The House Oversight Committee this week continued its inquiry into the Department of Justice's handling of its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Fireworks during a briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi are raising more questions about her pending subpoena.
Chairman James Comer brought Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in for an evening briefing Wednesday. Democrats say they found out about the format and their ability to question the officials only shortly before the briefing began. They walked out in the middle of the briefing.
"This is being staged at some kind of fake hearing," said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA). "She's not under oath. And she would not commit to actually going under oath and following the law."
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Comer called out Democrats for what he calls a gross lack of seriousness in the proceedings. He was noncommittal to fulfilling the bipartisan subpoena issued for the Attorney General in April.
"We had the sitting attorney general and the top brass of the Department of Justice there yesterday," Comer said. "If you're mature, credible members of Congress leading the investigation, you don't want that televised because you want to get information that will hopefully lead to criminal referrals and lead to accountability."
Depositions in the investigation have previously been behind closed doors and have not been televised live. Many, but not all, have been taped and later released by the Republican majority, with some editing.
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Comer said some of the five Republicans who voted for the bipartisan subpoena were embarrassed. Only Congresswoman Lauren Bobert and Congressman Tim Burchett have commented publicly.
Bondi remains under heavy scrutiny for the way the files have been handled, including questionable redactions, naming survivors and millions of files believed to be currently withheld.
