FINALLY: Pam Bondi gets the news she FEARED MOST

I'm joined now by the ranking member of. the House Oversight Committee, Robert. Garcia. Congressman, thanks so much for. joining me. We have a major update here. with all eyes on Pam Bondi because this. April 14th sworn deposition for the. Oversight Committee came and went. She. didn't appear. You made an announcement. this morning that you were moving. forward with the contempt resolution and. then suddenly we had an update. Can you. explain what that was? Yeah, look, she obviously missed her. date her date 2 weeks ago, right? So, she was supposed to come in. have her deposition in place under.

subpoena bipartisan. She misses it and. so since that date we've been warning. Pam Bondi and Chairman Comer that we. were going to file contempt charges and. if we did not hear we reached out to the. DOJ, we reached out to Pam Bondi and her. counsel directly. We've been talking to. you Oversight Republicans. Nothing. No. information. And so this morning just. like we'd promised we filed contempt. charges in the House and. you know, ironically enough 45 minutes. later after we filed those charges James.

Comer announces we now have a date. that's been rescheduled with Pam Bondi. And so clearly they folded. I'm glad. that we actually finally have a date. It's we've got to ask these questions. Pam Bondi has a lot to answer for and. I'm glad that James Comer finally set a. new date. What do you presume happened. behind the scenes? Do you think that. this date already existed and was being. was being, you know, hammered out. between Pam Bondi and James Comer or the.

Oversight Republicans or do you think. that they saw that you basically called. their bluff and were like, okay, what. what day works for you? April 29th, great. Let's put it on the books and. then pretend of course like that that. was going to be the case all along. Yeah, I mean, we don't know, right? I. mean, what we do know is we had had zero. information or communication. We had. sent Comer a letter asking if there had. been any progress on setting the date. Nothing. We'd called, talked to James. Comer's staff. No response. We reached. out to Pam Bondi, to the DOJ, nothing. And so, as of this morning, by the time we had.

filed those contempt charges, we had had. zero communication or information about. rescheduling that deposition. And so, the fact that 45 minutes later they came. up with this date, whether they had. already been working on that date or. whether they came up with it on the. spot, we'll never know because they. weren't communicating with us. What. matters is we finally got a date and. that we pushed and got the Republicans. to actually do the right thing. And I. think, you know, I've said from day one, we have to be in the fight. If we're. willing to fight and push hard, we're.

going to get good results. So, we've. heard this announcement from. DOJ or Pam Bondi's team that it's going. to be May 29th, but have you gotten. official word? And I ask that because. right now you have, you know, the the. contempt resolution that's filed. And. so, that's going to move forward and. we've seen, you know, this wouldn't be. the first time if Pam Bondi decided to. play some games. This wouldn't be the first time that, you know, the Republicans will have. screwed around. And so, is this contempt. resolution going to remain in place and.

presumably moving forward while you wait. for any official correspondence here? It is. We're not removing the contempt. resolution. It's it's been filed and and in the US. House and now we have a date. And so, I. don't expect there to be. a vote or this get taken up until we see. if she actually appears. And if she. doesn't appear on her scheduled date, then I think that this obviously gets. elevated and. really cause a lot of issues for.

Republicans. She needs to come for her deposition. It. was a bipartisan vote through a. subpoena. And so, I'm glad that we have. this date, but it's just unfortunate. that we have to fight so damn hard for. them to do the right thing. But we're. going to continue to do so to get. justice for the survivors. So, the. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet. Dhillon had come on to Twitter and. replied to a tweet that Oversight. Democrats posted where where you all. laid out that that Pam Bondi was going. to contend with these contempt charges.

And Harmeet Dhillon said fake news, why. lie Oversight Dems? You know that Pam. Bondi through counsel agreed to a. specific date your committee counsel. proposed for a transcribed interview. earlier this week. Be better, cheap. stunts like this are a waste of time and. space. Now, we've already spoken about. the fact that, you know, there was no date that was given to the. Oversight Democrats. This is just, you. know, this is basically just make-believe to. make themselves look better in. retrospect. But, why do you presume that. Harmeet Dhillon on behalf of the DOJ is.

out here advocating for Pam Bondi when. just a few weeks back the whole point of. of this effort to try and. claim that Pam Bondi didn't need to be. there was because she's no longer at the. DOJ and she. so she can no longer speak for what's. happening at the federal government. And. yet now you have DOJ officials who are. speaking on behalf of Pam Bondi and. fighting her battles for her. Well, I think what's incredibly bizarre. is the DOJ continues to essentially be a. mouthpiece for Pam Bondi and its.

officials. She doesn't work there. anymore. The DOJ has said that their. position is that Pam Bondi doesn't need. to appear and now we're we're they're. pushing back and calling us liars. I. mean that's that's a joke. I want to see. the correspondence. I want to see. the the email or the letter where they. told us the date. They they didn't they. didn't share anything with us. And so. >> Yeah. they were communicating with. Chairman Comer. He had been keeping us. in the dark and so look, we're we're. going to we're not going to sit around. and just take their word for it. I think. at the end of the day we need her to.

show up. We're going to keep that. contempt resolution filed. Pam Bondi. hasn't released 50% of the files. And. now Todd Blanchet is doing the same. thing. She doxxed survivors. She put. them in danger. Why were Ghislaine. Maxwell given so much special treatment. and so many others then get exposed in. the files and the personal information. put out. I mean, just the the. haphazard nature of the way they've. treated this whole thing, it's it's got. to be investigated. And so, we we look. forward to her coming in. We have a lot. of questions for her. I think she's.

