Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is set to give a closed-door interview Friday over her handling of the federal government’s investigation into the late, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
As head of the Justice Department, Bondi faced intense criticism over the agency’s release of a trove of documents pertaining to Epstein that revealed personal information and images of survivors.
Bondi’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee comes weeks after President Donald Trump fired her in April. She told CNN on Wednesday that she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after her exit from the DOJ.
READ MORE: Who is Howard Lutnick and what’s his connection to Jeffrey Epstein?
Asked whether Bondi will be sworn under oath, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the committee’s chair, did not give a clear answer.
“She’s coming in, if she says anything that’s not true, that’s a felony and she’ll be prosecuted,” he said.
Watch the clip in the player above.
Bondi’s recollection is one of several sought by the Republican-controlled House committee. Other notable figures who have provided testimony include former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Epstein’s former assistant and a former prison guard who was working the night before the financier was found dead in his cell.
From across the political spectrum and the worlds of finance, entertainment and beyond, a number of powerful figures have emerged in the Epstein documents, pictures and emails released by the DOJ. Inclusion in the files does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but the fallout has led to some high-profile resignations and calls for more accountability.
Why does the committee want to talk to Bondi?
In a bipartisan move, the committee voted in March to subpoena Bondi as the DOJ endured mounting pressure, even from conservative Trump supporters, to provide more information about its sex-trafficking investigation into Epstein.
The committee told the attorney general she possessed “valuable insight” into the agency’s release of the files, legally mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law that established a deadline the agency failed to fully comply with.
When Bondi declined to appear for her April 14 deposition, Democrats on the panel filed contempt charges, saying she was obligated to testify despite no longer being the nation’s top prosecutor.
More than 120 lawyers filed an ethics complaint against Bondi days before her scheduled May interview with the committee, saying she violated Florida Bar rules in multiple ways, including “her failure to supervise subordinate officers” in the DOJ’s review and release of the Epstein files.
What has Bondi previously said about the Epstein files?
The start of the government’s investigation into Epstein’s crimes far predates Bondi’s tenure as attorney general. But after candidate Trump promised to release the files, Bondi was met with growing frustration over her handling of and public statements about the probe.
- January 2024: A New York court released a batch of documents related to Epstein at the start of 2024. Bondi, then a chair at the America First Policy Institute, said in a Fox News interview there was “no legal basis” for keeping names private in Epstein files unless they were that of a survivor or cooperating defendant.
- February 2025: Weeks after she assumed the role of attorney general, Bondi suggested there was an Epstein “client list” sitting on her desk in a Feb. 21 interview with Fox News. Later that month, the DOJ and FBI jointly released the “First Phase of Declassified Epstein Files.” The White House gave conservative influencers binders with “The Epstein Files Phase 1” printed on the front cover, though most of these documents were already public.
A group walks out of the West Wing on Feb. 27, 2025, holding up binders labelled, “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” at the White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters
- July 2025: The FBI and Justice Department released an unsigned memo saying federal investigators did not uncover evidence that would merit an investigation against people who had not been charged. It also said a “systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,'” contradicting Bondi’s past statements. This development further frustrated Trump’s base and allies.
- November 2025: Bondi announced an investigation on Nov. 14, responding to a Trump directive to investigate several prominent Democrats and their Epstein connections, including former President Clinton. Days later, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of all related documents within 30 days. Trump, who long opposed the measure and downplayed his own connections to Epstein, signed it into law amid political pressure within his own party to do more.
- December 2025: Though the DOJ released thousands of heavily redacted documents by the law’s deadline, the document dump did not include every file, as required by the law. The department said it would continue releasing documents. A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers considered how to hold Bondi accountable for the rollout.
- January 2026: The DOJ released its final batch of files, including more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, but the agency failed to redact personal information and uncensored photos of survivors. A group of survivors told CNN that the DOJ’s carelessness seemed purposeful. Bondi, in a letter to federal judges, attributed the lack of redaction to human and technical errors, “and instances in which the effectiveness of certain quality control measures appears to have been hampered.”
- February 2026: Bondi faced lawmakers from the House Judiciary Committee who repeatedly pressed her over the DOJ’s handling of the files during a hearing. Early into the hourslong proceedings, Bondi did not offer an apology to the Epstein survivors sitting behind her and lobbed personal attacks at the Democrats on the committee.
Watch the clip in the player above.
- March 2026: The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bondi to answer questions about her department’s handling of the Epstein files. Five Republicans joined Democrats in the committee’s move.
- April 2026: Trump fires Bondi. In a Truth Social post on April 2, the president announced his decision, calling Bondi a “Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.”
