WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 President Donald Trump leaped to the defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday in the face of mounting criticism from far-right influencers and conservative internet personalities over the Justice Department's abrupt refusal to release additional documents from the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation.
When a reporter attempted to ask Bondi about Epstein at a White House Cabinet meeting, Trump headed off the questions and scolded the journalist: 鈥淎re you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years.鈥
鈥淚 can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we're having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas 鈥 it just seems like a desecration,鈥 he added.
The comments appeared to signal continued job security for Bondi and amounted to a who have called for her resignation and mocked her for what they say is her failed commitment to release incriminating files from the Epstein investigation. A supposed Epstein 鈥渃lient list鈥 that Bondi once intimated was sitting on her desk for review does not exist, the Justice Department acknowledged in a two-page memo Monday that further riled conservative critics who'd been hoping for proof of a government cover-up.
The pressure is on Bondi
Bondi has faced pressure after a first document dump she hyped failed to deliver revelations. Far-right influencers were and provided with binders marked 鈥淭he Epstein Files: Phase 1鈥 and 鈥淒eclassified鈥 that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain.
After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were poring over a 鈥渢ruckload鈥 of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI and raised expectations of forthcoming releases.
But after a monthslong review of evidence in the government鈥檚 possession, the Justice Department said in Monday's memo that no 鈥渇urther disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.鈥 The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and 鈥渙nly a fraction鈥 of it 鈥渨ould have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.鈥
The only evidence disclosed as part of the memo was a video meant to definitively prove that the wealthy financier had taken his own life in jail in 2019. Even that disclosure did little to quiet conspiracy theorists who believe he was killed.
It's not a happy development for online detectives
The department's client list revelation was especially dismaying for conservative influencers and online sleuths, given that Bondi in a Fox News interview in February had intimated that such a document was 鈥渟itting on my desk鈥 for review. Bondi insisted Tuesday that she had been referring to the Epstein case file as being on her desk, as opposed to a specific client list.
鈥淭hat's what I meant by that,鈥 she said.
She also defended her earlier public statements suggesting that the FBI was reviewing 鈥渢ens of thousands鈥 of videos of Epstein with 鈥渃hildren or child porn.鈥 about the unanswered questions surrounding those videos and the Justice Department's refusal to provide clarity.
The memo Monday did not suggest that the videos in the government's possession depicted Epstein with children, instead referring to images of Epstein as well as more than 10,000 鈥渄ownloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.鈥
鈥淭hey turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,鈥 she said.
But she did not explain why the department could not release other files from the 鈥渢ruckload鈥 of evidence she said was delivered to the agency months ago.
