President Donald Trump dodged more questions on the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein while speaking to reporters Tuesday, claiming that parts of the investigative files had been “made up” by his political opponents as questions swirl over his own past relationship with the late sex offender.
He suggested that more information could be released — but only if it is deemed “credible.”
Trump’s supporters have been demanding to see more of the files after the Justice Department issued a memo stating there was no evidence that Epstein blackmailed anyone or kept a “client list.”
Officials in the Trump administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, repeatedly pledged full transparency on the Epstein case, but the memo raised more questions than it answered.
Trump once again defended Bondi on Tuesday, saying “she’s really done a very good job.”
Asked whether Bondi had told Trump that his name appeared in the files, Trump replied, “No, no.”
“She’s given us just a very quick briefing and in terms of the credibility of the different things that they’ve seen,” he said.
“And I would say that, you know, these files were made up by [former FBI Director James] Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden, you know. And we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all the different things that we had to go through, we’ve gone through years of it. But she’s handled it very well, and it’s gonna be up to her. Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
Just minutes later, during a Justice Department press conference on fentanyl deaths, a reporter asked Bondi about Trump’s response.
“I appreciate the question, but this is about fentanyl overdoses throughout our country,” she said. “I’m not going to talk about Epstein.”
Epstein first ran into legal trouble two decades ago, when he was accused of sexually abusing a minor girl. He eventually reached a surprisingly lenient plea deal with Florida state prosecutors, and flew largely under the radar until 2018, when the Miami Herald resurfaced allegations of his repeated sexual abuse.
The multimillionaire was found to have used his wealth and connections to procure a near-endless stream of young female “massage therapists” whom he then allegedly abused at his various private properties.
Epstein died in federal prison one month after being arrested on charges of sex trafficking minors in 2019, during the first Trump administration.
Trump and Epstein had a well-documented friendship for years. They appeared at some of the same high-profile parties along with British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was found guilty of sex trafficking in 2021 and is currently serving a prison sentence.
As part of a 2002 profile of Epstein, Trump called him a “terrific guy.”
But when he was asked about his old friend following his 2019 arrest, Trump said they had not spoken in years.
“He was a fixture in Palm Beach,” Trump said of Epstein. “I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn’t a fan.”
Related…
Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, Pam Bondi, investigative files, Justice Department
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