GOP lawmaker moves to force Pam Bondi deposition on bungling Epstein files release

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) moved to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify under oath for a deposition about her controversial release of files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Tuesday, Mace unveiled the motion during House Oversight Chair James Comer's (R-KY) hearing on alleged fraud in Minnesota.

"I move that the committee issue a subpoena to the Honorable Pamela Jo Bondi to appear before the committee for a deposition regarding the department's handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and his associates and compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act," Mace said.

Comer immediately moved to table a vote on the subpoena until later in the day.

Before moving on, Mace also moved to subpoena the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights for "the awards and settlements" paid out for congressional sex scandals, "with only redactions allowable for the personally identifiable information of victims, alleged victims, and witnesses."

The chair tabled that motion, too.

Bondi has faced mounting criticism over the Justice Department's botched handling of the Epstein files, despite legally mandated requirements to release them with limited redactions.

Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed in November, the DOJ was required to release all Epstein files by December 19, with redactions limited only to protecting the identity of minors and victims. However, the agency has released only a fraction of the documents and continued to withhold millions of additional files, prompting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to accuse the Trump administration of breaking the law.

Critics, including Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Robert Garcia, have documented that the DOJ released only 1-2% of the Epstein files for review, with redactions far exceeding what the law permits.

Earlier, Bondi had told Fox News that Epstein's "client list" was "sitting on my desk right now," only to later sign off on a DOJ memo claiming Epstein never maintained such a list—contradictions that have fueled suspicion about what the administration is protecting and who might be named in the withheld documents.