Pam Bondi declined to talk about Trump’s involvement in the handling of the Epstein files during her House committee interview

Want to know who testified in the House oversight investigation? Find out what we know about the depositions given by former Epstein associate Sarah Killeen, prison guard Tova Noel, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi sat down for a closed-door interview Friday about her handling of the federal government’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

Several Epstein survivors stood outside the office as lawmakers spoke with Bondi. The survivors asked Rep. James Comer, the committee chairman, to question Bundy about the file redaction process, which often reveals personal information and photos of survivors.

As head of the Justice Department, Bondi faced intense criticism over the agency’s release of a trove of documents related to Epstein.

Speaking during a break in the interview, ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., said Bondi refused to answer questions about President Donald Trump’s involvement in the administration’s handling of the files.

Bondi’s appearance before the House Oversight Committee comes weeks after Trump fired her in April. She told CNN on Wednesday that she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer shortly after leaving the Justice Department.

Read more: Who is Howard Lutnick and what is his connection to Jeffrey Epstein?

Reporters and survivors asked Comer on Friday about Bundy not speaking before the committee under oath.

“Well, if you lie to Congress, that’s a felony,” Comer said, adding that the committee would release the transcript of the interview.

Watch the clip in the player above.

Bondi’s recollection is one of several memories the Republican-controlled House committee is seeking. Other notable figures to testify included former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a former Epstein associate and a former prison guard who was working the night before the financier was found dead in his cell.

From across the political spectrum, the worlds of finance and entertainment, and beyond, a number of powerful figures appeared in the Epstein documents, photos and emails released by the Justice Department. The inclusion of the files does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but the fallout has led to the resignations of some prominent figures and calls for greater accountability.

Jeffrey Epstein survivor Danielle Pinsky speaks as other survivors show documents to members of the media, on May 29, 2026, the day of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s interview with former Attorney General Pam Bondi as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Photograph by Kylie Cooper/Reuters

Why does the committee want to talk to Bondi?

In a bipartisan move, the committee voted in March to subpoena Bondi, as the Justice Department came under increasing pressure, even from conservative Trump supporters, to provide more information about its sex trafficking investigation into Epstein.

The committee told the attorney general it had “valuable insight” into the agency’s release of the files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law that sets a deadline that the agency failed to fully meet.

When Bondi refused to testify on April 14, Democrats on the committee filed contempt charges, saying she was obligated to testify even though she was no longer the nation’s top prosecutor.

More than 120 attorneys filed an ethics complaint against Bondi days before her scheduled interview with the committee in May, saying she violated Florida Bar rules in multiple ways, including by “failing to supervise subordinate officers” during the Justice Department’s review and release of the Epstein files.

What did Bundy previously say about the Epstein files?

The start of the government 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 mounting frustration over her handling of the investigation and her public statements about the probe.

• January 2024: A New York court released a batch of documents related to Epstein in early 2024. Bondi, who was then president of the Institute for First American Politics, said in an interview with Fox News that there was “no legal basis” to keep the names in Epstein’s files private unless they were the names of survivors or a cooperating defendant.
• February 2025: Weeks after becoming prosecutor, Bondi noted that there was a “client list” of Epstein on her desk in a February 21 Fox News interview. Later that month, the Department of Justice and the FBI jointly released “Phase One of the Declassified Epstein Files.” The White House gave conservative influencers folders printed on the front cover “The Epstein Files – Phase 1,” even though most of these documents were already public.

A group exits the West Wing on February 27, 2025, carrying folders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase One” at the White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

• July 2025: The FBI and Justice Department issued an unsigned memo saying federal investigators had not uncovered evidence worthy of investigation against people who had not been charged. She also said that “the systematic review did not reveal the existence of an incriminating ‘client list,’ which contradicts Bondi’s previous statements. This development frustrated Trump’s base and allies.”
• November 2025: Bondi announced the investigation on November 14 in response to Trump’s directive to investigate several prominent Democrats and their ties to Epstein, including former President Clinton. Days later, Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requiring the release of all relevant documents within 30 days. Trump, who has long opposed the measure and downplayed his ties to Epstein, signed it into law amid political pressure within his party to do more.
• December 2025: Although the Justice Department released thousands of redacted documents by the law’s deadline, the document repository did not include all files, as required by law. The ministry said it would continue to publish documents. A bipartisan chorus of lawmakers considered how to hold Bondi accountable for the rollout.
• January 2026: The Justice Department released the latest batch of files, including more than 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 photos, but the agency failed to redact personal information and uncensored photos of survivors. A group of survivors told CNN that the Justice Department’s negligence appeared deliberate. In a letter to federal judges, Bondi attributed the lack of redaction to human and technical errors, “and cases in which the effectiveness of certain quality control procedures appears to have been hampered.”
• February 2026: Bondi faced lawmakers from the House Judiciary Committee who repeatedly pressed her about the Justice Department’s handling of the files during the hearing. Early in the hours-long proceedings, Bondi did not offer an apology to the Epstein survivors sitting behind her and launched personal attacks on Democrats on the committee.

Watch the clip in the player above.

• March 2026: The House Oversight Committee asked 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 an April 2 Truth Social post, the president announced his decision, calling Bundy a “great American patriot and loyal friend.”




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