President Donald Trump was told by Attorney General Pam Bondi that he’s mentioned “multiple times” in files related to the probe of notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new report Wednesday.
Bondi told Trump in May that his name appears alongside many other prominent people in Department of Justice documents about the Epstein case, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The crucial meeting at which Bondi briefed Trump came shortly before she released a controversial memo declaring the Trump administration wouldn’t release any more information about the bombshell investigation, the paper said.
Since being told he’s in the files, Trump, who admits once being a close friend of the notorious pedophile, has repeatedly sought to quiet the firestorm over the Epstein case and even called it a hoax hatched by his political opponents.
The White House Wednesday dodged questions about the Wall Street Journal scoop.
“This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media,” said White House communications director Steven Cheung.
Trump denied a specific question about whether Bondi told him he was included in the Epstein files outside the White House on July 15.
“Specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the files?” a reporter asked Trump.
“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,” Trump responded.
Before his second inauguration in January, Trump and his MAGA allies spent years demanding the release of far more information about the Epstein case.
As public furor over the Epstein case has exploded in recent weeks, Trump has sought to deflect criticism. He ordered Bondi to seek the release of grand jury testimony in the case, which experts say is likely to be much more tame than the materials in the files.
The bombshell WSJ report dropped on a day of fast-moving developments in the Epstein case, which has divided Trump from his right-wing MAGA base.
A Florida judge on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration request to unseal transcripts from grand jury investigations of Epstein years ago in Florida.
A similar records request is pending before a Manhattan federal judge who presided over the trial of convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The former socialite pal of Epstein, who is appealing her 20-year prison sentence, opposes the request.
A congressional committee has issued Maxwell a subpoena for a deposition but it’s unclear if she will agree to appear.
Another Republican-controlled panel is considering demanding release of all the Epstein files, with several GOP lawmakers saying they will join Democrats to back the move.
House Speaker Mike Johnson scrapped most congressional legislative business and sent lawmakers home early for their August recess in hopes the political firestorm dies down.
Story by David Goldiner, New York Daily News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
