Rep. Comer to Newsmax: Bondi Briefing Could Have Averted Oversight Subpoena

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said Wednesday on Newsmax that a planned briefing from Attorney General Pam Bondi could help clarify questions surrounding the Justice Department's handling of remaining Jeffrey Epstein-related materials and might have prevented lawmakers from voting to subpoena her for a formal deposition.

Speaking on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Comer described the committee's push for a deposition as stemming from bipartisan frustration over what he characterized as limited communication about the status of the department's ongoing review of Epstein-linked documents and investigative steps.

The Justice Department argued the subpoena was unnecessary because lawmakers can review unredacted files and Bondi has remained available to Congress.

"Today is not the deposition; today is a briefing," Comer said. "If we had had a briefing by Attorney General Bondi a few months ago or a few weeks ago, I don't think the committee would have voted to subpoena her for a deposition."

"The genesis of the deposition is that the committee voted to subpoena Attorney General Bondi," he said.

"All the Democrats that are always making motions throughout history on the oversight committee, the minority party makes motions to subpoena people, but the majority never joins in until this year.

"Then I've got about four or five Republicans that vote with the Democrats on everything they do, it doesn't matter what. And but, you know, at the end of the day, there was a level of frustration that was being felt by both parties about, you know, questions about the Epstein investigation."

The Kentucky Republican said the committee wants a clearer explanation of what the department is still investigating, whether more documents will be released, and why some material remains redacted.

He said lawmakers are trying to avoid duplicating work if the Justice Department is still pursuing parts of the case.

"There was a level of frustration that was being felt by both parties" about questions surrounding the Epstein investigation, Comer said. He added that Bondi "needs to be more transparent with the committee" about "the status of the remaining documents."

Bondi was subpoenaed to sit for a closed-door deposition on April 14 after a committee vote backed by Democrats and five Republicans. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were scheduled to privately brief lawmakers on Wednesday.

Comer said depositions are conducted behind closed doors but are transcribed and recorded, with the material typically released soon afterward. "For all practical purposes, our depositions are public," he said.

He also argued that a private setting is more likely to produce substantive answers than a public hearing.

"When there are no TV cameras in the room, my committee acts a whole lot more civil, and it's more productive and more substantive," Comer said.

Comer said he hopes the briefing will give both parties answers and help move the investigation forward.

"It's not a partisan issue," he said. "The American people want to know what happened with Epstein. They want to know how the government failed the victims."

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