House Oversight and Government Reform Committee leadership clashed over the terms of former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s closed-door appearance Friday, with Democrats bashing committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) for agreeing to a voluntary interview.

Bondi was subpoenaed for a deposition in March, but Comer agreed to let Bondi sit for a transcribed interview, a different format in which subjects are not sworn in and the interview is not videotaped.

Speaking with reporters Friday before the start of the interview, Comer described Bondi as coming in “voluntarily” for a second time, noting she also organized a prior closed-door meeting with the panel that Democrats had described as an effort to sidestep the subpoena.

“She came a few months ago for a briefing. Unfortunately, the Democrats got up and walked out of that briefing. Many of the Republicans asked her questions for a couple of hours during that briefing, and I’m appreciative that she’s coming back today voluntarily for a transcribed interview,” Comer said.

Ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) criticized Comer for allowing a format where Bondi would appear without being videotaped.

“I just want to be very clear that we continue to be incredibly disappointed of the decision to not have this interview videotaped and then released to the American public. The second thing we asked Chairman Comer is to ensure that this interview was under oath. We understand the attorney general is going to be there answering questions from Congress, but it should have been under oath and it should be videotaped,” he said.

Comer stressed that it’s a crime to lie to Congress whether under oath or not, but during his press conference he was pressed to address concerns from a group of Epstein survivors who said the meeting should be videotaped.

“If there are questions that aren’t asked, anything you’re not satisfied, let us know, and we’ll do everything in our ability to get answers for you all,” he said to the group.

After Comer left, the survivors repeated that they wanted to see a taped interview.

“I do want to make a note also about the importance of body language and inflection in the voice. There’s something called subtext that we all know about, and when we get a transcribed interview, we have no idea. It could be totally lost in translation, so it’s incredibly vital that we see filmed interviews, not just the transcription under oath,” said Danielle Bensky, an Epstein survivor.

Lauren Hersh, CEO of World Without Exploitation, who accompanied the survivors, called the transcribed interviews “unacceptable.”

“We need to see body language. We want to see the pauses. We know that these witnesses can go off record and things transpire off the record that the American people are not able to see, and we think it is critically important in this moment,” she said.

“Chairman Comer is exactly right. These women have been failed by numerous administrations, that is true, but this is the moment where we need truth, transparency, and ultimately accountability.”

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