WASHINGTON, March 5 — A committee of the United States (US) House of Representatives has voted to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi to question her over the release of files related to the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to US media reports on Wednesday evening, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The handling of millions of documents tied to the Epstein case has drawn criticism.
Critics said victims were not adequately protected and that some sensitive files were later removed from public access.
The committee’s decision obliges Bondi to appear for a closed-door hearing and answer lawmakers’ questions.
Former US president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton have also recently been questioned by the panel.
Bondi defended her handling of the files in February but acknowledged mistakes, saying that the names of some victims had been published by accident before being redacted after the issue was flagged.
The US Justice Department began releasing investigation files related to Epstein in mid-December. However, according to media reports, tens of thousands of documents were later taken offline.
Analyses by The Wall Street Journal and CBS News found that more than 47,000 files had been removed, at least temporarily, by the end of February.
Some withheld documents reportedly include Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) interview notes from 2019 with a woman who said she had been abused by Epstein as a minor in the 1980s and also made allegations of sexual misconduct against President Donald Trump.
Epstein operated a long-running abuse ring that victimised numerous young women and minors. — Bernama-dpa
