Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Wednesday echoed Democratic calls to hold former Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt if she failed to comply with a subpoena to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The Justice Department told House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) Wednesday that Bondi would not appear for the scheduled April 14 deposition.
Mace, who introduced the measure to subpoena Bondi, got the backing of four GOP colleagues and all the Democrats on the panel in a vote last month.
“We expect Pam Bondi’s deposition to be rescheduled in a timely fashion. Our motion made clear the Committee must issue a subpoena to Pam Bondi, not the occupant of the office of Attorney General of the United States,” Mace wrote on social platform X.
“Coordinate with her personal attorney, issue an updated subpoena if necessary. But if Pam Bondi continues to refuse to comply, she should be held in contempt.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, said Wednesday that the party would pursue contempt if Bondi did not comply.
“Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not. She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in the Congress,” he said in a statement.
The Department of Justice argued in a letter to Comer obtained by The Hill that Bondi should not have to appear now that she has been fired.
“Ms. Bondi no longer holds that office. As a result, because Ms. Bondi no longer can testify in her official capacity as Attorney General, the Department’s position is that the subpoena no longer obligates her to appear,” Assistant Attorney General Patrick Davis wrote.
The panel’s Democrats have refuted that argument, noting that Bondi was subpoenaed by name to sit for a deposition with the panel, as were other former attorneys general.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr, for instance, sat for a deposition last year.
It is unlawful to defy a subpoena, and the panel could seek to escalate the matter by voting to refer the matter to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, something the full House would have to back through a contempt motion.
Even if such a measure did advance, it would rest with President Trump’s Justice Department whether to file charges.
