Trump resents Epstein scandal dominating headlines - Media
Kyiv • UNN
President Donald Trump expresses frustration over how his administration is handling the uproar surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's affairs. The scandal overshadows his agenda, despite attempts to appease the public.
President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with how his administration is handling the uproar surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein cases, which are dominating the news and overshadowing his agenda. This was reported by The Washington Post, citing sources, according to UNN.
Details
According to The Washington Post, Trump's frustration comes after weeks of missteps and a lack of clear strategy among senior officials who underestimated the outrage, especially from the presidential electorate, and hoped the country would forget about Epstein's unreleased files and move on, according to nearly a dozen people close to the situation, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal internal discussions.
This is a pretty serious distraction. While many are trying to maintain unity, the Department of Justice and the FBI are cracking at the seams. Many are asking how long this will be long-term for all parties involved - whether it's the FBI director or the attorney general
According to another source close to the president, despite his frustration, Trump is not in a hurry to make personnel changes.
He doesn't want to make an even bigger show by firing anyone
At the center of the scandal is Attorney General Pam Bondi, who for months considered the release of the FBI's Epstein files one of her top initiatives. Her promise fueled demands from Trump's right-wing members to release the files amid speculation that undisclosed evidence could involve Epstein's wealthy and influential friends.
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In early July of this year, the US Department of Justice and the FBI concluded that Jeffrey Epstein did not blackmail influential people and did not keep a "client list." Investigators also debunked the conspiracy theory about his murder, confirming suicide.
As The Washington Post writes, since then, a barrage of criticism has swept through all three branches of government, providing Democrats with a powerful new line of attack and forcing Trump to try to respond to the most difficult political crisis he has faced since returning to the White House.
For weeks after the Epstein conclusion, Trump and Bondi spoke on the phone almost daily, as they often do, according to two people familiar with the content of the calls, amid a backlash that, unlike previous scandals surrounding the president, did not subside in the headlines.
A constant stream of administration statements failed to quell the uproar, including the release of FBI records on the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a newly launched investigation into former FBI Director James B. Comey, and even an explosive treason accusation against former President Barack Obama regarding the 2016 presidential election. Polls continue to show that the public is skeptical of what the government is telling them about Epstein.
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Attempts to appease Trump's electorate by providing additional information about Epstein often raised even more questions, several people interviewed by The Washington Post said.
They cited the FBI's release of 2019 surveillance camera footage near Epstein's prison cell, which was supposed to prove that he died by suicide and debunk conspiracy theories about his murder. After the release, FBI Director Cash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino realized that three minutes were missing from what they called "completely raw" footage, according to three people close to the FBI. This gap fueled even more speculation.
According to The Washington Post, emails show that Bongino and Patel were involved in drafting, approving, and promoting the publication of the finding, which detailed their decision not to disclose more material from the files.
It is noted that after the negative reaction intensified, both secretly complained that if they had been in power, they would have released the Epstein files, removing identifying information about the victims.
Bongino, a former Secret Service officer who became a podcast host with a large right-wing following, was enraged by the consequences of the memo and video's publication.
Pressure mounted last week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Bondi told Trump at a May meeting with Patel in the Oval Office that the president's name had repeatedly appeared in the files. The mere presence of Trump's name - or anyone else's - in the bureau's investigative documents does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing. But Democrats in Congress seized on this revelation, trying to draw attention to the case.
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Sources said that Epstein was just one of many topics in regular briefings with the president. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche also told Trump that they did not want to release the files to protect the privacy of the victims contained in the files and because of their explicit sexual content.
Justice Department officials said they drafted a memo about Epstein because his claims contradicted previous statements by high-ranking members of the Trump administration, including the president himself.
Bondi was not directly involved in drafting the July memo, according to a person familiar with the internal process. But two senior White House officials said the attorney general participated in discussions that led to its release.
Attorney General Bondi has previously faced criticism regarding her actions concerning the Epstein documents. In February, she orchestrated a widely discussed publication, which she called the "first phase" of the Epstein documents. It turned out to be the release of almost publicly available documents, bound in folders marked "secret" and distributed to selected influential right-wing figures at a White House briefing.
The memo reportedly concluded that no further disclosures about Epstein "would be appropriate or justified." But last week, at Trump's direct instruction, they asked courts in Florida and New York to release transcripts of investigations into Epstein and his imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell. A judge in Florida rejected the request. Judges in New York have not yet ruled.
On Thursday, Blanche flew to Tallahassee to question Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Prosecutors have repeatedly questioned her credibility and willingness to "brazenly lie under oath."
Blanche spent two days with Maxwell, which was an unusual step for a deputy attorney general, the second most powerful person in the Justice Department, and it was an unusual step because she spent two days with Maxwell, questioning her about everyone else "who committed crimes against victims."
Maxwell's lawyer said Blanche asked her about "potentially 100 different people," and she answered every question truthfully.
Now, as the Justice Department tries to meet public demands for more information, Congress is also pressuring law enforcement to release the Epstein files.
As The Washington Post writes, the Republican-led House of Representatives is expected to subpoena Epstein's voluminous criminal case, putting the Trump administration in an awkward position of having to decide how to respond. A key House committee has already subpoenaed Maxwell to testify next month.
Leaving the federal courthouse in Tallahassee after interviewing Maxwell last week, Blanche dodged reporters' questions. But in a social media post, he hinted that new disclosures might be coming soon.
Echoing promises made months ago by Bondi, Blanche wrote: "The Department of Justice will share additional information about what we have learned at the appropriate time."
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