A U.S. congressional committee said on Tuesday it has issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify behind closed doors in its probe of the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi faces accusations that the Justice Department has concealed the names of powerful associates of Epstein in its release of millions of documents related to the late financier.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the subpoena was “completely unnecessary” because lawmakers have been able to privately review unredacted versions of the Epstein files at a Justice Department facility. Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, are due to give the committee a separate private briefing on Wednesday.
“She continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the department offered to brief the committee tomorrow,” the spokesperson said, referring to a law Congress passed nearly unanimously in November. “As always, we look forward to continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”
Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a letter to Bondi on Tuesday that the panel wants information about the Justice Department’s collection, review and release of files connected to Epstein.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT REDACTIONS
Epstein cultivated close ties to powerful political and business leaders before and after he was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was arrested again in 2019 and died in jail while facing federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Lawmakers have complained that redactions in the Justice Department’s files appear to go beyond the limited exemptions allowed in the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The department has also declined to publish a large volume of material, citing legal privileges.
