Democrats storm out of Justice Department leaders' briefing on the
Epstein files
[March 19, 2026]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday stormed out of a
closed-door briefing on the Jeffrey Epstein files by Justice Department
leaders, and said they would push to force Attorney General Pam Bondi to
answer questions under oath about the case that has plagued the Trump
administration.
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to
try to quell bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department's
handling of millions of files related to Epstein's sex trafficking
investigation.
But less than an hour into the briefing, Democrats walked out in protest
of the arrangement and said they would press to enforce a subpoena for
Bondi to appear for a sworn deposition next month.
“We want her under oath because we do not trust her,” said Democratic
Rep. Maxwell Frost.
Asked by reporters after the briefing whether she would comply with the
subpoena, Bondi said, “I made it crystal clear I will follow the law."
She also defended the department's handling of the Epstein files, saying
officials are proud of their work to release millions of documents to
the public.
The committee's Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer, accused Democrats
of political grandstanding.
“This for us, for the Republicans, it’s about getting answers,” Comer
said after the briefing. “For the Democrats, it’s a political game, and
they just demonstrated that today. There’s no reason for them to walk
out and clutch their pearls and act like they were offended and
outraged.”
Justice Department leaders had hoped the release of documents tied to
the disgraced financier would put an end to a political saga that has
dogged the president’s second term, but the agency remains consumed by
questions and criticism over Epstein’s case and its management of the
files. Bondi has accused Democrats of using the furor over the documents
to distract from Trump’s political successes, even though some of the
most vocal criticism has come from members of the president’s own party.
Five Republicans on the committee voted with Democrats to support the
subpoena for Bondi to appear for a deposition on April 14. Lawmakers
have accused the Justice Department of withholding too many files and
criticized the agency for haphazard redactions that exposed intimate
details about victims.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives before President Donald Trump
attends a women's history month event in the East Room at the White
House, Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison
Robbert)
The Justice Department has called the subpoena “completely
unnecessary," noting that members of Congress have been invited to
view unredacted files at the Justice Department and that department
leaders have made themselves available to answer questions from
lawmakers.
The department has sought to assure lawmakers and the public that
there has been no effort to shield President Donald Trump, who says
he cut ties with Epstein years ago after an earlier friendship, or
any other high-profile figures close to Epstein from potential
embarrassment. Justice Department leaders have also rejected
suggestions that they have ignored victims and insist that while
there is no evidence in the files to prosecute anyone else, they
remain committed to investigating should new information come
forward.
“I'm not trying to defend Epstein — I'm not,” Blanche said in an
interview this week with Katie Miller, who is married to top Trump
adviser Stephen Miller. “I do defend the work that this department
is doing today, right now, which is going after every single
perpetrator anyway, and if there is a narrative that exists that we
are ignoring Epstein victims, that is false.”
The documents were disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency
Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure
that requires the government to open its files on the late financier
and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Criminal investigations into the financier have long animated online
sleuths, conspiracy theorists and others who have suspected
government cover-ups and clamored for a full accounting.
After missing a Dec. 19 deadline set by Congress to release all the
files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers
with reviewing the records to determine what needed to be redacted,
or blacked out. The Justice Department in January said it was
releasing more than 3 million pages of documents along with more
than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.
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