U.S. Congresswoman Summer Lee of Pennsylvania’s 12th District has introduced an amendment seeking to hold Pam Bondi in civil contempt of Congress.
She is accusing Bondi of failing to comply with a bipartisan subpoena demanding the release of the full, unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files.
In a post shared on Instagram (@repsummerlee), Lee said the Department of Justice has been legally obligated since August 2025 to provide the documents to a House committee but has failed to do so.
According to the congresswoman, the committee has received only a fraction of the requested materials, most of them heavily redacted.
“Since August, she has been legally compelled by our bipartisan subpoena to release the full, unredacted Epstein files,” Lee wrote. “Without the full files, we can’t have a serious investigation. It’s time she answer for her role in this cover up.”
Speaking during a committee markup, Lee contrasted the treatment of the Department of Justice with efforts to hold other high-profile figures in contempt.
She noted that the committee moved quickly to consider contempt proceedings related to depositions involving former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while no comparable action had been taken against Bondi or the DOJ for subpoena noncompliance.
“We are one week out from Bill and Hillary Clinton who did not show up for their depositions, and we’re already having a markup to hold them in contempt,” Lee said. “Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has been legally obligated to hand over the full, unredacted Epstein files to this committee since August.”
Lee argued that the same subpoena authority being used to pursue contempt against private individuals should also apply to government officials and agencies.
She said the DOJ has produced roughly 1% of the requested records, describing the response as inadequate and months overdue.
“The resolutions before us are allowing the DOJ to prosecute the Clintons for the exact same things that the DOJ itself is violating,” Lee said, accusing committee leadership of making “no effort” to compel Bondi’s testimony or enforce the subpoena.
Her amendment calls for holding Bondi in civil contempt for non-compliance with the subpoena issued on August 5, 2025, and seeks to escalate pressure on the DOJ to release the documents in full.
The proposal adds to ongoing political and legal tensions surrounding congressional oversight of the Epstein investigation, which continues to raise questions about accountability, transparency, and equal application of the law.
It remains unclear whether the amendment will gain sufficient support from committee members to advance.
