Rep. Langworthy to Newsmax: Bondi Subpoena 'Highly Unnecessary'

Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Thursday that subpoenaing Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of Jeffrey Epstein files was unnecessary, arguing the House Oversight Committee could have simply asked her to appear voluntarily.

Langworthy, who serves on the House Oversight Committee and the House Rules Committee, made the comments on Newsmax's "National Report" while discussing the committee's ongoing investigations and a contentious hearing examining alleged fraud in Minnesota.

"I certainly always would be interested to hear from the attorney general, and I'm sure there's members of the committee that have questions," Langworthy said. "I don't know why a subpoena was necessary."

The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to subpoena Bondi to testify about the Justice Department's handling of files tied to the Epstein sex trafficking investigation, with five Republicans joining Democrats to approve the measure.

The bipartisan vote reflects growing frustration in Congress over missing or heavily redacted documents and questions about whether all relevant records have been released under federal transparency requirements related to the case.

Langworthy said he believed Bondi likely would have cooperated without a subpoena.

"You typically subpoena people that refuse to come into the committees," he said. "Pam Bondi was just on the Hill talking to the Judiciary Committee."

"I presume if we had formally asked her to come to the Oversight Committee, she would have willfully done so," he added.

Langworthy criticized the vote as unnecessary cooperation between members of both parties against a member of their own administration.

"For some reason, a breakaway group of Republicans joined with the Democrats to make her come by force through subpoena," he said. "I think it was highly unnecessary to have the majority party joining with the minority party to subpoena the attorney general of our own party when we could have just made a phone call and asked."

The subpoena is part of a broader congressional probe into how the Justice Department has handled records related to Epstein, the financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

The controversy intensified after lawmakers raised concerns that thousands of documents and other materials connected to the investigation were missing or withheld despite earlier disclosures.

Langworthy made the remarks after sharply criticizing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz during a House Oversight hearing examining alleged fraud in federally funded programs in the state.

The hearing focused on allegations that billions of dollars in federal funds intended for social services and Medicaid programs were obtained through fraud schemes.

Langworthy accused Walz of failing to provide clear answers about the alleged misconduct.

"This isn't political retribution. This is about accounting and accountability," he said. "They have $9 billion in alleged fraud. They have done nothing to try to recoup that money."

The New York Republican also argued federal authorities were justified in slowing funding flows to the state until stronger safeguards are implemented.

"The federal government is absolutely right to slow-walk anything that the state touches," Langworthy said. "They turned a blind eye to $9 billion in fraud on his watch, and he has no straight answer as to why it was allowed to happen and proliferate."

Langworthy said he still supports questioning Bondi before the committee but maintained that cooperation, not compulsion, should have been the first step.

"I certainly always would be interested to hear from the attorney general," he said, "but we could have just made a phone call and asked."

GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!

Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.

You need to watch NEWSMAX today.

Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!

Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now

BEST OFFER:

Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.

Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.

Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!

Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.