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The Justice Department and FBI are struggling to incorporate the fallout from this week's determination to withhold records from the Jeffrey Epstein enactment trafficking investigation, which rankled influential far-right media personalities and supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The move, which included the acknowledgment that 1 peculiar sought-after papers ne'er really existed, sparked a contentious speech betwixt Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino astatine the White House this week. The spat threatened to shatter relations betwixt them and centered successful portion connected a quality communicative that described divisions betwixt the FBI and the Justice Department.
The cascade of disappointment and disbelief arising from the refusal to disclose additional, much-hyped records from the Epstein probe underscores the struggles of FBI and Justice Department leaders to resoluteness the conspiracy theories and amped-up expectations that they themselves had stoked with claims of a cover-up and hidden evidence. Infuriated by the nonaccomplishment of officials to unlock, arsenic promised, the secrets of the alleged “deep state,” Trump supporters connected the acold close person grown restless and adjacent demanded alteration astatine the top.
Trump calls for MAGA basal to extremity ‘Epstein Files’ obsession
Mr. Trump expressed vexation successful a societal media posting connected Saturday (July 12, 2025) implicit the disagreement among diehards of his “Make America Great Again” question implicit the matter, and expressed enactment for Ms. Bondi. His lengthy station made nary notation of Mr. Bongino.
“What’s going connected with my 'boys' and, successful immoderate cases, 'gals?'” Trump wrote. “They’re each going aft Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re connected 1 Team, MAGA, and I don’t similar what’s happening.”
Tensions that simmered for months boiled implicit connected Monday erstwhile the Justice Department and FBI issued a two-page connection saying that they had concluded that Epstein did not person a “client list,” adjacent though Ms.SBondi had intimated successful February that specified a papers was sitting connected her desk, and had decided against releasing immoderate further records from the investigation.
The Department did disclose a video meant to beryllium that Epstein killed himself successful jail, but adjacent that raised the eyebrows of conspiracy theorists due to the fact that of a missing infinitesimal successful the recording.
It was hardly the archetypal clip that Trump medication officials person failed to fulfill their pledge to present the grounds that supporters had travel to expect.
In February, blimpish influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified." But the binders contained accusation that had mostly already been successful the nationalist domain.
Afterward, Ms. Bondi said an FBI “source” informed her of the beingness of thousands of pages of antecedently undisclosed documents and ordered the Bureau to supply the “full and implicit Epstein files.” She aboriginal said officials were poring implicit a “truckload” of antecedently withheld grounds she said had been handed implicit by the FBI.
But aft a months-long reappraisal of grounds successful the government’s possession, the Justice Department determined successful the memo Monday that nary “further disclosure would beryllium due oregon warranted.” The Department noted that overmuch of the worldly was placed nether seal by a tribunal to support victims, and “only a fraction” of it “would person been aired publically had Epstein gone to trial.”
The Trump medication had hoped that that connection would beryllium the last connection connected the saga, with Mr. Trump chiding a newsman who asked Ms. Bondi astir the Epstein lawsuit astatine a Cabinet gathering connected Tuesday.
But Ms. Bondi and Mr. Bongino had a tense speech the pursuing time astatine the White House, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the substance who spoke connected information of anonymity to sermon a backstage conversation.
Part of the clash centered connected a communicative from the quality enactment NewsNation that cited a “source adjacent to the White House” arsenic saying the FBI would person released the Epstein files months agone if it could person done truthful connected its own. The communicative included statements from Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel refuting the premise, but not Mr. Bongino.
The quality work Axios was archetypal to picture the conversation.
Mr. Blanche sought to stem the fallout Friday with a societal media station successful which helium said helium had worked intimately with Mr. Patel and Mr. Bongino connected the Epstein substance and the associated memo.
“All of america signed disconnected connected the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated successful the memo. The proposition by anyone that determination was immoderate daylight betwixt the FBI and DOJ enactment connected this memo’s creation and merchandise is patently false,” helium wrote connected X.
Also Friday, far-right activistic Laura Loomer, who is adjacent to Mr. Trump, posted connected X that she was told that Bongino was “seriously reasoning astir resigning” and had taken the time disconnected to contemplate his future. Mr. Bongino is usually an progressive beingness connected societal media but has been soundless since Wednesday.
The FBI did not respond to a petition seeking comment, and the White House sought successful a connection to minimize immoderate tensions.
“President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced instrumentality and bid squad dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justness to victims,” said spokesperson Harrison Fields. “This enactment is being carried retired seamlessly and with unity. Any effort to sow part wrong this squad is baseless and distracts from the existent advancement being made successful restoring nationalist information and pursuing justness for all.”
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