Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi walked into the room along with her lawyer and what appeared like a plan — a slick workaround to sidestep sworn testimony, while nonetheless passing it off as cooperation. Democrats noticed it for what it was nearly instantly.
What was billed as a routine Epstein records data briefing began to unravel quickly, a staged “deposition” without the oath, without the stakes, and, as the stress closed in, without a lot of cover.
Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi conducts an information convention on the Division of Justice on Thursday, December 4, 2025, saying the arrest of Brian Cole Jr., who allegedly positioned pipe bombs close to the Republican and Democratic Nationwide Committee officers on January 6, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc through Getty Photographs)
By the time it was over, Bondi and her staff had been scrambling to scrub it up and steer the narrative back in their favor; however, in doing so, they let one thing slip that would come back to haunt them.
Bondi arrived on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a personal briefing earlier than the House Judiciary Committee as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and its handling of records on him. A listening to that didn’t require her to answer questions under oath.
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Legally, solely depositions require sworn testimony, the committee can use its discretion in different cases. That distinction shortly grew to become the sticking point, and before the hour mark, Democrats had stormed out.
Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost stated lawmakers discovered themselves inside a committee room with no cameras, no employees, no official transcript — circumstances he stated would have allowed Bondi to “lie and BS all she needs” with zero accountability.
“Primarily what they have been making an attempt to do is have a pretend deposition, a pretend listening to the place we can ask her questions, that she will be able to reply them, however she’s not beneath oath,” Frost said, including that his suspicions hardened when Bondi declined to obviously state whether or not she would adjust to the subpoena requiring her to sit down for a sworn deposition subsequent month.
Frost argued Wednesday’s session was designed to imitate a proper continuation without the authorized penalties.
“We wish her beneath oath, why? As a result, we don’t believe you, we don’t believe her. You’re concerned in one of the greatest cover-ups in the history of our nation, you’re gonna be in front of us under oath. We’re gonna keep you accountable,” Frost stated.
Social media reactions have been brutal, with posts reading: “Are you able to think about the horrors they’re nonetheless hiding…” and “They’re scrambling!”
Others went further, writing, “Pam Bondi Is The Pedophile Ring’s Lawyer” and “Pam Bondi has zero regard for the law. She ought to be disbarred.”
“She belongs in jail!” another fumed.
Different critics spelled out the repercussions: “Okay, so cost her with contempt of the courtroom, arrest her, then take the crap out of her. The standing Attorney General of the USA should really feel the results for the very conduct she is charged with prosecuting. That is madness.”
Rep. Summer time Lee supplied a good, sharper account of what unfolded when she pressed Committee Chairman James Comer for a direct reply about enforcement. “So I simply walked out of a pretend deposition, pretending to listen to with Pam Bondi, the place Chairman Comer called me a b*tch,” Lee said.
She stated she repeatedly pressed Comer on whether or not the committee would maintain Bondi in contempt if she refused to adjust to the subpoena, the identical step he had threatened within the case involving the Clintons.
LEE: I requested Chairman Comer, if Pam Bondi didn’t come, would he drive her to, or if he would transfer for contempt hearings as he did for different individuals who didn’t reply to our subpoena? As an alternative to answering as an adult, he stated that I used to be “bitching”.
“He stated that I used to be b–ching and that I used to be losing his time and that we didn’t have to speak about this anymore,” she stated.
Lee, who introduced articles of impeachment towards Bondi on Tuesday, framed the standoff as a part of a broader refusal to adjust to congressional oversight.
“She has no intention of cooperating with Congress. She has no intention of cooperating with the American individuals,” Lee stated, including that Wednesday’s briefing appeared designed to bypass the subpoena altogether.
Lee appeared once more with Rep. Robert Garcia later that night on CNN with Kaitlin Collins.
“It grew to become very clear shortly that they’d arrange this type of pretend listening to or briefing,” he stated. “There was no briefing by the way in which she simply started saying, “I’m able to reply to your questions.”
Garcia didn’t maintain again, saying it’s clear Bondi doesn’t wish to present up for the actual listening — the one that may be transcribed and under oath. “We’re not going to take part in video games or this cover-up, and we’re definitely not going to sit down right here, whereas the chairman disparages and insults members of this committee,” he stated. “We’ll be again when she’s deposed earlier than the oversight committee, under oath, as she’s legally required to do under the subpoena.”
“I feel she’s afraid of being disbarred and convicted of perjury,” said one viewer.
“You gotta take the rattling gloves off and get within the gutter — that’s the place the Republicans stay. Comer is a shame…” another fumed.
Comer rejected that characterization, accusing Democrats of staging a walkout rather than utilizing the opportunity to press for solutions, though Bondi was not sworn to tell the truth.
“For the Democrats, it’s a political sport, and so they simply demonstrated that right this moment,” he said. “There’s no motive for them to stroll out and clutch their pearls and act like they have been offended and outraged.”
Comer additionally questioned the necessity for a deposition in the first place.
“I, personally, don’t see any motive for her to do a deposition,” he stated, whilst he acknowledged he had issued the subpoena under bipartisan pressure.
Outside the briefing, Bondi didn’t reply straight away when asked whether or not she would comply with the subpoena. “I made it crystal clear I’ll comply with the regulation,” she stated.
However, whilst she defended her handling of the records data, Bondi and Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche acknowledged issues with the document release itself. This admission added fuel to the controversy.
“I feel it was lower than 1 % error,” Bondi stated regarding the botched launch of records data during a press gaggle, shortly turning it over to Blanche.
“Yeah, no, that’s proper,” Blanche stated. “We stated from the start that any errors that have been made, and there ought to be no errors.” He emphasised that corrections have been made as quickly as points have been flagged.
Blanche repeated that they mounted the errors “instantly” several instances earlier than stammering, “And so after all, we don’t ever wish to do something to re-victimize anyone that was victimized by the horrible crimes of Mr. Epstein. However, we didn’t. And we didn’t.”
The acknowledgment did little to calm critics, who’ve questioned how delicate materials—together with particulars tied to victims — were dealt with in the first place.
“These two are tripping laborious as a result of Rep Dan Goldman learn the reality on the House floor right this moment, and now it’s a matter of Congressional File,” wrote one viewer.
Some critics focused on the legal stakes of avoiding sworn testimony.
“Didn’t Hillary go beneath oath? And Invoice? Depositions are at all times beneath oath,” one remark read, whereas one other added, “I bear in mind her telling a sitting senator to by no means accuse her of committing a criminal offense. So now she refuses to go under oath because she could be cooked, and they are aware of it. That is our high regulation official at her best…NOT!!!”
The Justice Division has pushed back, arguing the subpoena is pointless and noting that lawmakers have already been invited to review unredacted records. Justice Division officers additionally insist there isn’t any effort to defend highly effective figures linked to Epstein and say they continue to be open to pursuing new proof if it emerges.
Nonetheless, the dispute reveals no sign of fading. With a deposition date set and each side digging in, the question now is whether or not Bondi will in the end testify under oath — or whether or not the standoff over the right way to get solutions will continue to overshadow the solutions themselves.