Former AG Pam Bondi to face Congress on Epstein files

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi, diagnosed with thyroid cancer days after being fired on April 2, is set for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 29 about the Justice Department’s handling of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell

Pam Bondi is scheduled to sit behind closed doors with the House Oversight Committee on May 29, and the setting alone—private, transcribed, but not televised—signals how explosive her answers may be.

The former Attorney General. who was fired by President Donald Trump on April 2. was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after her dismissal. a development first reported by Axios. The committee said it will release a transcript as quickly as possible. and both Bondi and lawmakers could choose to discuss it publicly.

Bondi’s appearance is also set against a bruising timeline. The House committee is investigating allegations of Justice Department mismanagement in the Epstein case and in actions involving Epstein’s convicted accomplice. Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in 2019 before his scheduled trial on sex trafficking charges.

The questioning will come as lawmakers try to reconcile what the Justice Department did with what critics say it failed to do.

Bondi’s interview is being handled differently than depositions. The House Oversight Committee is allowing a transcribed interview rather than a sworn deposition. even though it denied a similar request from former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. according to California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee. Garcia said the transcribed interview will allow Bondi to be represented by a government lawyer. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. and to refuse to answer questions without providing a legal justification.

Bondi’s schedule had already shifted. She was originally set to answer questions in mid-April. but after her departure the Justice Department said she no longer had to comply with a subpoena for her to be deposed. Democrats said her failure to appear for that deposition constituted noncompliance with the subpoena. The committee later worked out arrangements for the May 29 interview.

The most volatile questions for Bondi are expected to revolve around whether her Justice Department protected Epstein’s broader network, and whether it released—or withheld—information in a way that critics say favored the powerful.

Shielding Epstein’s circle from accountability?

Lawmakers may press Bondi on whether the Justice Department shielded Epstein associates from accountability. So far, federal criminal charges tied to Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking scheme have been brought only against Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Epstein was convicted in 2008 of a Florida prostitution offense involving minors and died in 2019 in a Manhattan jail before his scheduled sex trafficking trial. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking a minor and is now serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Bondi’s Justice Department released a memo in July saying Epstein had more than 1. 000 victims. but an internal review of the Epstein files failed to turn up any incriminating list of Epstein clients. Since then. Bondi has faced accusations from some critics that she engaged in a cover-up aimed at protecting wealthy and politically connected individuals.

Thomas Massie, R–Kentucky, told Bondi at a Feb. 11 hearing: “This is bigger than Watergate. This, this goes over four administrations.” He added: “This cover-up spans decades, and you are responsible for this portion of it.”

Rep. Summer Lee. D–Pennsylvania. who serves on the Oversight Committee. said in March that the Bondi Justice Department’s failure to take new action against Epstein associates—while the United Kingdom made arrests based on information in Justice Department releases—shows U.S. elites enjoy protections that working-class Americans do not get. Lee said: “People in America are tired of seeing that two-tiered system of justice.”.

Todd Blanche, who served as Bondi’s deputy, said Jan. 30: “If we had information … about men who abused women, we would prosecute them.”

Failing to release files

A second line of questioning is likely to focus on documents. In February 2025, Bondi stirred expectations that her Justice Department would be releasing incriminating information about Epstein and his associates. She told Fox News: “You’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office.”.

But months later, the Justice Department released a memo saying “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

Since then, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have accused the Justice Department of illegally withholding documents in the face of a congressional subpoena and later a bipartisan transparency law.

Bondi defended the Justice Department’s record. saying it missed a legal deadline to release documents because reviewing and redacting the files was a huge task. On March 18. she told reporters: “We had 30 days to redact and release. under the law that was passed. 3 million documents.” She added: “If you stack those up. that’s the height of the Eiffel Tower.”.

In the end, the Justice Department released about 3.5 million pages of files by late January, but it withheld another 2.5 million pages and heavily redacted much of what it did release.

Bondi’s deputy at the time. Todd Blanche. said many documents were withheld to protect victim privacy. which is permitted under the transparency law. Blanche also said the Justice Department withheld documents for some reasons the law didn’t permit. including to shield internal Justice Department deliberations related to Epstein.

White House involvement and influence

Bondi may also be questioned about whether the White House—potentially including Trump personally—played a role in decisions about what the Justice Department released, whom it investigated, and whether additional Epstein associates should have faced charges.

For years, members of Trump’s inner circle had called for federal officials to release their Epstein files. After Trump returned to office, administration officials pushed that campaign further, suggesting new names from Epstein’s purported client list and promising new accountability.

Alina Habba said in February 2025. when asked by British journalist Piers Morgan if “we are likely to see criminal actions being taken” related to Epstein. “Absolutely.” Habba added: “To hide lists. to protect political friends. all of that. we don’t have time for that.” She later framed the promise as a change in era. saying: “It’s a new day. it’s a new administration. and everything’s going to come out to the public.”.

In a March 2025 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Bondi also said: “It’s a new day, it’s a new administration, and everything’s going to come out to the public.”

But the accusations kept moving. In May of that year, Bondi reportedly told Trump that his name appeared multiple times in the files. In July, the Justice Department announced it was closing the case on Epstein after a “systematic review” of the files.

The Justice Department said in a memo: “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” It also said: “No further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”

Trump, who had been a personal friend of Epstein until the 2000s and has denied wrongdoing, later urged followers to move on. On Truth Social on July 16, he posted: “Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax.”

Committee members may cite those moments to press whether Bondi’s transparency and investigative decisions were influenced improperly by the White House.

Releasing names and images of alleged victims

Lawmakers are also expected to ask about the Justice Department’s initial redactions when it released files under the transparency law.

That law required disclosures but also empowered the Justice Department to protect victims’ identities and personal records and to shield child sexual abuse material from the public. Bondi had repeatedly said she was committed to protecting victims.

Still, when a trove of files was released in late January, some Epstein accusers’ names were initially disclosed and some nude images were released publicly. Bondi told Congress Feb. 11 that department staffers did “our very best in the time frame allotted by the legislation to protect victims.”

She added: “If you brought us a victim’s name that was inadvertently released, we immediately redacted it,” in testimony provided to Congress.

The committee’s decision to move forward with a transcribed interview—rather than a deposition—means the focus will be tightly controlled: Bondi will respond under questioning with legal representation from Harmeet Dhillon. and she will be able to refuse answers without a legal justification. as Garcia described. The committee says it will release the transcript as quickly as possible.

For lawmakers, the stakes aren’t only procedural. The dispute over Epstein files has grown into a test of trust in how accountability is handled—especially when the names involved collide with politics.

And with Bondi now battling thyroid cancer, the May 29 interview arrives with the added weight of timing, health, and a case that critics say never fully answered the questions the public kept asking.

Pam Bondi House Oversight Committee Jeffrey Epstein files Ghislaine Maxwell Justice Department congressional subpoena transparency law Harmeet Dhillon Todd Blanche Summer Lee Thomas Massie