Five Republicans on the House oversight committee joined with Democrats to vote 24-19 to subpoena US attorney general Pam Bondi as part of the ongoing investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The motion, introduced by Republican representative Nancy Mace, was approved with the support of fellow Republicans Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
In a post on X announcing the motion's passage, Mace wrote: 'The American people want answers on the Epstein files, and so do we.' The vote comes amid criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the Department of Justice's handling of the files, including accidentally releasing the names of survivors and redacting the names of potential criminals without explanation.
Democratic representative Ro Khanna said on X that 'we can hold the Epstein class accountable if we are willing to cross the aisle and build a coalition of accountability'. During a House judiciary committee hearing in February, Bondi attacked Democratic representative Jamie Raskin, calling him a 'washed-up loser lawyer', and avoided questions about the files, instead praising Donald Trump's handling of the economy. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
