Former Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday morning for a closed-door interview. The session focused on the Department of Justice’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and the release of case files under her leadership. Bondi was subpoenaed in March but had previously refused to appear, leading Democrats on the committee to file a civil contempt resolution against her.
The investigation centers on decisions made by prosecutors regarding Epstein associates and the Justice Department's handling of a congressional mandate to release files. According to an opening statement, Bondi informed lawmakers that the department made redaction errors in the records it released. The session also aimed to examine the Trump administration's management of the files and the prison sentence of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend and confidant.
Bondi was fired by President Donald Trump in April after he expressed displeasure with her handling of the DOJ files. While Bondi provided testimony during the deposition, she did not do so under oath. Outside the hearing, several Epstein survivors, including Canadian Sharlene Rochard, gathered on Capitol Hill hoping for information regarding whether their cases would be investigated.