Former attorney general Pam Bondi will appear before the House Oversight Committee in late May to be asked questions about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

MS NOW anchor Ana Cabrera broke the news on Wednesday morning, saying, “We’re also tracking more breaking news on Capitol Hill, where moments after House Democrats announced plans to try to hold former Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress for defying their subpoena to testify about the Epstein investigation, a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee announced Bondi will appear after all before their committee next month.”

“Let’s bring in MSNBC Capitol Hill reporter Mychael Schnell. Michael, some fast-moving developments here this morning. Did Bondi wait until the Democrats actually announced the contempt plan to get on board?” Cabrera asked, turning to Schnell.

“Yeah, it’s still unclear what the choreography was behind the scenes, what led to this news. But again, the top line here and the important takeaway is that former attorney general Pam Bondi is going to testify behind closed doors under oath before the House Oversight Committee on May 29th,” began Schnell, adding:

This is something that both Democrats and Republicans on the panel have been working for for weeks. Remember, it was back in March when there was a bipartisan vote to subpoena Pam Bondi. And then as we were coming up on the initial date she was supposed to appear — April 14th — the president removed her from her post, essentially said she would no longer be serving as attorney general.

That then raised questions about whether or not she would still have to appear. The DOJ said it was their position that she no longer had to comply with that subpoena because she was no longer attorney general. Democrats and some Republicans on the panel said that is false, that she was subpoenaed in her personal capacity. After ostensibly more conversations behind the scenes, we now have news that Pam Bondi is going to testify on May 29th.

A long time coming, because remember, members have a lot of questions about the handling of the Epstein files — the redactions, why names of rich and powerful individuals were redacted and information pertaining to victims was let out for the public to see, also the amount of files that were actually released, whether or not it’s the full scope. Finally, after months of pushing for it, these members will have an opportunity to press Pam Bondi behind closed doors about that process.

But the big question now going forward is: who’s next, right? The Oversight Committee has said it wants to talk to everybody who may know something about Jeffrey Epstein, about the handling of those documents. I asked Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, if they were interested in talking to Todd Blanche. He’s currently the Acting Attorney General. He helped oversee the handling of the Epstein files. He told me he is their number one goal — for him to speak to next. Take a listen.

“We’ve now spent weeks with zero communication from somebody that was legally obligated to appear. So we have filed contempt charges. We’re demanding that Pam Bondi come and testify, or she will be held accountable,” said Rep. Garcia (D-CA) in a soundbite.

“Are you considering forcing a vote on subpoenaing Todd Blanche to appear before the committee?” Garcia is then asked in the clip.

“Todd Blanche is at the top of our list. He met with Ghislaine Maxwell — possibly multiple times — or surely communicated. What are they hiding? What are they covering up? And so absolutely, Todd Blanche is someone that we want to speak with,” Garcia replied.

“So, clearly somebody who the Oversight Committee wants to talk to. We’ll see if there are any developments on that end. But again, the news here this morning: on May 29th, exactly one month from today, former Attorney General Pam Bondi will be sitting down before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about the Epstein files,” Schnell concluded.

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

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