Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a bombshell report The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday.
Bondi and her deputy told the president that Justice Department (DOJ) officials reviewed what she described as a “truckload” of documents on Epstein and discovered the president’s name appeared multiple times, according to the report, which cited senior administration officials.
Bondi also told Trump that many other high-profile individuals were named in the files — which alone is not a sign of wrongdoing. One official familiar with the documents told the Journal the files contain hundreds of names.
Trump was told at the meeting that the DOJ did not intend to release any more files on Epstein because the material included child sexual abuse material and personal information of Epstein’s alleged victims, the Journal reported. DOJ officials also saw the documents as containing unverified hearsay about Trump and others, Bondi told Trump.
Officials told the Journal the information was disclosed during a routine briefing at the White House, and that the Epstein files were not the focus of the meeting.
A source confirmed to The Hill’s sister network NewsNation that Bondi informed Trump during a May briefing that his name was mentioned in the files.
Bondi said publicly in February that Epstein’s alleged client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”
On July 7, the Department of Justice released a memo concluding there was no “client list” and said officials did not plan to disclose additional files. The memo set off a torrent of criticism from the president’s own base of supporters — who had long called for the release of documents on Epstein — and from Democrats, who seized the opportunity to add to the president’s negative coverage.
Trump has expressed his frustration at the public’s continued focus on the Epstein story and has encouraged his party to move on to other priorities. But it has divided the Republican Party to such an extent that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) canceled votes in the House on Thursday and sent the chamber home a day early to avoid holding a vote on calling for the release of documents.
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche referred back to the July memo in response to the Journal’s reporting.
“The DOJ and FBI reviewed the Epstein Files and reached the conclusion set out in the July 6 memo. Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts. As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings,” they said in a joint statement.
“The memo released on July 6th is consistent with the thorough review conducted by the FBI and DOJ. The criminal leakers and Fake News media tries tirelessly to undermine President Trump with smears and lies, and this story is no different,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
Trump and Epstein had acknowledged they ran in similar circles but reportedly had a falling out years ago.
“The fact is that The President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement responding to the Journal’s reporting.
He also told the Journal: “This is another fake news story, just like the previous story by The Wall Street Journal.”
