Epstein 'client list' doesn't exist, Justice Department says, walking back theory Bondi had promoted
The acknowledgment that the well-connected Epstein did not have a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked represents a public walk-back of a theory that the Trump administration had helped promote, with Bondi suggesting in a Fox News interview earlier this year that such a document was 'sitting on my desk' for review.
Even as it released video from inside a New York jail meant to definitively prove that Epstein killed himself, the department also said in a memo that it was refusing to release other evidence investigators had collected. Bondi for weeks had suggested more material was going to be revealed — "It's a new administration and everything is going to come out to the public,' she said at one point — after a first document dump she had hyped angered President Donald Trump 's base by failing to deliver revelations.
That episode, in which conservative internet personalities were invited to the White House in February and provided with binders marked 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1' and 'Declassified" that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain, has spurred far-right influencers to lambast and deride Bondi.
After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were poring over a 'truckload' of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI. In a March TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration 'sat on these documents, no one did anything with them,' adding: 'Sadly these people don't believe in transparency, but I think more unfortunately, I think a lot of them don't believe in honesty.'
But after a months-long review of evidence in the government's possession, the Justice Department determined that no 'further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,' the memo says. The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and 'only a fraction" of it 'would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.'
The two-page memo bore the logos of the Justice Department and the FBI but was not signed by any individual official.
'One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims," the memo says. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends."
Conservatives who have sought proof of a government coverup of Epstein's activities and death expressed outrage Monday over the department's position. Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec posted: 'We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be.'
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote that "next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,' calling it 'over the top sickening.' Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown applying makeup appearing to mock Bondi for saying the client list doesn't exist after suggesting months ago that it was on her desk.
The client list hubbub began when Bondi was asked in a Fox News interview whether the department would release such a document.
She replied: 'It's sitting on my desk right now to review.'
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Justice Department spokesperson Chad Gilmartin said Monday that Bondi was referring to the Epstein files in general, not a client list specifically.
Among the evidence that the Justice Department says it has in its possession are more than 10,000 videos and images that officials said depicted child sex abuse material or 'other pornography.' Bondi had earlier suggested that part of the reason for the delay in releasing additional Epstein materials was because the FBI needed to review 'tens of thousands' of recordings that she said showed Epstein 'with children or child porn.'
The Associated Press published a story last week about the unanswered questions surrounding those videos.
Multiple people who participated in the criminal cases of Epstein and socialite former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell told AP that they had not seen and did not know of a trove of recordings along the lines of what Bondi had referenced. Indictments and detention memos also don't allege the existence of video recordings and neither Epstein nor Maxwell were charged with possession of child sex abuse material even though that would have been easier for prosecutors to prove than the sex trafficking counts they faced.
The AP did find reference in a filing in a civil lawsuit to the discovery by the Epstein estate of videos and pictures that could constitute child sex abuse material, but lawyers involved in that case said a protective order prevents them from discovering the specifics of that evidence.
The Justice Department did not respond to a detailed list of questions from AP about the videos Bondi was referencing.
Monday's memo does not explain when or where they were located, what they depict and whether they were newly found as investigators scoured their collection of evidence or were known for some time to have been in the government's possession.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, in a suicide that foreclosed the possibility of a trial.
The department's disclosure that Epstein took his own life is hardly a revelation even though conspiracy theorists have continued to challenge that conclusion.
In November 2019, for instance, then-Attorney General William Barr told the AP in an interview that he had personally reviewed security footage that revealed that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed on the night he died and Barr had concluded that Epstein's suicide was the result of 'a perfect storm of screw-ups.'
More recently, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have insisted in television and podcast interviews that the evidence was clear that Epstein had killed himself.
