There’s never a dull moment during the Trump presidency, so some things slip through the cracks, like the closed-door briefing that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche held over the Epstein files. Bondi was subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month over her handling of this case, which has been mostly chaotic. You knew this was coming, as there are plenty of Republicans who aren’t happy with the situation.
On March 18, a private briefing led to Democrats storming out, and one of them, Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), appeared to lie about the whole ordeal, which was called out by Associate Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who was present at the briefing.
I was sitting behind @AGPamBondi at this briefing where she answered EVERY question asked by either side. This lady picked up her purse and stalked out without asking a single question. So much for getting answers! https://t.co/FdaFUFtYxv
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) March 19, 2026
I was sitting behind AG Pam Bondi at this briefing where she answered EVERY question asked by either side. This lady picked up her purse and stalked out without asking a single question. So much for getting answers!
🚨 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
House Oversight Dems just walked out of the Bondi briefing.
— Max Cohen (@maxpcohen) March 18, 2026
Robert Garcia, ranking Dem, is furious and says Bondi refused to commit to following the subpoena that Comer issued.
Says the briefing is being staged as a “fake hearing,” adds Bondi was not under oath pic.twitter.com/SUYNkpx9Kn
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House Republicans aren’t all persuaded by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s attempt to defuse a bipartisan investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files — but some are appearing to waver.
Bondi answered a bipartisan Oversight Committee subpoena by offering a private Wednesday night briefing with her and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. The move seemed designed to assuage the five Republicans who voted with every Democrat on the panel to force her to answer questions under oath, though it didn’t fully work as intended.
Three of the five Republicans remained unconvinced. Democrats are skeptical that the GOP will ultimately compel Bondi to talk about the Epstein files under oath, but unless Bondi can win over more Republicans, she’s still in line for the same harsh intraparty questioning…
[…]
Oversight is in a bind here. There’s no guarantee that talking with Bondi about Epstein in a closed-door setting, even a deposition, will be more productive than the normally rough-and-tumble public hearings held by the panel.
Its closed-door deposition of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as part of the Epstein investigation was temporarily derailed, for example, when Boebert took a picture of Clinton that was posted to social media during the meeting.
Even so, formally withdrawing the subpoena would amount to a serious climbdown from Comer. What could happen instead is a frequent sight in congressional investigations: lengthy negotiations, especially over scheduling a deposition, that help a politically sticky problem fade from the spotlight.
But that might not work either; Epstein has more staying power than perhaps any topic in the second Trump term.
We knew this was going to be a political circus. It’s not about the victims, as some claim—it should be—but it’s not. It’s about targeting Trump if you’re a Democrat. If anything, since the document dumps on the files, more Democrats and their allies have been exposed for bad or inappropriate behavior related to the late New York financier and child predator.
But Bondi messed this up, which added fuel to an already raging fire, claiming she had the client list on her desk when she didn’t. So, I can’t fully clear her here. She made a mistake, Congress is doing its job, but please, this is about the Left’s ongoing anti-Trump obsession, which you already knew.
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