House panel subpoenas Pam Bondi over handling of Epstein files

Hunter Savery and Ryan Tarinelli, CQ-Roll Call on Mar 4, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a push for more information on the Justice Department’s controversial handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The panel agreed, 24-19, to a motion by Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., that would direct the committee to subpoena Bondi to come before the committee to answer lawmakers’ questions regarding the Justice Department’s compliance with a law Congress passed last year that ordered the release of records related to the late financier.

Prior to the vote, Chairman James R. Comer, R-Ky., attempted to sap the motion’s momentum by announcing he had just spoken to Bondi’s chief of staff, who agreed to allow committee members to come to DOJ to be briefed by Bondi on the department’s release of files.

But Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.; Michael Cloud, R-Texas; and Scott Perry, R-Pa.; joined Mace and Democrats to support the subpoena.

“The American people want answers on the Epstein files, and so do we,” Mace posted on social media after the vote.

The vote means the House panel’s probe into the Epstein investigation now has ensnared the chief law enforcement official of the federal government.

“I think it’s important that she is in front of our committee, she can directly answer questions about the release of the files, about transparency, about ensuring that victims and survivors are protected,” Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the committee’s ranking member, said.

Rep. James R. Walkinshaw, D-Va., a member of the House oversight panel, said in a statement Wednesday that the panel “voted to subpoena Bondi to get answers under oath.”

“Oversight Democrats and I won’t stop until this cover-up is blown open and the full truth is released,” Walkinshaw said.

The vote in the committee comes weeks after Bondi took a hostile posture with lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee and showed little regret over the Justice Department’s controversial handling of the Epstein files.

Last year, Congress passed the law mandating the release of investigative documents on Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

But the subsequent document release has been marred in controversy, drawn persistent questions and concerns from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill and triggered accusations of a Trump administration cover-up.

Critics say the department committed inexcusable errors by failing to fully redact the names of victims, while overly redacting information that could help identify people who might have been enablers of Epstein’s abuse.

The Justice Department has also faced criticism over the breadth of the files it has said are being withheld.

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