Ex-Attorney General Pam Bondi defies bipartisan House subpoena, skipping Epstein-files deposition

On April 14, 2026, former Attorney General Pam Bondi did not appear for her scheduled closed-door deposition before the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The deposition date was set in a subpoena issued March 17 after a bipartisan committee vote on a motion by Rep. Nancy Mace; the subpoena named "the Honorable Pamela Jo Bondi" personally rather than the office of the Attorney General. President Trump removed Bondi as Attorney General on April 2, and on April 8 the Justice Department informed the committee she would not appear, arguing the subpoena was issued to her in her official capacity and no longer obligated her once she left office.

Ranking Member Robert Garcia rejected that theory, saying the subpoena "applies to her regardless of her title," and Oversight Democrats introduced a civil-contempt resolution in response to the non-appearance. Subpoena supporters in both parties disputed the Department's position: Reps. Ro Khanna and Nancy Mace wrote to Chairman James Comer that Bondi's removal "does not diminish the committee's legitimate oversight interests in seeking her sworn testimony." The committee's Republican majority said it would work with Bondi's personal attorney to reschedule, and Courthouse News reported that, according to a source, the committee had not formally finalized the April 14 sitting given the Department's position.

The Standing records the April 14 non-appearance as the consummated act of defiance: a personally-named congressional subpoena, authorized by a bipartisan vote, was disregarded at the direction of the sitting administration's Justice Department. Under public and intra-party pressure, Bondi subsequently agreed in late April to a rescheduled deposition — context that mitigates, but does not erase, the defiance recorded here.