Democratic U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland vowed that his party would subpoena U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi if Democrats regain control of Congress following the midterm elections.
Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, delivered the remarks after a contentious hearing where Bondi also sidestepped answering multiple questions about the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Newsweek reached out to GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office via email Wednesday night for comment.
Why It Matters
The prospect of a subpoena highlights how control after the 2026 midterms could shape oversight of the Justice Department’s Epstein files release, which lawmakers and survivors said included improper redactions and alleged exposure of victims’ identities.
What To Know
During the hourslong House Judiciary oversight hearing, Bondi repeatedly deflected Democrats’ questions about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files, including over redactions and potential prosecutions, while engaging in personal clashes with members.
“If we had the power, we would subpoena her, and we would require her to answer our questions,” Raskin said to reporters following the hearing, Politico reports. “So that is the importance of who’s going to be in control in Congress after the 2026 elections because we would like the subpoena power, so we don’t see this kind of phenomenal disrespect of Congress.”
Bondi, while speaking to Raskin during the hearing, ripped into the Maryland lawmaker, calling him in part a “washed-up, loser lawyer” and “not even a lawyer.” Raskin, who earned his degree from Harvard Law School, was also a longtime constitutional law professor before joining Congress.
Lawmakers from across the aisle reviewed unredacted Epstein files this week, with Republican Representative Thomas Massie, co-author of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, accusing the Justice Department of breaching the law with the files’ redactions and calling Bondi’s answers “kind of crazy” in part as he pressed for transparency on names listed as potential co‑conspirators.
What People Are Saying
Anthony Scaramucci, who was fired by Trump 10 days into his job as White House communications director during the president’s first term, on X Wednesday: “Years from know [sic] Pam Bondi will look at this testimony with great embarrassment. She will be thinking how did I allow myself to get manipulated into speaking like that and showing such indifference to the victims. She was a different person a decade ago.”
Representative Pramila Jayapal, Washington Democrat, on X Wednesday: “Pam Bondi brought a document to the Judiciary Committee today that had my search history of the Epstein files on it. The DOJ is spying on members of Congress. It’s a disgrace and I won’t stand for it.”
Conservative influencer Nick Sortor, on X Wednesday: “WOW! Pam Bondi just CALLED OUT Jamie Raskin for grandstanding over Epstein while not even KNOWING THE NAME of a high profile pedophiIe being sentenced in his district ‘Do you even KNOW who Chase Mulligan is? You don’t, do you? You’re too OBSESSED with Donald Trump. You have Trump Derangement Syndrome!’ ‘He’s being sentenced next week in YOUR OWN DISTRICT and you don’t even know about it! You know NOTHING about keeping children safe from online predators.’ ‘He PREYED ON GIRLS! Yet you didn’t even know in your tiny little district who he was??! SHAME ON YOU!'”
Massie, on X Wednesday: “A funny thing about Bondi’s insults to members of Congress who had serious questions: Staff literally gave her flash cards with individualized insults, but she couldn’t memorize them, so you can see her shuffle through them to find the flash-cards-insult that matches the member.”
What Happens Next
Scrutiny of the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files release will likely continue.
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