Elie Honig Shreds Trump DOJ’s ‘Bogus Argument’ That Pam Bondi Can’t Comply With Subpoena
CNN’s Elie Honig shredded President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice for claiming that former Attorney General Pam Bondi does not need to comply with a subpoena to answer questions about the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Honig joined guest host John King on Wednesday’s edition of The Source to discuss Bondi’s potential appearance before the House Oversight Committee in compliance with a March subpoena the committee issued, forcing Bondi to submit to scrutiny of her handling of the Epstein files.
But after her firing last week over issues many believed stemmed from her conduct surrounding the files, a spokesman for the committee told MeidasTouch’s Scott MacFarlane that the Department of Justice claimed the former attorney general would not be appearing for her April 14 deposition.
“The Department of Justice has stated Pam Bondi will not appear on April 14 for a deposition since she is no longer Attorney General and was subpoenaed in her capacity as Attorney General,” the spokesman told MacFarlane on Wednesday. “The Committee will contact Pam Bondi’s personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition.”
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) vowed that Bondi would still be compelled to testify, writing on social media that Bondi “cannot escape accountability simply because she no longer holds the office of Attorney General.”
Honig echoed this view when discussing the situation with King, claiming that there was no legal basis for Bondi shirking her subpoena despite the DOJ’s claims that Bondi no longer needed to comply with the order after being removed from her post.
Honig said:
No, that’s a bogus argument, John. So here’s why: a subpoena is simply a command to a witness to provide relevant information, if they have any. As we sit here right now, former attorney general Pam Bondi has the exact same information that she had a week ago when she was still the sitting AG. Now, DOJ has come up with this distinction of, well, she’s not the AG anymore. Therefore, the subpoenas invalid. First of all, the subpoena is to Pam Bondi. It’s not to current occupant of the office. Second of all, if that subpoena meant whoever the current AG is, DOJ would be offering up Todd Blanche, which they’re not doing. And third of all, John, this committee has already subpoenaed several prior AGs, including Eric Holder, including Bill Barr, and including Merrick Garland. So, this remains valid.
Watch above via CNN.
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