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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Pam Bondi on the brink over Epstein crisis
Attorney General Pam Bondi is causing 'unnecessary embarrassment' for Donald Trump as the Jeffrey Epstein 'cover-up' claims overshadow his presidency, angry administration insiders say. A DOJ source told the Daily Mail that Bondi's 'communications failure' when it comes to the Epstein files has fueled a 'truckload of misinformation' surrounding the case. The Trump administration's messy missteps regarding the files are driving MAGA mad and could forever alienate the President from his base. And Bondi's 'preventable' communications breakdown is to blame for sowing distrust with Americans, insiders claim. It all started on the campaign trail when Trump and his closest allies - including now-FBI Director Kash Patel and his now-deputy Dan Bongino - promised to make public all information related to the convicted [sexual] trafficker's horrific crimes. But since Trump took office and installed his top law enforcement team, Bondi has overpromised on transparency and gravely underdelivered, sources lament. They explain how there isn't some trove of new materials in the Epstein child [sexual] trafficking case hiding at the FBI as Trump and Bondi suggested. Our insider said the fallout was, unfortunately for Trump, 'completely avoidable' if Bondi had a better media strategy. The President's base, meanwhile, is growing more and more frustrated over what they see as a lack of transparency, and they now believe a nefarious 'cover-up' is underway. In the face of growing distrust, Bondi is now facing calls to testify before Congress. She's also under mounting pressure from within the online MAGAverse to step down if she doesn't plan to release promised federal secrets. Publicly at least, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reaffirmed Trump's confidence in Bondi when reached by the Daily Mail about claims she was an 'embarrassment' to the administration. 'Attorney General Pam Bondi is working tirelessly to end the weaponization that has rotted our justice system, remove violent criminals from our streets and help President Trump in making America safe again,' Leavitt insisted. 'The President is appreciative of her efforts.' The infighting over Epstein came to a head this week when a Wall Street Journal report alleged Bondi had told Trump in a May meeting that his name appeared in the Epstein files more times than previously thought. Bondi also allegedly recommended at that same meeting that the administration not release more files because they included child pornography and sensitive information about victims. It's widely known that the president associated with Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell in the 1980s and 1990s. Trump's name is among the 'hundreds' that appear in the Epstein-related documents, which may include flight logs for Epstein's private plane and in the convicted [child predator's] 'black book' of contacts. Trump has not been implicated in any crimes and just because a name appears in the files does not mean any individual was involved in Epstein's child [sexual] trafficking scheme. But this observation raises the question: why isn't the administration then making the full trove of documents available to the public? Two months after Trump's May meeting with Bondi, an internal DOJ memo was released on July 7. The document said that an investigation found that Epstein died by [killing himself] in prison and that no other people named in the files would be charged. It also detailed that there was no evidence of a rumored 'Epstein client list.' Conservative media personality Laura Loomer responded by calling for Bondi's resignation. 'Please join me in calling for Blondi to RESIGN!' Loomer posted to X, using a derogatory nickname for the attorney general. 'How many more times is this woman going to get away with Fing [sic] everything up before she is FIRED?' Shortly thereafter, conservative pundit Mike Engleman posted to X: 'Pam Bondi should resign or be fired. She lied! This is NOT justice.' Podcaster Tucker Carlson theorized that Bondi is orchestrating a cover-up in order to protect members of the intelligence community who were ensnared in Epstein's conduct. 'The current DOJ under Pam Bondi is covering up crimes, very serious crimes by their own description,' Carlson said. 'Intel services are at the very center of this story, US and Israeli and they're being protected.' At least publicly, the White House has tried to quash the chorus of voices opposing Bondi's leadership at DOJ. 'President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims,' Deputy White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields told the Daily Mail. 'This work is being carried out seamlessly and with unity.' He added: 'Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all.' Podcaster Megyn Kelly explained earlier this month that Bondi's mistake was 'running all over the media looking for attention on this, yes, click-baity story.' 'Come out and give a press conference, stand there for six hours to the point where people are dying of boredom - they've asked all their questions. That's how you put a scandal to rest,' Kelly recommended. And now, Democrats in Congress want to hear from Bondi and Patel over the botched files review. Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff demanded Wednesday that the two comes testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And Republicans on Capitol Hill are facing their own pressures. A few GOP lawmakers have even signed onto a discharge petition to get the DOJ to release all materials they have related to the Epstein child [sexual] trafficking case. The handling of the Epstein files review also appears to be fueling a civil war between the DOJ and FBI. Bondi's public affairs team calls it a healthy 'sibling rivalry,' but admitted to the Daily Mail that this has likely led to a breakdown in coordination between the department and its component agency. Though, a source close to Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino told the Daily Mail earlier this month that he was considering quitting if Bondi was able to keep her job . Insiders say they wouldn't be shocked if his threats exacerbate tension between the DOJ and FBI. 'In terms of everything that's happened over the past two weeks, you've certainly seen the Deputy Director go to war, essentially, with his boss, the Attorney General,' DOJ's co-Director of Public Affairs Chad Gilmartin told the Daily Mail. 