US lawmakers vote to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi in Epstein probe
A congressional committee has voted to subpoena US attorney general Pam Bondi as the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell continues.
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Five Republicans on the House Oversight Committee joined with Democrats in a 24-19 vote, forcing the member of Donald Trump's. Cabinet to face questioning amid the ongoing probe.
The motion was brought forward by Republican representative Nancy Mace, who has accused the Department of Justice of a "cover-up".
It was backed by Republican representatives Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
Announcing the motion’s success, Ms Mace wrote on X: “The American people want answers on the Epstein files, and so do we.”
Ms Mace has branded the Epstein case “one of the greatest cover-ups in American history.”
Read more: Lawmakers threaten Pam Bondi with impeachment over limited release of Epstein files
Read more: US lawmakers vote to subpoena Justice Department for Jeffrey Epstein files
She added: “His global sex trafficking network is larger than what is being revealed”.
It comes as Bondi and the Trump administration come under scrutiny over their handling of the release of the Epstein files, after failing to black out the names of Epstein's victims while redacting other information.
Ms Mace said: “Three million documents have been released, and we still don't have the full truth.
"Videos are missing. Audio is missing. Logs are missing. There are millions more documents out there."
In February, Bondi defended the justice department’s handling of the release of the Epstein files and hit out at critics amid the backlash.
Congress passed legislation mandated the release of millions of documents related to the Epstein probe, but the justice department came under fire for reportedly missing the deadline.
Ms Bondi told the House Judiciary Committee her officials did their "very best in the time allotted".“You’re a washed-up loser lawyer. You’re not even a lawyer,” Ms Bondi told Representative Jamie Raskin at one point during the fiery hearing.
Politicians are trying to meet demands for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in New York while facing charges for sex trafficking and abusing underage girls.
High-status men around the world have been forced into resignations because of revelations about their relationships with Epstein, but there have been few signs in the US of serious legal consequences.
Last week, Bill and Hillary Clinton testified before congress amid the probe- with both maintaining that they did nothing wrong and knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes.