Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will appear May 29 for a deposition before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a panel spokesperson said Wednesday.
The announcement came after committee Democrats said they would pursue contempt charges against Bondi after she failed to appear for an earlier deposition as part of Oversight’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and the Department of Justice’s handling of the federal inquiry into the late convicted sex offender.
In a sign of Republican efforts to quickly preempt Democrats’ action, ranking member Robert Garcia of California was taken by surprise by the development during a news conference Wednesday morning to roll out the contempt resolution.
“We’re being effective,” Garcia said, after being informed by POLITICO of the new date. “It’s interesting how it’s only when we take action and when we actually have to force Republicans to do anything, to call subpoenas, to get in front of our committee that they actually ever do anything. So I am so glad that Chairman Comer is scared of this group.”
He did not respond to questions about whether Oversight Democrats would still pursue the contempt measure.
Since the bipartisan vote to compel Bondi’s testimony earlier this year, she has been ousted, and her former deputy, Todd Blanche, has assumed the role of acting attorney general.
