House Democrats furiously staged a walkout of Attorney General Pam Bondi’s closed-door briefing to update lawmakers on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
They claimed that President Donald Trump’s top Justice Department officials did not follow proper form, provided no real insights into the investigation, and alleged Bondi did not honor the panel’s subpoena.
At least two Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee called the exercise on Wednesday evening ‘fake.’
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with members of the committee on Capitol Hill. But less than an hour after the meeting started, Democrats stormed out of the room.
Ranking member Robert Garcia of California told reporters that Bondi was not under oath, did not provide an opening statement and did not commit to honoring the subpoena.
‘It’s outrageous, it’s infuriating and it continues this White House cover-up of the Epstein files. We’re not going to take that anymore,’ Garcia said, before calling the session a ‘fake hearing.’
Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida, a progressive Democrat, echoed Garcia by calling the ordeal a ‘fake deposition where no one can see what’s going on.’
He noted how there was no C-SPAN feed or cameras for the closed-door meeting.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee stormed out of a closed-door session with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her Deputy AG Todd Blanche
Democrat ranking member Robert Garcia called it a ‘fake hearing’ and told reporters Bondi was not under oath, did not provide an opening statement and did not commit to honoring the subpoena for next month
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Bondi for her testimony regarding the DOJ’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein
The Justice Department referred the Daily Mail to Bondi and Blanche’s public remarks rebuking the Democrat walkout.
Bondi, speaking with reporters after the short sit-down on Wednesday, said: ‘We came at their convenience. We gave them, really, as much time as they wanted.’
She said one congresswoman refused to ask questions as she ‘screamed’ about the lack of C-SPAN coverage.
The walkout is just the latest in a continuation of rising tensions between the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein case.
It came just a day after Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer of Kentucky subpoenaed Bondi to testify about Epstein next month.
Comer said the walkout was likely ‘premeditated’ and part of a ‘political game’ Democrats are playing.
‘They came out, clutching their pearls, complaining that she wasn’t answering questions,’ he said on Wednesday. ‘The first three people to ask questions, all they did was complain.’
AG Pam Bondi said that Democratic lawmakers in the closed session were not happy with the lack of C-SPAN coverage of the meeting and refused to ask questions in that setting
Bondi promised to release all DOJ files related to Epstein and his sex trafficking crimes. Pictures is Epstein and his longtime girlfriend and co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell
Democrats are demanding answers from Bondi regarding potential links between Epstein and the late financier
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Comer and Democratic Representative Summer Lee of Pennsylvania also both admitted to a verbal argument between them during the short session.
Lee said that she asked Comer if he would hold Bondi in contempt of Congress if she doesn’t comply with a subpoena for testimony next month. She claimed that Comer accused her of ‘bitching.’
For his part, Comer told reporters that the interaction was just Lee ‘complaining about the format.’
Later on X he defended his comments to Lee, saying: ‘I said Democrats were bitching and wasting everyone’s time because Democrats were bitching and wasting everyone’s time.’
Bondi, asked if she would comply with the subpoena, said after the briefing she would ‘follow the law.’
