Trump would not recommend Jeffrey Epstein case special prosecutor, White House says
Even so, Trump "is in agreement with some of the leaders on Capitol Hill that if" Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department "come across any other credible evidence, they should provide that to the American people," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Leavitt's comments come as there have been increasing calls in Congress for the Justice Department to release more of the evidence it assembled in the criminal case against Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019, weeks after he was arrested on child sex trafficking charges.
Conspiracy-minded conservative activist Laura Loomer, a fierce defender of Trump and his policies, said Wednesday that the "best thing that the president can do is appoint a special counsel to handle the Epstein files investigation.
Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, another influential voice on the far-right, also backs a special counsel. "The DOJ and FBI are overwhelmed. Let the special counsel report directly to the president," he said this week on his "War Room" podcast.
Bondi has infuriated some of Trump's most hardline supporters with her decision in early July not to disclose any more evidence in the case.
The frustration among Trump's MAGA base and criticism by Democrats, has provoked Trump to lash out, rejecting calls for more transparency about the Epstein case.
"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," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
"The Radical Left Democrats have hit pay dirt, again!," he said.
Trump is a former friend of Epstein, who socialized with many rich and powerful people, including former President Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew.
Trump has said he cut ties with Epstein years before the investment advisor was arrested on federal charges.
Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel previously had vowed to release evidence from the Epstein files.
"This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump's commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators," Bondi said in April when the DOJ released an initial batch of records, much of which were already publicly known.
Patel, in the same month, said that if records related to Epstein "have been hidden, we will uncover them."
"And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be," Patel said.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., are jointly seeking to force a vote in the House of Representatives calling for the release of the Epstein records.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department summarily fired New York federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, whose criminal cases have included those of Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell. Comey is the daughter of James Comey, who was fired as FBI director by Trump in 2017.
Leavitt on Thursday referred questions about Maurene Comey's termination to the Justice Department.
The former prosecutor in an email to colleagues earlier in the day wrote, "If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain," Comey wrote.
"Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns in the heart of this place," she wrote in the note. "A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims."
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