House Republicans tore into Democrats on Wednesday evening over what several GOP members described as squandering an opportunity to question Attorney General Pam Bondi about her handling of the Epstein files.
What was intended to be a productive closed-door meeting with top Department of Justice leaders Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche turned into a standoff over whether Bondi would commit to appearing for an April 14 deposition after she was subpoenaed by the House oversight committee.
🚨 BREAKING: House Democrats just STORMED OUT of the room despite AG Pam Bondi and DAG Todd Blanche showing up to a closed-door briefing to answer "any and all questions" about the Epstein Files
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 18, 2026
IMAGINE THAT. Democrats don't actually care!
REP. LAUREN BOEBERT: "Democrats all… pic.twitter.com/j5d106F6qI
Instead of pressing DOJ leaders on the substance of the Jeffrey Epstein-related records controversy, Republicans accused Democrats of being fixated on getting Bondi to promise she would return under oath.
“I made it crystal clear: I will follow the law,” Bondi told reporters afterward when asked whether she would comply with the subpoena.
Democrats said that the answer was not enough and emphasized that they did not want to speak to the attorney general until she is under oath.
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) wrote on X that “Pam Bondi refused to say she would show up for her under oath deposition,” calling the session a “fake hearing” because it was not under oath and not transcribed.
“This has been completely set up in a way that’s been irresponsible, and quite frankly, we believe a way from the Attorney General to get out of her answering questions under oath to the public, which we will not accept,” Garcia added in a statement to the press.
Republicans countered that Democrats had just walked away from the very access they had demanded.
“This was clearly the Democrats’ plan all along: to walk out of the briefing the DOJ offered to provide,” the Oversight GOP account posted on X. “Both Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche were answering substantive questions.”
This was clearly the Democrats’ plan all along: to walk out of the briefing the DOJ offered to provide.
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) March 18, 2026
Both Attorney General Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Blanche were answering substantive questions, and Attorney General Bondi stated she would follow the law regarding her… https://t.co/gfCQTJrYAP
A source familiar with the committee meeting said the attorney general is an “open book,” adding Democrats “talked all day on social media about what they were going to ask her, but decided not to ask anything.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), who was one of the Republican members who voted to subpoena Bondi last week, also torched her Democratic colleagues for their handling of the closed-door meeting.
“Democrats all just stormed out after refusing to ask questions because the cameras are off. Nothing is ever good enough for these theatrical fools,” she said.
Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) said Democrats wasted a chance to press Bondi and Blanche directly.
“This was a voluntary briefing, and at least the majority got to ask a lot of substantive questions,” Comer told reporters. “The first three people to ask questions, all they did was complain. They didn’t ask any questions.”
“The only questions they asked were, ‘Will you commit to coming in for a deposition?’” Comer said. “They didn’t ask a single pertinent question.”
He said Democrats seemed more interested in creating a public spectacle than getting answers. When asked if the committee would hold Bondi in contempt if she did not show up for the deposition, Comer said, “We’ll have to talk about it” as a committee if that happened.
The standoff carries extra political weight because Bondi is the nation’s top law enforcement official and the person ultimately responsible for enforcing congressional subpoenas, even as she remains publicly noncommittal about complying with one herself.
Democrats saw the meeting as an opportunity to call attention to the fact that Bondi has yet to explicitly commit to showing up on April 14.
BONDI SUBPOENAED FOR APRIL 14 HOUSE DEPOSITION ON EPSTEIN FILES HANDLING
Republicans, meanwhile, saw the walkout as a massive undercutting of Democrats’ claims that they are sincerely concerned about Epstein and his victims and understanding the internal process of how the DOJ handled the release of files related to the disgraced financier.
The committee is scheduled to hold additional interviews in its sprawling Epstein investigation on Thursday, including the deposition of his former attorney, Darren Indyke.