going to she's going to face a very, very aggressive and committed group of. Democrats uh to get the truth. And and. that's the part I want to dig into here. because, you know, uh while I think all. of the mechanics surrounding, you know, the will she, won't she come are. certainly interesting, the the important. part of all of this is what's going to. happen once she appears. And so, can you. talk about why it's so important to get. Pam Bondi in front of the oversight. committee for a sworn deposition? Yeah, I mean, look. First, this is the. same um attorney general that said the.

binders were on her desk. I mean, she. started off by creating this whole. bizarre influence like MAGA influencer. event early on. saying that the files were released, they weren't. Uh then she said that it. was a hoax and followed along with. President President Trump was saying. that wasn't true, then they tried to. hide the files, they defied the. subpoena. I mean, over and over again, this has been just a constant cover-up. at the highest levels. We need to ask. questions. Who. was the person that actually mandated.

the move for Ghislaine Maxwell? Who did. that? We we still don't know, but I bet. you she does. And so, she's going to be. asked that question. Why are 50% of the. files. still not presented? She needs to answer. those questions. So, that's what we. expect to happen out of this deposition. Is there a world where she could just. plead the fifth? I mean, I know this. isn't a criminal proceeding, but does. she have to answer questions that are. posed to her? Look, I mean, anyone that's that's. answering questions could try to plead.

the fifth on different matters, but she. really has no standing to do so. She's. certainly not in the executive branch. anymore. And so, we expect her to. testify. and try to answer these questions. We. also. um. that we're going to have a lot of. outreach from survivors and survivor. groups that are representing a lot a lot. of these women that are going to also. have questions and and they're already. asking publicly under and I know many of. them wanted her to actually come in to. be deposed and I'm glad we're able to do. so. But does she have the legal right to. assert her fifth?

>> don't I don't believe I look I think. every person has. a a legal the legal right to try to. plead the fifth. Um but you have to it's. going to be backed up by some type of. reasoning and I'm not sure that she has. a lot of that that she can actually. legally plead the fifth for. Okay. And. in terms of the broader goal here which. is to get accountability for those. who've participated in these heinous. crimes that were being perpetuated at. the top by by Epstein and Maxwell, I. mean, is there anything to compel even. though. Pam Bondi's gone to compel Todd Blanched.

to comply with the rest of with the rest. of this law? I mean, I had spoken with. with Ro Khanna a few weeks back and he. he mentioned that between him and Thomas. Massie there is talk of amending the. Epstein Files Transparency Act to. actually put put forward something with. teeth to compel the release of some of. these files given the fact that, you. know, right now there's there's really. nothing compelling its release and so. I'm just curious as this process. continues to play out at least while we. have a Republican DOJ,

I presume we're not going to see much. movement, but is there anything to. compel the the the the release of these. files? What's been incredibly effective in the. past has been public pressure, has been. pressure by the Congress, has been. Republicans joining us in bipartisan. efforts. And so we're going to continue. to push Todd Blanched, we're going to. continue to try to get the rest of those. files. There are now multiple. investigations from the Inspector. General and uh the other offices within. the government looking at at the way. they have actually released the files.

and so we are going to get those files. They should do the right thing and. release them now, but the we are we are. in this investigation, they have to. understand the truth is going to come. out and we expect the DOJ to do their. job and actually criminally prosecute. the men that actually were involved in. the abuse of these women and girls. If. we get to a point where this DOJ simply. won't do it, but we're lucky enough to. be in a situation in 2029 where. Democrats take over. the White House and they have access to. this stuff, is there a world where any.

DOJ officials who are complicit in the. suppression of these files and in. violating the Epstein files transparency. act could be held accountable for their. for their actions here? I mean, absolutely. We are in the. majority have an. immense amount of power and ability to. hold people accountable and to. investigate and to get more documents. and subpoena power and um compel folks. to testify. So, I think look, I I tell. people all the time if you think we were. able to do a lot in the minority, just.

wait till we get into the majority. Okay. It's going to be a real. game-changer. And finally, last thing I. want to talk about here, different. topic. We've all seen the voting rights. decision handed down by the Supreme. Court. Um. in light of the fact and I don't know if. many people know this, but when. California redrew its maps, I know it's. very difficult to get members of. Congress or any elected officials to to. to um. basically give up their own voters in in. these districts and that's exactly what. you did. Your district went from an. extraordinarily blue district to a.

redder district because you were willing. to give up uh uh some voters in your. district to make uh a map that would. counteract what Republicans were doing. in Texas even possible. And so, in light. of what we're seeing right now where we. could see, you know, a wave of 12 to. even 20 seats flip um as the result of. the Cale decision, what would be your. message to other Democrats in other. states where we've not exercised um our. ability to fight back? I'm talking New. York, New Jersey, Colorado, Washington.

in light of the fact that you know, not. only are Republicans gerrymandering. their maps mid-cycle anyway, but we're. also going to see that because of the. Calai decision, a bunch of redrawn maps. where they eliminate these black. opportunity districts. And so, what. would your message be from someone who. has been willing to seed a lot of. Democratic voters to other states and. other. legislators, whoever it may be, to try. to again fight fire with fire? I think every state is going to have to. be willing to fight harder. I think what.

California did was the right thing. You. look at the VRA decision is incredibly. disappointing. It's disheartening. Representation, especially for. communities that historically have been. able to elect black members, Latino. members to Congress. I think it's really. a shame when you look at what. representation means for this country. I. believe in the VRA. And so, if they're. going to take this step with allies on. the court, we're going to have to double. down on states. that we can now unlock more Democrats.

and more voters and really fight fire. with fire. It's what what we did in. California. We're going to we may have. to do more. And other states are going. to have to do more as well. So, I think. it's all going to be a part of our. conversations over the next few weeks. and months. We'll leave it there. Congressman, as always, thanks for the. time. >> [music].