Who?
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) — Ranking Member, House Oversight Committee
LISTEN: Laslo & Garcia
Ask a Pol asks:
You were moving contempt charges against former Attorney General Pam Bondi, but now she says she’s going to testify before the Oversight Committee on May 29th and the DOJ is still run by her top deputy, is your contempt effort over?
Key Garcia:
“We filed civil contempt charges because obviously her own DOJ is not going to probably go after her,” Rep. Robert Garcia said on the Capitol steps earlier today.
Timing?
“45 minutes after we announced the civil charges, [House Oversight Committee Chair James] Comer announces a date, and so I think that the timing is interesting,” Garcia said. “We had heard nothing from the DOJ, nothing from Pam Bondi’s counsel, it’s been two weeks since she missed her first actual deposition so we’re glad there’s finally a date. That’s all we wanted.”
Caught our ear:
Do you think Bondi will show up?
“She didn’t show up for her first one, so we’ll wait and see,” Garcia said. “She needs to show up.”
What’s Congress missing?
Let us know and we’ll let them know!
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Robert Garcia (4-29-2026)
SCENE: Ahead of a vote, House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia makes time for the TV cameras lined up at the base of the Capitol steps.
Do you think there’s any chance that former Attorney General Pam Bondi actually gets held in contempt? I mean, you’re trying to move those charges at this point, but the DOJ is still run by her top deputy.
Rep. Robert Garcia: “Well, I mean, look — first, I think that we filed civil contempt charges, because obviously her own DOJ is not going to probably go after her. But we believe through the courts there would be some success.
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Garcia: “And look, they’ve actually set the date — 45 minutes after we announced the civil charges, [House Oversight Committee Chair James] Comer announces a date, and so I think that the timing is interesting.
“We had heard nothing from the DOJ, nothing from Pam Bondi’s counsel, it’s been two weeks since she missed her first actual deposition and so we’re glad there’s finally a date. That’s all we wanted. And so if she appears, we’re obviously not moving forward with contempt.”
Do you think she’ll show up?
Garcia: “She didn’t show up for her first one, so we’ll wait and see. She needs to show up.”
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