an attempt to get out of her authorized obligation to testify,” Mr. Garcia stated in an announcement. He added that “if she defies the subpoena, we are going to start contempt prices within the Congress.”
Even earlier than Mr. Trump fired Ms. Bondi, lawmakers on the committee had been involved that she would attempt to keep away from the deposition. 5 Republicans joined Democrats to pressure the subpoena over Mr. Comer’s objections, a vote that was a placing rebuke of a prime administration official by members of the president’s personal social gathering.
Mr. Comer stated final month that he would honor the subpoena, and Ms. Bondi stated she supposed to “comply with the legislation.” However she by no means dedicated to seem on April 14, and he or she and Mr. Comer had been quietly working collectively to keep away from the deposition, in accordance with individuals aware of the maneuvering who mentioned it on the situation of anonymity.
After Ms. Bondi was fired, Consultant Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican who launched the movement to subpoena her, stated the authorized requirement remained.
“Pam Bondi can not escape accountability just because she not holds the workplace of lawyer normal,” Ms. Mace stated in an announcement on Wednesday. “Our movement to subpoena Pam Bondi, which was handed by the Oversight Committee, was for Bondi by title, not by title.”
Annie and Maria Farmer, two sisters who made among the earliest identified allegations about Mr. Epstein’s habits, criticized the delay in deposing Ms. Bondi. “Survivors have waited practically three a long time for solutions,” they stated in an announcement. “How for much longer should we wait?”
The Oversight Committee’s investigation began final yr with a subpoena for the Justice Division’s information. It has sprawled to incorporate materials from Mr. Epstein’s property and a number of transcribed interviews and depositions with individuals who had ties to Mr. Epstein.
After Mr. Comer despatched a subpoena to Invoice and Hillary Clinton, he was locked in a monthslong battle with them over whether or not they would testify. Each agreed to take action after the committee voted to carry them in contempt of Congress if they didn’t testify.
Because it continues its inquiry, the committee has scheduled plenty of closed-door interviews within the coming weeks. Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, who as soon as lived subsequent door to Mr. Epstein in New York and visited his non-public island, is scheduled to seem voluntarily on Might 6, in accordance with two individuals aware of the plans.
Invoice Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft whose relationship with Mr. Epstein has come below scrutiny, can also be set to seem on June 10, in accordance with each individuals, who requested anonymity to debate plans that had not but been made public.
Glenn Thrush contributed reporting.
