Ousted Pam Bondi will still answer for mishandling Epstein files, Rep. Garcia says

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) made it clear Thursday that even though U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had been fired, she would still testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about the mishandled release of the Epstein files.

Bondi was fired by President Donald Trump on Thursday and is said to be moving on to an unspecified job in the private sector. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will serve as acting attorney general. 

“Bondi has been leading a White House cover-up of the Epstein files,” Garcia, the ranking member of the Committee, said in a prepared statement. “She has weaponized the Department of Justice to protect Donald Trump and put survivors in harm’s way by exposing their identities. She will not escape accountability and remains legally obligated to appear before our Committee under oath.”

The Committee has long kept an eye on how the Department of Justice (DOJ) handled, or mishandled, the release of the Epstein files. In February, Oversight Democrats launched an investigation following an NPR report that showed the DOJ had withheld materials accusing Trump of sexually assaulting a minor. Bondi, who is legally required to testify before the House Oversight Committee about the files, is set to appear before the committee in two weeks.

“She has to comply with the subpoena,” Garcia said during a CNN interview Thursday. “Whether she is attorney general, or not, the subpoena is for her. She now has an opportunity, which is incredibly important, to address the Committee about the Epstein files, about the failures of that investigation. But she also has an opportunity now to give us 100% the truth and the facts under oath.”

In an X post, Bondi said she “will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration.”

Bondi is the second member of Trump’s cabinet to be fired. The president recently removed Kristi Noem from her position as Secretary of Homeland Security.

“Pam Bondi leaves behind a disgraceful, dangerous and deeply damaging legacy,” said Teresa Kumar, president and co-founder of Voto Latino, a voting rights advocacy organization. The statement continued, “instead of defending the Constitution, she enabled an agenda rooted in fear, division and political retaliation. Today, even Trump decided she wasn't corrupt enough.”

Blanche, Trump’s personal attorney, said in a X post the DOJ “will continue backing the blue, enforcing the law and doing everything in our power to keep America safe.” He has been one of the president’s most loyal employees, leading and defending “Operation Take Back America,” which has widely ignored due process to fast-track mass deportations. Blanche has also supported deploying immigration enforcement officers to polling sites.

“This is not leadership, it is the continuation of an assault on the rule of law,” said Kumar. “What we are witnessing is the unraveling of a system deliberately built by Trump to target our communities — encouraging suspicion, fear and even the policing of our own neighbors. That system is now eroding under the weight of its own abuses.”