The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena compelling Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi to testify under oath about missing FBI documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to Al Jazeera. The move represents a rare bipartisan rebuke of a sitting attorney general.
The subpoena, issued Wednesday, demands Bondi appear before the committee on March 18 to explain why hundreds of pages of FBI investigative files related to Epstein's associates have not been released to Congress despite multiple requests over the past year. The investigation has united Democrats and Republicans in frustration over what they describe as stonewalling by the Justice Department.
"When both parties agree that an attorney general needs to testify under oath, that tells you how serious the accountability failure is," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the committee. Republican chairman James Comer echoed the sentiment, stating the Department of Justice has "failed to provide even basic explanations" for the missing documents.
The case centers on FBI files compiled during the agency's investigation into Epstein's trafficking network. Congressional investigators say the documents—which reportedly contain interviews with witnesses and potential co-conspirators—were referenced in earlier DOJ briefings but have since become unavailable. Some committee members suggested the files may have been deliberately withheld or destroyed.
Bondi, who was confirmed as attorney general in January, has denied any wrongdoing and insisted the Department of Justice is "committed to transparency." However, her office has cited ongoing investigations and privacy concerns as reasons for not releasing the materials, an explanation that satisfied neither party in Congress.
The bipartisan nature of the subpoena is particularly notable in Washington's deeply polarized environment. Oversight battles typically break along party lines, with the party controlling the executive branch defending its officials while the opposition attacks. That both sides have aligned against Bondi suggests with the Justice Department's handling of the matter.
