Attorney General Pam Bondi would not explicitly commit on Wednesday to appear for a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and its release of material about him, telling lawmakers only that she would follow the law.
During a private briefing Wednesday on the Justice Department’s investigation into Mr. Epstein and its handling of files on him, Democratic lawmakers pressed Ms. Bondi whether she still planned to appear for a deposition.
Under the committee’s rules, the panel’s Republican chairman, Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, issued a subpoena to Ms. Bondi requiring her to appear, a move that was forced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers over Mr. Comer’s objections.
After being asked repeatedly, Ms. Bondi said that she would follow the legal requirements, several Democratic lawmakers told reporters afterward.
“I made it crystal clear, I will follow the law,” she told reporters after the hearing.
After the hearing, Mr. Comer said that he would proceed with trying to schedule the deposition. “That’s what we plan on doing,” he said.
But Mr. Comer would not say whether he would pursue holding Ms. Bondi in contempt if she did not agree to appear, and he acknowledged that he sent the subpoena reluctantly.
“I, personally, don’t see any reason for her to do a deposition,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers walked out of the briefing before it ended, accusing Ms. Bondi and Todd Blanche, her deputy attorney general, of avoiding their questions. They criticized Ms. Bondi for declining to explicitly agree to the deposition and argued that Wednesday’s briefing, which the Justice Department offered before Ms. Bondi was sent a subpoena, was an effort to avoid it.
“She’s not under oath, and she would not commit to actually going under oath and following the law,” said Representative Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee. “And so we have been frustrated.”
But Mr. Comer argued that Democrats squandered their opportunity to ask Ms. Bondi substantive questions, accusing them of using the hearing for theatrics.
“They came out clutching their pearls, complaining that she wasn’t answering any questions and things like that,” he said. “The first three people to ask questions, all they did was complain.”
Glenn Thrush contributed reporting.
Michael Gold covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on immigration policy and congressional oversight.
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