WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – A U.S. congressional committee said on Tuesday it has issued a subpoena to Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify behind closed doors in its probe of the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi faces accusations that the Justice Department has concealed the names of powerful associates of Epstein in its release of millions of documents related to the late financier.
Under the subpoena, Bondi would give a sworn deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee on April 14.
A Justice Department spokesperson said the subpoena was “completely unnecessary” because lawmakers have been able to privately review unredacted versions of the Epstein files at a Justice Department facility. Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, are due to give the committee a separate private briefing on Wednesday.
“She continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the department offered to brief the committee tomorrow,” the spokesperson said, referring to a law Congress passed nearly unanimously in November. “As always, we look forward to continuing to provide policymakers with the facts.”
Representative James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a letter to Bondi on Tuesday that the panel wants information about the Justice Department’s collection, review and release of files connected to Epstein.
COMPLAINTS ABOUT REDACTIONS
Epstein cultivated close ties to powerful political and business leaders before and after he was convicted in 2008 of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He was arrested again in 2019 and died in jail while facing federal sex-trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
Lawmakers have complained that redactions in the Justice Department’s files appear to go beyond the limited exemptions allowed in the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The department has also declined to publish a large volume of material, citing legal privileges.
Bondi said more than 500 Justice Department lawyers worked on a compressed timeline to review reams of material. Justice Department officials have acknowledged errors in the rollout of the files, but have denied claims that they have protected any powerful individuals.
The Epstein files have dogged Bondi throughout her tenure as President Donald Trump’s attorney general. Some of Trump’s supporters accused her of a cover-up last July when the Justice Department said it would not release additional material related to its investigations of Epstein after raising expectations for more disclosures. The statement drew new scrutiny of Trump’s past friendship with Epstein.
Trump says he broke off ties with Epstein years before his 2008 conviction and has repeatedly said he did not see any evidence of sex trafficking. He has not been accused by law enforcement authorities of criminal activity related to Epstein.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones, Susan Heavey and Andrew Goudsward; editing by Andy Sullivan, David Ljunggren and Nia Williams)
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