Lawmakers demand sworn testimony from Attorney General Pam Bondi after walking out of closed-door meeting.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Several Democrats on the House Oversight Committee walked out of a closed-door briefing with Justice Department officials Wednesday night, accusing Attorney General Pam Bondi of withholding information related to the Jeffrey Epstein files and refusing to participate further without sworn testimony.
The lawmakers exited roughly an hour into the session with Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, objecting to the structure of the meeting, which was not conducted under oath and would not be transcribed or made public. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., described the briefing as a “fake hearing” and alleged a continued lack of transparency, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Democrats declined to take additional questions following their departure but called on Republican leadership to enforce a subpoena issued earlier in the week requiring Bondi to appear for a sworn deposition.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., has scheduled Bondi to testify in an April 14 deposition. The Justice Department has argued the subpoena is unnecessary, stating that officials have already provided access to materials and made themselves available to lawmakers.
The dispute comes after the Justice Department released millions of pages of documents in January under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, while withholding certain materials and applying redactions. Officials later acknowledged errors in the rollout, including the inadvertent exposure of some victims’ identities and the mistaken classification of certain FBI records.
Among the records initially withheld were notes detailing a woman’s unverified allegations involving President Donald Trump. The department later released those materials, stating that no documents had been withheld to protect Trump or other individuals and that corrections were made as issues were identified.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and said the records “totally exonerated” him.
Some Republicans have also supported efforts to compel Bondi’s testimony, citing unresolved questions about the handling and release of the files.
Bondi and Blanche defended their participation in the briefing, saying they attended at lawmakers’ request and provided access to unredacted documents at the Justice Department.
“We were there to answer questions, we came at their convenience, we gave them as much time as they wanted,” Bondi said following the meeting. She added that she would comply with legal requirements regarding the subpoena.
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