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Woke BLM activists got private school to force innocent child out after claiming his acne mask was blackface
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His brother frantically told him to check his phone, where he had over a dozen missed calls from a friend, who after a call back told him to urgently check his Snapchat. To his horror, Hughes discovered the picture was being shared by people on the app, some of them classmates, others strangers. A witch hunt ensued. Parents protested the innocent picture, and St Francis took the disgraceful step of siding with the bullies, forcing Hughes out with any due process. Recalling the picture resurfacing, he told he was in a state of 'disbelief', he immediately told his parents the background behind it, who believed him. Holden said: 'We thought we looked silly, I was 14. I had heard of the term blackface but I didn't know exactly what it entailed. 'Our 14-year-old selves thought we looked silly, thought we looked goofy and that was that. It was an innocent thing.' Only a few hours later he was kicked from his football team, and says he was told he was no longer welcome at Saint Francis, where tuition runs $28,850 a year. The incident happened just after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin's brutal killing of the unarmed black man triggered mass protests, riots and online witch hunts for anyone perceived to have acted in a racist way. That led to scores of people being fired and ostracized, many for no good reason. On June 5, the family said they received a call from the school principal Katie Teekell telling them their son wasn't welcome. The school told him to withdraw from the school or he would be expelled, Holden said wasn't offered a chance to explain the circumstances of the photo and he withdrew. The school said that Holden decided to withdraw himself, but his parents, Frank Hughes and Wendy Carpenter, have said he was kicked out. Frank said that he argued with Teekell, saying the picture was taken the wrong way. He said Teekell told him that it 'wasn't about intent, it's about optics.' She is still employed at the school. A spokesperson for the school denied this, telling 'The suggestion that school officials did not give the students involved a chance to share their perspective is inaccurate. 'Furthermore, the notion that the school acted based on "optics" rather than student intent does not reflect the facts.' But despite St Francis' continued arrogant denials, the law came down on Hughes side. Hughes and his unnamed friend who also attended the school, and their families, sued and won their case last year, receiving $500,000 each. A jury found that the school had not given the two a fair due process before kicking them out. Their other claims of breach of contract, defamation and violation of free speech were rejected. As well as their $500,000, the school was also ordered to pay back their tuition fees - which totaled $70,000 each. Hughes said that how the school handled the picture made him feel 'insignificant', adding: 'Me or my story didn't matter to them. 'The only thing that mattered was the public perception of the school. They cared more about the public perception than their kids that were paying money to go there. 'Even if it was a public school they still have that duty to look after their kids, but even more so when they're paying tens of thousands of dollars.' A spokesperson for the school added: 'More than a year ago, a jury rejected the plaintiffs' primary claims of defamation and breach of contract. 'The verdict affirmed that we followed our handbook policies, did not violate student free speech rights and did not defame the students. 'While we respectfully disagreed with the jury's finding on a narrower procedural issue regarding the fairness of our disciplinary review process, a claim with no legal precedent at the high school level, we stand by the thoughtful and values-based decisions made at the time. 'Our response to the photo was rooted in our responsibility to maintain a safe and respectful school environment, in alignment with our Catholic mission and community goals.' Days before the picture of Hughes and his friends was circulated, the school had also investigated an Instagram page which had shared racist posts about George Floyd started by students who had just graduated. Due to those behind the abhorrent posts having just graduated, the school said they couldn't hold them accountable. Holden's mom Wendy Carpenter believes St Francis bosses decided to seize on the photo of her son in an acne mask and make him a scapegoat in a bid to act as if they were taking racism seriously. On June 4 2020, the school released a statement saying they would treat incidents of racism on campus with an 'immediate and swift' response. In their statement, which has since been removed from their site, the school had also made reference to a 'highly offensive, racist Instagram'. The statement didn't directly mention the face mask picture, but seemed to imply Hughes was somehow involved in the Instagram page. Daily Mail can also name another ring leader who circled the wagons against Holden. On June 8, Alicia Labana, a parent of a student at the school, co-organized a Black Lives Matter protest outside of the school over the Instagram account and the picture. In 2020 the executive at a Bay Area pharmaceutical firm told Los Alto Online that she had got in touch with administrators at the school about students using black face. She told the outlet: 'I was upset, I was disappointed in the school. All my admiration for the school went out the window, I'll be honest with you. 