Subpoena wording could blow up DOJ's bid to let Pam Bondi escape Epstein testimony

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi could still be forced to testify despite claims from the Department of Justice that she would no longer have to, according to an MS NOW report on Thursday.

The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena last month for Bondi, with five Republicans joining Democrats to vote in favor of requesting Bondi speak to the group of lawmakers under oath. The date was set for April 14. But after President Donald Trump removed Bondi from the top job, questions loomed over whether she would still be required to attend the deposition. This week, the DOJ argued in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) that since Bondi was no longer in her position she would not need to appear, asking for her subpoena to be withdrawn.

MS NOW congressional reporter Mychael Snell described how lawmakers have responded and how the language used in the subpoena was now under dispute.

"Now, a spokesperson for James Comer had confirmed that she wouldn't be appearing on April 14th. But whether or not that's the right interpretation, that is what is in question right now," Snell said.

"The subpoena is made out to Miss Pamela Bondi, Attorney General of the United States, but the motion that was brought to subpoena Pam Bondi, said the Honorable Pam Bondi," Snell added. "So still certainly a lot of questions there. But as you mentioned, there is this bipartisan push for Pam Bondi to still testify, sit for that closed-door deposition as part of the Epstein investigation from Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who brought the motion to subpoena Bondi is the loudest voice. I'm going to read to you what she wrote yesterday. 'We expect Pam Bondi's deposition to be rescheduled in a timely fashion. Our motion made clear the committee must issue a subpoena to Pam Bondi, not the occupant of the office of attorney general of the United States.'"

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, had the same message.

"The subpoena is clear. It's for Pam Bondi, whether she is the attorney general or not," Garcia said. "Why she wouldn't want to answer questions about this incredibly important case to so many survivors — and quite frankly, the entire American public — is bizarre. She's going to need to appear before our committee whether she wants to or not."