House Democrats have delayed the April 14 Palm Beach hearing on Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, according to a spokesperson for the committee's ranking member.
Emily Kassner-Marks, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, said the date, time and location of the hearing have not been finalized, though it will "likely be in mid-May." Garcia has been a vocal and prominent critic of the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein investigation.
A source familiar with the matter said organizers decided to postpone the hearing so as not to conflict with former Attorney General Pam Bondi's April 14 deposition about her handling of the Epstein files — a proceeding that has also since stalled.
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President Donald Trump fired Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, on April 2. The Justice Department told the House Oversight Committee on April 8 that she will not attend the deposition as she was subpoenaed in her capacity as attorney general.
Committee members from both parties say they'll continue to seek Bondi's deposition. There's been no such bipartisan support for the Palm Beach hearing, however.
Garcia, the committee's ranking Democrat, called the proceeding a "shadow field hearing," the term used for hearings organized by the minority party when the majority declines to hold an official one.
Shadow field hearings don't carry subpoena power or the formal authority of a committee proceeding. Witnesses appear voluntarily.
Garcia has not specified where the hearing will take place in Palm Beach County, or if it will be in the Town of Palm Beach, saying only that lawmakers expect to hear from survivors and "important witnesses in the investigation."
"Palm Beach was ground zero for Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein's relationship, and we know that multiple women were recruited for Epstein from Mar-a-Lago," Garcia wrote. "If the President has nothing to hide, he should join us in his hometown."
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. Reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
