Democrats storm out of U.S. Justice Department leaders’ briefing on Epstein files

U.S. Democratic lawmakers connected Wednesday (March 18, 2026) stormed retired of a closed-door briefing connected the Jeffrey Epstein files by the U.S. Justice Department leaders, and said they would propulsion to unit Attorney General Pam Bondi to reply questions nether oath astir the lawsuit that has plagued the Trump administration.

Ms. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to effort to quell bipartisan vexation implicit the Justice Department’s handling of millions of files related to Epstein’s enactment trafficking investigation.

But little than an hr into the briefing, Democrats walked retired successful protestation of the statement and said they would property to enforce a subpoena for Bondi to look for a sworn deposition adjacent month.

“We privation her nether oath due to the fact that we bash not spot her,” said Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost.

Asked by reporters aft the briefing whether she would comply with the subpoena, Ms. Bondi said, “I made it crystal wide I volition travel the law.” She besides defended the department’s handling of the Epstein files, saying officials are arrogant of their enactment to merchandise millions of documents to the public.

‘Political grandstanding’

The committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. James Comer, accused Democrats of governmental grandstanding.

“This for us, for the Republicans, it’s astir getting answers,” Comer said aft the briefing. “For the Democrats, it’s a governmental game, and they conscionable demonstrated that today. There’s nary crushed for them to locomotion retired and clutch their pearls and enactment similar they were offended and outraged.”

Justice Department leaders had hoped the merchandise of documents tied to the disgraced financier would enactment an extremity to a governmental saga that has dogged the president’s 2nd term, but the bureau remains consumed by questions and disapproval implicit Epstein’s lawsuit and its absorption of the files. Ms. Bondi has accused Democrats of utilizing the furore implicit the documents to distract from Mr. Trump’s governmental successes, adjacent though immoderate of the astir vocal disapproval has travel from members of the president’s ain party.

Five Republicans connected the committee voted with Democrats to enactment the subpoena for Ms. Bondi to look for a deposition connected April 14. Lawmakers person accused the Justice Department of withholding excessively galore files and criticised the bureau for haphazard redactions that exposed intimate details astir victims.

The Justice Department has called the subpoena “completely unnecessary,” noting that members of Congress person been invited to presumption unredacted files astatine the Justice Department and that section leaders person made themselves disposable to reply questions from lawmakers.

The section has sought to guarantee lawmakers and the nationalist that determination has been nary effort to shield President Donald Trump, who says helium chopped ties with Epstein years agone aft an earlier friendship, oregon immoderate different high-profile figures adjacent to Epstein, from imaginable embarrassment. Justice Department leaders person besides rejected suggestions that they person ignored victims and importune that portion determination is nary grounds successful the files to prosecute anyone else, they stay committed to investigating should caller accusation travel forward.

“I’m not trying to support Epstein — I’m not,” Blanche said successful an interrogation this week with Katie Miller, who is joined to apical Trump advisor Stephen Miller. “I bash support the enactment that this section is doing today, close now, which is going aft each azygous perpetrator anyway, and if determination is simply a communicative that exists that we are ignoring Epstein victims, that is false.”

The documents were disclosed nether the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the instrumentality enacted aft months of nationalist and governmental unit that requires the authorities to unfastened its files connected the precocious financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Criminal investigations into the financier person agelong animated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and others who person suspected authorities cover-ups and clamored for a afloat accounting.

After missing a December 19 deadline acceptable by Congress to merchandise each the files, the Justice Department said it tasked hundreds of lawyers with reviewing the records to find what needed to beryllium redacted, oregon blacked out. The Justice Department successful January said it was releasing much than 3 cardinal pages of documents on with much than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.