ISTANBUL

Democratic lawmakers walked out of a closed-door briefing Wednesday with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche over the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking files.

Rep. Robert Garcia said he repeatedly asked Bondi whether she would commit to following a subpoena which requires her to testify publicly under oath and on the record and that she refused each time.

"This has been completely set up in a way that's been irresponsible," Garcia said, describing the meeting as "some kind of fake hearing."

Rep. Yassamin Ansari said the format of the briefing -- closed-door, unrecorded and without an oath -- bore no resemblance to a legitimate congressional hearing.

Each lawmaker was given only three minutes to ask questions, with no opening statements from either official, she said.

"They just looked even more guilty of a cover-up in the way they were acting," Ansari added, citing Bondi's refusal to commit to appearing formally.

The walkout was ultimately triggered when House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer allegedly made a derogatory remark toward a Democratic member after she asked whether he would enforce the subpoena against Bondi. Democrats said they had "had it" and left.

Comer, however, criticized Democrats and said they had the opportunity to ask questions but "didn't ask a single pertinent" one.

Epstein was found dead in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In 2008, he pleaded guilty in a court in the state of Florida to procuring a minor for prostitution, but critics call the relatively minor conviction a “sweetheart deal.”