(BBC News) US President Donald Trump has said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release “whatever she thinks is credible” on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as he faces a rare backlash from supporters after seeking to draw a line under the issue.
Bondi has been lambasted by some of Trump’s political base after her department recently said there was no evidence that Epstein kept a “client list”.
This appeared to contradict her previous statements, and those of other Trump allies who have previously called for the release of more information on Epstein.
Trump also said on Tuesday he did not understand “what the interest or what the fascination is” with the matter. He earlier offered a defence of Bondi.
“She’s handled it very well, and it’s going to be up to her,” he told reporters. “Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
When asked by a journalist if the attorney general had told Trump whether his name appeared in any of the records, he said: “No, no.”
During his later comments, the president questioned the enduring fascination with the Epstein issue, calling it “sordid but boring”.
“Only really bad people, including the fake news, want to keep something like this going,” Trump said.
While campaigning last year, Trump promised to release files relating to the disgraced financier. The issue re-emerged earlier this year amid his public spat with his former adviser Elon Musk.
Certain key Trump allies, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, continue to call for transparency.
Trump’s comments in defence of Bondi were in response to a reporter who had pointed out that the president’s own daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, too, had publicly asked for transparency.
Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.
According to a two-page Department of Justice (DoJ) and FBI memo released earlier this month, investigators found no “incriminating list” of clients and “no credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals.
Investigators also released footage they say supports the medical examiner’s conclusion that Epstein died by suicide while being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.
Some have long suggested that Epstein was murdered to stop him from implicating government officials, celebrities and other business tycoons who were involved in his crimes.
FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino had previously questioned the official narrative regarding Epstein’s death – although both have acknowledged that Epstein took his own life since joining the Trump administration.
The memo adds that investigators “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
But many in Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement continue to speculate that details of the well-connected convicted pedophile’s crimes have been withheld in order to protect influential figures, or intelligence agencies.
In recent days, Trump has vented frustration over the fixation with Epstein, and urged everyone to move on. But some Republican allies are not letting go.
Some of the pressure on Bondi stems from comments she made in February, when she was asked by a Fox News interviewer about the purported Epstein client list. “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” she said.
Bondi’s spokesman said last week she had actually been referring to overall files in the matter.
In an interview on Tuesday with US conservative commentator Benny Johnson, Speaker Johnson stressed that he trusted Trump and his team, and that the White House was privy to facts that he did not know.
But, he said, Bondi “needs to come forward and explain it to everybody.”
“We should put everything out there and let the people decide,” Johnson said.
On Tuesday, House Democratic lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to force a vote on releasing Epstein files.
Republicans pointed out that the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, also had access to the files, but did not release them.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgl4dl334go
