Trump attacks ‘weakling' supporters over Epstein conspiracy
The US president said Maga loyalists had fallen 'hook, line, and sinker' for conspiracy theories surrounding the case, as a rebellion over his administration's mishandling of it grows.
'Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this bull----, hook, line, and sinker,' Mr Trump vented in a Truth Social post.
'It's all been a big hoax. It's perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats' work,' he later told reporters in the Oval Office.
Mr Trump is facing the biggest internal rebellion of his premiership after the Department of Justice concluded the disgraced financier had no black book of famous clients and died by suicide, not murder.
The decision has sparked fury among Maga loyalists, who have called for Pam Bondi, Mr Trump's attorney general, to resign over her mishandling of the case.
Democrats have pounced on the rift in an effort to drive a wedge in the president's base ahead of important midterms next year.
'The radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again!' Mr Trump wrote. 'Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats' work,' Trump said of his own supporters who continue to focus on Epstein.
He continued: 'Don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!'
As the White House scrambles to contain the row, Mr Trump is reportedly weighing up removing redactions to previously released documents related to the sex offender in a bid to placate his supporters.
Ms Bondi, Kash Patel, the FBI director, and Dan Bongino, the bureau's deputy director, have been heavily criticised by Trump loyalists for failing to uncover a broader conspiracy relating to Epstein.
The case has come under renewed scrutiny over the so-called 'client list', which has failed to materialise despite promises from the Trump administration.
Conservative influencers from Megyn Kelly to Mr Carlson have called for Ms Bondi's resignation over her failure to deliver, after she claimed in February that Epstein's client list was 'sitting on [her] desk'.
But the president has stood firm, praising Ms Bondi for handling the case 'very well'.
'She's handled it very well, and it's going to be up to her,' he told reporters on Tuesday. 'Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.'
In recent days, Epstein has been accused of working as a Mossad spy by the likes of Tucker Carlson – an allegation which has been strongly denied by Israel.
Theories about Epstein's supposed connection to intelligence agencies began to surface shortly after he was found to have hanged himself in his Manhattan prison cell while awaiting trial in 2019.
His former attorney, Alan Dershowitz, who helped secure the controversial 'sweetheart deal' for Epstein on state sex charges filed against him in 2008, told the Telegraph the disgraced financier 'laughed' at the idea.
'We discussed it and the answer was no. He laughed. No intelligence agency would really trust him,' he said.
On Monday, Naftali Bennett, the former Israeli prime minister, vigorously rebutted the claim, criticising the 'vicious wave of slander and lies against' the Jewish state.
'As a former Israeli prime minister, with the Mossad having reported directly to me, I say to you with 100 per cent certainty: The accusation that Jeffrey Epstein somehow worked for Israel or the Mossad running a blackmail ring is categorically and totally false,' Mr Bennett wrote.
'This accusation is a lie being peddled by prominent online personalities such as Tucker Carlson pretending they know things they don't.'
Some of Trump's closest allies have also called on Mr Trump to release the Epstein files.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, has become the most high-profile figure to break with the president and demand his administration release 'everything' on Epstein to the public.
'I'm for transparency,' Mr Johnson told Benny Johnson, a podcast host and conservative commentator.
'It's a very delicate subject but we should put everything out there and let the people decide it.'
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