Maybe we were supposed to miss this tidbit of news, given Trump’s threats to erase an entire civilization and bomb Iran back to the Stone Age. The Justice Department released a statement saying that Pam Bondi won’t appear for her scheduled April 14th appearance before the House Oversight Committee. Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote to the Committee that a subpoena no longer binds Bondi, since she isn’t the Attorney General following her April 2nd firing by Donald Trump.
The DOJ rationale is that the subpoena sent to Bondi a month ago was addressed to the Attorney General, and Bondi is no longer in the office. Republican Nancy Mace previously had said her subpoena was sent to Pam Bondi, the individual, and not to a title. After the Oversight Committee received the letter, Mace said:
“A Department of Justice with nothing to hide doesn’t avoid a subpoena."
There are several things people want Bondi to testify about that she presumably knows the answer to. Bondi will be asked who arranged the transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell to a cushy federal prison after she sat for a friendly interview with the now-Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche. She needs to explain why the DOJ hasn’t obeyed the law and released all the information required by the Epstein Transparency Act. There are approximately 2.5 million documents that the DOJ refused to release or overly redacted, and Pam Bondi should know why. One wonders what possible interest the DOJ has in keeping Bondi from testifying, other than protecting rich predators.
In previous Congressional testimony, Bondi did not account for the gap between the number of Epstein files the DOJ said it possessed and the number actually released. She offered no timeline, no inventory, and no explanation for the millions of unreleased documents. This omission was cited as a major failure of candor.
Bondi declined to explain who decided which names to redact, why certain high‑profile individuals were omitted, and why some survivor‑requested redactions were ignored while others were expanded. Committee members described her refusal to address these procedural questions as stonewalling.
Congressional staff noted that Bondi would not disclose whether she had spoken with senior DOJ officials about limiting disclosures, whether she had been instructed to slow‑walk or withhold documents, and whether political considerations influenced the release schedule. Her refusal to confirm or deny these contacts was cited as non‑cooperation.
Bondi has publicly claimed she was “fully cooperating,” but the reporting timeline shows missed deadlines, incomplete productions, unanswered committee letters, and no appearance for scheduled testimony.
Epstein survivors are pissed about Bondi and the Justice Department prioritizing speed over their safety. Multiple survivors stated that the DOJ made a “deliberate policy choice to prioritize rapid, large‑volume disclosure over protection of Epstein survivors’ privacy.” They argue this wasn’t an accident; it was a structural decision that put them at risk.
Survivors allege the DOJ “outed approximately 100 survivors” by releasing unredacted names, phone numbers, and other identifying information. Even after the DOJ removed the files, survivors say the agency did nothing to ensure the information was taken down elsewhere.
Survivors describe renewed trauma, harassment, and threats. In a lawsuit they filed, survivors said: “Strangers call them, email them, threaten their physical safety, and accuse them of conspiring with Epstein when they are, in reality, Epstein’s victims.” They directly link this harm to the DOJ’s mishandling of the files. Survivors say DOJ’s actions were “careless” at best and “intentional” at worst.
Most galling has been the arrogance of Bondi and others within the DOJ and apparent disdain for the survivors. When given an opportunity to apologize to survivors present during a Congressional hearing Bondi was testifying she refused to look at the survivors who said the DOJ or Bondi had never contacted them. She later said she “refused to get down in the gutter,” which is apparently how she felt about talking to Epstein’s victims.
Bondi needs to testify, and the DOJ’s attempt to keep her from testifying is crap, only serving to protect predators. There are precedents for former Attorneys General like Bill Barr testifying before Congress. Even former Presidents have testified, most recently Bill Clinton. Should Bondi refuse to answer questions, she should go to jail. The Epstein victims deserve your prayers.