House Democrats walked out of a closed-door hearing withAttorney General Pam Bondion Wednesday while she was briefing lawmakers onthe Epstein filesa day after being subpoenaed to testify in mid-April.
Democratic members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee told reporters that Bondi, who was joined by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, would not commit to complying with the subpoena for her sworn testimony April 14 to answer questions about the Justice Department's handling of records related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the panel, said Bondi "refused on multiple occasions to commit to following the subpoena."
After the briefing, Bondi told reporters that she "made it crystal clear I will follow the law," when asked about whether she would comply with the subpoena.
TheX account for Republicanson the committee said in a post that "Bondi stated she would follow the law regarding her subpoena."
The committeevoted 24-19 this month to subpoena Bondi, with five Republicans joining Democrats in favor of the move.
Committee Chair James Comer, who voted against the effort, announced Tuesday that the subpoena had been sent. He sidestepped Wednesday when asked if the committee would hold Bondi in contempt of Congress if she didn't comply.
"Well, we'll have to, we'll have to talk about that," Comer, R-Ky., said, before criticizing Democrats.
Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., told reporters that she asked Comer whether he would compel Bondi to attend the April deposition and move to hold her in contempt if she refuses.
“Instead of answering as an adult, he said that I was bitching, which is again, something that would not be allowed if we were operating under the rules of this committee, because engaging in personalities is actually something that we are not able to do,” Lee said.
Comer confirmed Lee's characterization of their exchange.
"I've never seen members storm out of a briefing with the attorney general, and the entire leaders of the Department of Justice are there to answer questions, and they don't ask a single question," Comer added.
A Justice Department spokesperson Tuesday called the Bondi subpoena “completely unnecessary” and said the attorney general “continues to have calls and meetings with members of Congress on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which is why the Department offered to brief the committee.”
At a House Oversight Committee hearing last month, Bondi praised the Justice Department’s efforts to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which ordered the public release of most information from millions of pages of files from the Epstein investigation.
ManyEpstein survivorsand members of Congress have denounced the Justice Department’s handling of the files, some of which have included many redactions when released. Survivors pointed out that some information of possible accomplices was redacted, while other information about victims was left untouched when it should have been blacked out.
