(WASHINGTON) -- Former Attorney General Pam Bondi is not expected to sit for a closed-door deposition next week, after the Department of Justice informed the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday that its subpoena is essentially moot because it sought Bondi's testimony in an "official capacity as Attorney General" -- and President Donald Trump removed her from office last week.
Bondi had been expected to testify behind closed doors on April 14, pursuant to the committee's bipartisan subpoena -- following bipartisan consternation of her handling of the Epstein documents and the department's compliance with the Epstein Transparency Act.
"The Committee issued the subpoena to Ms. Bondi in her official capacity as Attorney General, rather than her personal capacity," Assistant Attorney General Patrick D. Davis, wrote House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer on Wednesday. "Indeed, the subpoena is specifically addressed to 'Pamela J. Bondi, Attorney General of the United States' and the accompanying cover letter specifically seeks information from her '[a]s Attorney General[.]'"
The letter says that since Bondi is no longer attorney general, she "no longer can testify in her official capacity as Attorney General" and that "the Department's position is that the subpoena no longer obligates her to appear on April 14."
"We kindly ask that you confirm that the subpoena is withdrawn," Davis wrote.
Nevertheless, the House Oversight Committee signaled it will continue to pursue Bondi's testimony as its investigation stretches deeper into the summer. A source close to the matter told ABC News that Comer has not yet withdrawn the subpoena.
"The committee will contact Pam Bondi's personal counsel to discuss next steps regarding scheduling her deposition," an Oversight Committee spokeswoman said.
It's unclear whether Bondi has retained counsel in the aftermath of her abrupt departure from the department last week.
Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia said Bondi must come in to testify in the committee's Epstein probe "immediately" -- arguing that the subpoena applies to Bondi even though she is no longer leading the DOJ.
"Now that Pam Bondi has been fired, she’s trying to get out of her legal obligation to testify before the Oversight Committee about the Epstein files and the White House cover-up," Garcia said in a statement. "Our bipartisan subpoena is to Pam Bondi, whether she is the Attorney General or not. She must come in to testify immediately, and if she defies the subpoena, we will begin contempt charges in the Congress."
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, a member of the House Oversight Committee who called for Bondi to testify, reacted on Wednesday, encouraging Comer to "hold the line" and publicly call for the former attorney general to testify.
"Bondi’s removal as Attorney General doesn’t erase her obligation to testify and does not end Congressional oversight," Mace wrote in a social media post. "The American people deserve to know whether Congress was misled and whether information about Jeffrey Epstein and his associates is being withheld. Pam Bondi has answers."
In a statement, a DOJ spokesperson reiterated that Bondi didn’t need to testify because of the “leadership transition at the Department."
On Tuesday, in Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's first news conference as acting attorney general, ABC News asked him whether he expected Bondi would comply with the House Oversight subpoena.
"Look, as everybody knows, the Attorney General and I went to the House Oversight a few weeks ago. We answered every single question asked for a couple hours," Blanche said. "What happens now that she's the former attorney general and there's the subpoena out there is, I think I'll leave it to -- to Chairman Comer and others to figure out."
But pressed on whether the DOJ would seek to invoke any kind of privilege over Bondi's testimony, Blanche declined to rule it out.
"I definitely did not say that," Blanche said. "I said I will leave it to Chairman Comer to work out with others. I just don't have an answer for you. But I'm not committing to anything. I'm just saying I don't -- I don't know."