WASHINGTON — At multiple hearings since last year, members of the House Oversight Committee have forced committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) to send out subpoenas related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious sexual predator and former friend of President Donald Trump.

Democrats got the ball rolling last summer with a subpoena for the Justice Department’s files on Epstein, and in March, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) forced a vote on subpoenaing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The subpoenas have been damaging for Trump and awkward for Comer, who seems to have found a novel solution: stop holding hearings or, at the very least, stop calling them hearings. Six times since last year, the committee has instead held “roundtables” on issues such as AI, agriculture and military fitness standards.

The roundtables look a lot like hearings, with experts testifying to members about the topic at hand. But there’s a key difference: Committee members can only call for votes during official hearings, making it impossible for Democrats or rogue Republicans to try to issue further subpoenas.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the committee’s top Democrat, walked out of a committee roundtable about agriculture issues Tuesday in an act of protest.

“As they try to cover up the Epstein investigation and try to stop us and slow us down, I think they’re scared,” Garcia told HuffPost after stepping out.

Last summer, when the committee’s Democrats forced a vote on a subpoena for the Justice Department’s files on Epstein, several committee Republicans voted with Democrats, starting a process that ultimately led to the disclosure of millions of documents, including thousands mentioning Trump.

Though it cooperated to a degree with the Epstein files subpoena, and with a subsequent law requiring the documents to be made public, the Justice Department said this month Bondi wouldn’t talk to the committee in response to its March subpoena because Trump had fired her. If Tuesday’s roundtable had been a hearing, Mace or a Democratic committee member could have moved for a vote on a new subpoena.

Garcia told HuffPost he suspected the White House may have pushed the committee to quit holding hearings where Democrats could spring subpoena votes.

“I have no direct evidence, but I have heard it’s that the White House has been involved,” Garcia said. “They’re unhappy with our success.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A spokeswoman for House Oversight Committee Republicans said the committee will still hold hearings and advance legislation, but the new roundtables would be valuable.

“Roundtables provide opportunities to have more substantive and direct conversations with ordinary Americans about issues facing communities across the U.S., such as lawfare against farmers and ranchers, crimes against children, AI deployment, and more,” the spokesperson said.

Comer, who told Garcia not to let the door hit him on the way out when he left the hearing, later fumed at his Democratic colleague.

“He’s not interested in governing. He’s not interested in waste, fraud and abuse. He’s interested in theatrics,” Comer told HuffPost.

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