'My children shouldn't have to be in an environment where they're not safe, where they're not welcomed or where they're not nurtured. It's simple.' Labana was later sued for her remarks alongside the school, however a judge ruled her comments accounted as freedom of speech and she was dismissed from it. Daily Mail has contacted Labana to see if she now regrets the witch hunt she helped lead. On June 8, Alicia Labana, a parent of a student at the school, held a Black Lives Matter protest outside of the school. Pictured: the protest page she set up on Facebook According to public records Labana owns two properties in the area, with a property folio worth just under $4 million, according to estimates by Zillow. Concerned that the picture was being shared, his family set out to reclaim the narrative after Holden explained the origins of it to them. One post on Twitter named Holden as being in the photo, and also implied he was responsible for the Instagram page. His mom fired back: 'That is factually inaccurate', in a direct message to the person, threatening legal action for defamation. The person responsible took out mention of Holden, but told Carpenter: 'I tweeted information that was already circulating'. Posts had also started to emerge on social media threatening violence, one said that Hughes 'need[ed] to be taught a lesson'. Another posted: 'I want to poke that one guy's eyes out', one other added: 'They need to get beat tf up with black fists.' An anonymous person had also text one of the trio, saying: 'We know where y'all at, watch us pull up.' The threats were credible enough to force the Hughes family to invest in security cameras, they also sent Holden's brother to a friend's house for his own safety. The local police department was also informed and they agreed to have an officer drive by their home occasionally, the family said. In the following weeks, several of his friends stopped talking to Holden altogether. He said that when he ran into an old friend they 'acted like I wasn't there'. As well as being exiled, he was also effectively banned from playing football - his true passion. Under state rules if a student is expelled from a school they cannot compete in any other sport inside the state's schooling system. Hughes was banking on his skills at helping him through college, he admits that his GPA wasn't up to scratch. After that, Hughes decided to move to Utah with his father. The two lived 12-hours by car away from the rest of their family. In Utah, a high school football coach agreed to take him onto his team after Hughes talked him through what had happened in California. The difference in behavior was night and day, Holden said. After telling the school they told him they would support him. 'We told the coach and he was understanding and supportive, to my recollection he said "if what you say is the truth then we're in support of you and will gladly accept you",' he said. It left the then teenager terrified of being outed in his new home, fearing the picture could still hurt his new life in Utah. He added: 'I was really living a double life, on one hand I have this incident that happened back at home that I had no control over, that nobody really knew about. 'Essentially throughout senior year and college it was really living a double life, just having that in the back of my mind.' As the lawsuit went through the courts, the school's attorneys started to pull apart Holden's character. They accused him of being racist and homophobic, attacking his intelligence and tried to rip apart his football abilities. 'The main goal of St Francis and their attorneys throughout the deposition process, throughout the whole lawsuit was to make me look like I am the worst possible human being and paint me in the worst possible light. 'Whether its trying to make me appear sexist, racist, homophobic, they were trying to make me appear like that's what I was. 'To just hear that for four or five years was not easy for anyone, at the end of the day i thank god for it, it allowed me to grow tougher skin and to be more confident in me and myself. 'I know who I am and I know none of those things are what I represent or even close to what I represent. 'Either way it's not an easy thing to hear my name or my family's name get slandered like that constantly.' Despite the pressure of the lawsuit and the collarbone break, Hughes was recruited onto a Division I team at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He plays as a cornerback. Hughes had kept what happened to himself throughout his college years until last year when the jury issued its verdict. He described feeling liberated after the jury handed down their decision, saying: 'To have 12 other people that don't know me come forth and support that claim and support what I know in my heart was a very liberating feeling.
