Dems Storm Out of DOJ Epstein Briefing 03/19 06:28

   

   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.

   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.