House Oversight chair moving quickly to schedule Epstein testimony with Bondi, Lutnick

Rep. James Comer says he’s working to schedule testimonies from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick within the next few weeks as part of the congressional investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“I’m in communication with them,” Comer (R-Ky.), the chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told reporters Wednesday morning as he prepared to attend a deposition with Richard Kahn, Epstein’s accountant. “We're trying to get them in very, very soon.”

Comer’s panel voted to subpoena Bondi last week to compel her testimony about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case, amid mounting criticism that DOJ officials slow-walked the release of the files and bungled the redactions in published materials.

Lutnick last week agreed to speak voluntarily with investigators under threat of being subpoenaed by the Oversight Committee. Lawmakers want him to discuss the full extent of his relationship with the disgraced financier, after Lutnick recently admitted he had lunch with Epstein after previously claiming they had severed ties. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.