Trump urges MAGA supporters to forget about Epstein files
The Trump administration faced backlash this week after the Justice Department and FBI said a client list related to Epstein never existed nor was there any evidence that Epstein may have blackmailed prominent people.
"We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein," Trump wrote in a lengthy post on his Truth social media platform on Saturday.
Some people, including many supporters of Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, believe that the so-called "Epstein Files" include a list of clients he used to blackmail well-known individuals.
The Justice Department's memo also confirmed prior findings by the FBI which concluded that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell.
It drew disbelief from far-right Trump supporters, with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel coming in for sharp criticism.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump promised to release files relating to Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting prosecution on child sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges.
But since he returned to office in January, some of his supporters have grown frustrated with his administration's handling of the case.
Those frustrations have grown into rising anger after the FBI and the Justice Department decided this week to withhold records from the Epstein case.
"Next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,'" furious pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Alex Jones tweeted after last week's move. "This is over the top sickening."
Much of the scrutiny has fallen on Bondi, who promised major revelations about Epstein, including "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs."
"It's sitting on my desk right now to review," Bondi told Fox News in February when she was asked if the Justice Department would be releasing Epstein's client list.
But Bondi walked that comment back this week, telling reporters that she was referring to the entire Epstein "file."
"What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!" Trump said in his post Saturday. .
"For years, it's Epstein, over and over again," Trump wrote.
"Let's … not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about," he added.
Far-right influencer Laura Loomer called on Trump to fire Bondi over the issue, labeling her "an embarrassment."
Although Trump appears in at least one video alongside Epstein at a party, the president has denied allegations that his name was in the files or that he had any direct connection to the disgraced financier.
On Saturday, hours before Trump's Truth Social post, FBI Director Patel said the "conspiracy theories just aren't true, never have been."
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino and Bondi reportedly clashed at the White House this week over the issue, with Bongino, a former influential right-wing podcast host, threatening to resign.
In a bid to shift attention away from the Epstein controversy, Trump urged Patel and Bondi to focus instead on what he calls "The Rigged and Stolen Election of 2020," which he lost to Joe Biden.
Trump has insisted, without evidence, that he lost the election due to fraud, citing unproven conspiracy theories.
He said the FBI should focus on that investigation rather than "spending month after month looking at nothing but the same old, Radical Left inspired Documents on Jeffrey Epstein."
Edited by: Louis Oelofse
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