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WASHINGTON — <\/span>Former Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/a> is testifying before House lawmakers investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse cases, a long-awaited appearance that brings fresh scrutiny of the administration’s botched release of the Epstein case files.<\/p>\n Bondi was defiant<\/a> in previous public testimony when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation. It’s unclear whether she’ll bring the same approach Friday, now that she is no longer in charge of the Justice Department. The session will be held behind closed doors. <\/p>\n The transcribed interview will give lawmakers a chance to dig for information on the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and other related matters, including the prison sentence of his former girlfriend and confidant, Ghislaine Maxwell. The Justice Department moved Maxwell to a prison camp<\/a> in Texas last August.<\/p>\n \u201cI think she absolutely could clear up many missing pieces if she wanted to,\u201d said Rep. Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. \u201cNow it\u2019s a question of whether or not she is willing to be transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawmakers are trying to find out what decisions prosecutors have made about investigating Epstein associates, how the Justice Department handled the congressional mandate to release the Epstein case files and whether President Donald Trump was involved in the process.<\/p>\n Bondi, who revealed this week that she is being treated for thyroid cancer, has stayed within Trump’s orbit even after being ousted from her job in early April. <\/p>\n Trump appointed her to a White House panel on artificial intelligence this week, and Bondi will be accompanied Friday by Justice Department officials, including Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the department’s Civil Rights Division, acting as her counsel.<\/p>\n Democrats say that arrangement is a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the officials were there to help lawmakers understand the department’s process for releasing the case files.<\/p>\n Bondi has been central to the political firestorm<\/a> over Epstein, initially raising expectations for the full release of what’s known as the Epstein files, only to later backtrack. That reversal prompted Congress to step in and pass a law requiring the release.<\/p>\n Bondi faced even more backlash when the Justice Department’s release of the files was delayed and then included personal information<\/a> of several potential victims. She has insisted in congressional hearings that she was trying to follow the law.<\/p>\n The House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein that spans multiple presidential administrations. <\/p>\n