House Democrats walk out of tense briefing with Bondi over Epstein files, calling it a "fake hearing"

A group of House Democrats walked out of a closed-door briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi on the Jeffrey Epstein probe late Wednesday, as tensions over the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein case continue to simmer.

The faceoff took place one day after the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, subpoenaed Bondi to testify about Epstein next month.

Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with members of the panel. Less than an hour later, Democrats left the room.

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, told reporters that Bondi did not commit to honoring the panel's subpoena. He called Wednesday's session a "fake hearing," adding that Bondi wasn't under oath and did not give an opening statement.

"It's outrageous, it's infuriating and it continues this White House coverup of the Epstein files," Garcia said. "We're not going to take that anymore."

Another Democrat, Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, called it a "fake deposition where no one can see what's going on," noting the lack of C-SPAN cameras for the closed-door meeting.

Comer, meanwhile, suggested the walkout was "premeditated" and part of a "political game."

"They came out, clutching their pearls, complaining that she wasn't answering questions," he said. "The first three people to ask questions, all they did was complain."

At one point during the hearing, there was a verbal argument between Comer and Democratic Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, both lawmakers acknowledged.

Lee told reporters she asked Comer if he will compel Bondi to comply with the subpoena and initiate proceedings to hold her in contempt of Congress if she doesn't show up, and, "instead of answering as an adult, he said that I was 'bitching.'"

Comer confirmed that interaction, saying Lee "was just complaining about the format."

He later wrote on X: "I said Democrats were bitching and wasting everyone's time because Democrats were bitching and wasting everyone's time."

Asked whether she will comply with the subpoena, Bondi said after the briefing that she "made it crystal clear, I will follow the law" — a response that Garcia called inadequate. Bondi also criticized Democrats' walkout.

"One congresswoman screamed: 'C-SPAN wasn't in there, so she didn't want to ask questions.' Yet all day long, they've been on social media saying they had all these questions," Bondi said.

CBS News has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.

The incident underscored how caustic the Epstein issue has become. The Justice Department has faced years of intense questions over its handling of the disgraced financier, who avoided federal charges for child sex crimes until 2019, when he was indicted for sex trafficking but died by suicide in jail — drawing public fascination and conspiracy theories.

The department has released millions of government files on Epstein in recent months — spanning multiple federal investigations into him and his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell — after Congress passed a law late last year requiring it to publish its files on Epstein.

Members of both parties have criticized the Justice Department's handling of the files' release, arguing that some files were inappropriately withheld or excessively redacted. Some sexual abuse survivors also say their personal information was exposed. The department has defended its release process, saying that hundreds of lawyers pored through the files to check for survivors' names and have taken documents down when there are redaction mistakes.

Democrats have accused Bondi of engaging in a "cover up."

"We want her under oath because we don't trust her," Frost said Wednesday evening.

Comer said that Republicans are committed to carrying out a serious investigation and want to work with the Justice Department to get answers.

"Does it look like a cover up?" he said. "The attorney general, Blanche and all the top brass at the DOJ [were] in here to answer questions, and yet, they don't ask a single question."