Democratic lawmakers are moving to impeach Attorney General Pam Bondi after she reportedly refused to commit to honoring a subpoena regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files. This dramatic development comes after Democrats walked out of a closed-door briefing on Wednesday, calling it an “outrageous fake hearing.”
According to The Guardian, the committee had already voted to subpoena Bondi earlier this month, with a bipartisan group of five Republicans joining Democrats to demand she answer questions under oath. They want to know more about the Justice Department’s perceived failure to properly release millions of files from federal investigations into Epstein’s sex trafficking network.
Democratic Representative Suhas Subramanyam, an Oversight Committee member, told Axios that Bondi “basically set up a fake hearing under the guise of a briefing.” He added that she has “defied subpoenas that we’ve put out already and then she has continued to be evasive and combative with us.”
The Democrats are fed up with Bondi’s evasive tactics
Representative Summer Lee has since introduced articles of impeachment, stating that Bondi “has already been obstructing justice.” Lee isn’t alone; she’s the second Democrat this month to introduce such articles, following Shri Thanedar. Representatives Yassamin Ansari and Rashida Tlaib are co-sponsors, and Lateefah Simon has also indicated support for the measure.
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche had gone to Capitol Hill on March 18, seemingly hoping to calm the bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of these sensitive files. However, less than an hour into the briefing, Democrats walked out in protest.
Florida Congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost recounted the scene outside the hearing room, saying, “We asked her multiple times, are you going to come and speak with us under oath? She would not say yes. Filibuster, filibuster, filibuster, would not say yes.”
Frost didn’t mince words about the Democrats’ distrust. He said they want Bondi under oath “because we do not trust her” and added, “Why don’t we trust her? Because she’s a liar.” Frost pointed to her alleged actions during a Judiciary Committee session, claiming she was “spying on members of Congress when they were in the DoJ looking at the documents unredacted.” He also criticized her for not publishing documents related to President Trump on the website.
Pennsylvania Congresswoman Summer Lee also shared an exchange where, after asking how the committee would respond if Bondi refused to testify, the Republican chair, James Comer, insulted her, accusing her of “b—-ing.” Comer later confirmed this interaction in a social media post, writing, “I said Democrats were b—-ing and wasting everyone’s time because Democrats were b—-ing and wasting everyone’s time.”
Justice Department leaders had been hoping that the release of documents tied to the disgraced financier would finally put an end to a political saga that has been quite the headache for Trump’s second term. Despite these hopes, the agency remains bogged down by questions and criticism surrounding the Epstein case and how it’s managed the files.
Bondi has publicly defended the department’s handling of the documents, accusing Democrats of using the uproar over the files to distract from the president’s political successes. It’s interesting to note that some of the loudest criticism has also come from members of Trump’s own party.
The department has also tried to assure lawmakers and the public that there’s been no effort to shield Trump, who says he cut ties with Epstein years ago, or any other high-profile figures close to Epstein, from potential embarrassment. These documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted after months of public and political pressure that mandates the government open its files on the late financier and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
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