In March, approximately 1,000 FBI personnel worked around the clock during the early days of the second Trump administration to review roughly 100,000 pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a letter from Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), agents were instructed to “flag” any records mentioning President Donald Trump during this process.
The flagged materials were segregated, and their current status within the Justice Department remains undisclosed .
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) initially advocated for transparency, telling conservative commentator Benny Johnson on July 16: “We should put everything out there… Let the people decide.”
However, by July 18, the House Speaker blocked a Democratic resolution demanding immediate disclosure of all Epstein documents.
Instead, he plans to delay a House vote until August and proposed a non-binding resolution that critics dismissed as ineffective.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was appointed by Trump, faces scrutiny for contradictory statements and leading the coverup.
In February, she declared on Fox News that Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now.” By July, she backtracked, clarifying she meant “the file” rather than a specific list.
At a July press conference on fentanyl, Bondi refused to answer questions about the serial sex offender, stating: “Today is about overdoses… Not Epstein.”
However, Trump’s base appears to have many questions about Epstein and their cult leader is on dangerous ground.
“Let those weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats’ work,” Trump posted on Truth Social on July 16, dismissing the Epstein matter as a ‘hoax’ created by “Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan… and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration.”
Trump has furiously sought to change the subject, offering bellicose demands about restoring racist sports team names that were changed and posting absurdities on his social media platform.
He filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal over a report that Trump sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday message inside what was described as a hand-drawn image of a naked woman, whose pubic hair was constituted of Trump’s distinctive signature.
The 2003 message contained a cryptic reference to a “secret” the two men shared.
These attempts are insufficient to deflect the attention because there is ample evidence connecting Trump to Epstein.
The two men were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was a teenager when Trump raped her at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse. That case was ultimately dropped because the anonymous plaintiff was concerned for her life.
There are many photos of Trump and Epstein in social settings over the years, so any denials are not merely ridiculous but thay make his futile efforts to turn the page seem desperate.
His stance contradicts years of promises from Trump allies.
Former officials Kash Patel (now FBI Director) and Dan Bongino (Deputy FBI Director) previously demanded Epstein document releases, implying they would expose Democratic elites.
Elon Musk similarly fueled speculation about Trump’s involvement by declaring that the Epstein files are not going to be released because Trump is named in them.
Currently, MAGA media figures are divided: Charlie Kirk avoids the topic, Dinesh D’Souza urges moving on, while Megyn Kelly insists public interest remains high.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) defies Trump by demanding Bondi’s resignation and full disclosure. She declared the delayed vote “unacceptable,” highlighting a rare GOP fissure.
Greene appeared to send a pointed message to Trump: If the Department of Justice does not release more information on the disgraced financier and sex offender, his supporters will no longer stand behind him.
Without naming Epstein, the Georgia Republican said the president is “dangling” only morsels despite promises during the 2024 campaign that his administration would be transparent with the public.
Speaker Johnson publicly stated Bondi must “come forward and explain” her shifting claims.
Durbin’s investigation revealed concerns about the document review’s integrity: Hundreds of FBI New York Field Office personnel lacked training in handling child victim protections.
Bondi claimed a “truckload” of Epstein files arrived belatedly at the DOJ, yet the agency’s July 7 memo concluded no “incriminating client list” exists. Durbin demands answers about who ordered the Trump flagging and the documents’ disposition.
As the August deadline approaches, 69% of Americans believe the administration is concealing Epstein client details, including 65% of Republicans. Only 17% approve of Trump’s handling of the case.
Ghislaine Maxwell remains imprisoned, her testimony unresolved, while victims await promised transparency that remains unfulfilled.
Epstein died, allegedly by suicide, in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking. Trump was president at the time.
Trump has denied spending time on Little Saint James, the private redoubt in the US Virgin Islands where prosecutors alleged Epstein sex trafficked underage girls.
The president said before his second election last year that he would have “no problem” releasing files related to Epstein.
He knows that there is a cost for not releasing them, but he is far more concerned about the potential price he would have to pay if the records were disclosed.
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