'And I wouldn't be surprised if that manifests at a staff level over at the FBI as well, towards main justice and the people that serve the Attorney General here,' he said when asked about the conflicting accounts coming from the FBI and DOJ. Administration sources say much of their frustration and headache stems from Bondi's public discussion of ongoing investigations. But Gilmartin explained how the DOJ is operating 'differently' from previous administrations. 'In this administration, it's certainly unique that you have an attorney general with a direct line and relationship to the president, and an FBI director, and, in fact, even a deputy FBI director, all with direct lines of access and relationships with the President,' he detailed. 'That is something that is certainly unique about this administration, and I think that certainly affects the staff.' He admitted this ' creates a natural tension' and 'healthy sibling rivalry.' No matter how hard Trump tries, his Epstein headache likely isn't disappearing anytime soon. Earlier this month, Trump instructed Bondi to request secretive Epstein grand jury testimony be unsealed. But a judge in the southern district of Florida denied that request on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bondi's Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was in Florida on Thursday to interview convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in person, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for the child [sexual] trafficking crimes.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Pam Bondi on the brink: Epstein fallout gets nasty as Trump insiders reveal humiliating things colleagues are saying behind her back
Attorney General Pam Bondi is causing 'unnecessary embarrassment' for Donald Trump as the Jeffrey Epstein 'cover-up' claims overshadow his presidency, angry administration insiders say. A DOJ source told the Daily Mail that Bondi's 'communications failure' when it comes to the Epstein files has fueled a 'truckload of misinformation' surrounding the case.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump tears into his haters amid new Epstein revelations
Donald Trump is still trying to blame the Jeffrey Epstein files outrage on 'crazy Democrats ' as his base demands answers amid claims of a 'cover-up.' Convinced that his haters are trying to distract from his 'great' first six months back in office, Trump is hoping that his direction to unseal grand jury testimony will be his saving grace among MAGA loyalists who are growing impatient. During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed transparency on the Epstein files and claimed his administration would release troves of government secrets, including in the child sexual trafficking case. Trump dubbed the entire ordeal a 'con job' and 'scam' as he again tore into the continuation of the saga in a Thursday night Truth Social post. It comes as yet another piece of evidence emerged that may shine additional light on Trump's relationship with Epstein. The New York Times reported that the president called Epstein 'the greatest' in a newly unearthed message he wrote for the disgraced billionaire on a copy of his 1997 book 'Trump: The Art of the Comeback.' The report comes as Trump is grappling with the fallout from a story by the Wall Street Journal claiming that the president signed a birthday note with a drawing of an outline of a naked woman to Epstein in 2003. Epstein's longtime girlfriend and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell wrote an introductory letter to a leather-bound book of birthday notes, which the Times also published. Trump has fiercely denied ever drawing the picture and sued the Journal for $10 billion for libel claims. Shortly after the WSJ article was published, Trump shot back in a post to Truth Social saying: 'The supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE.' The report claimed that Trump wrote in his birthday note to Epstein: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump's communications director has a standard statement he appears to be sending to all media who ask about Trump's connection to the Epstein debacle, and dismissing the reports as more 'fake news.' 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,' Cheung said in the statement sent to multiple outlets, including the Daily Mail. 'This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he concludes. Trump is now all-in on his direction for the Justice Department to request courts unseal grand jury testimony. 'As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat con job,' Trump said on Truth Social in relation to the Epstein files. 'Hopefully, the Grand Jury Files will put an end to this hoax,' the president wrote on Truth Social shortly after the NYT piece was published. 'Everyone should see what is there, but people who are innocent should not be hurt.' Trump last week instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to request the grand jury testimony on the Epstein case amid mounting pressure from his base to release more information. However, his plan is already hitting a snag. The Southern District of Florida this week denied the request for the highly-sensitive materials to be made available. And the Southern District of New York asked Trump's DOJ to respond to a request for more information on why they are seeking the additional court documents. It's very difficult to get grand jury testimony unsealed as it's one of the more highly-protected and secretive pieces of court materials. In a continued effort to make a show of transparency in the case, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche flew to Florida and met with Maxwell on Thursday to find out what more she knows and can reveal. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her crimes in Epstein's sexual trafficking ring. It's no secret that Trump associated with Epstein in the 1980s and 1990s. His name appears on flight logs for Epstein's private plane – known as the Lolita Express – and his family members are part of the 'black book' of Epstein's contacts. Trump and Epstein ran in similar circles in New York City and Palm Beach decades ago and were oftentimes pictured together or at the same events. CNN unearthed images this month that showed Epstein attended Trump's second wedding to Marla Maples on December 20, 1993 at The Plaza Hotel in New York. The photographs also showed Epstein alongside Trump's young children Ivanka and Eric at the Harley Davidson Cafe opening in New York in 1993.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump tears into his 'crazy' haters as he bets big on risky move amid new Epstein revelations
Donald Trump is still trying to blame the Jeffrey Epstein files outrage on 'crazy Democrats ' as his base demands answers amid claims of a 'cover-up.' Convinced that his haters are trying to distract from his 'great' first six months back in office, Trump is hoping that his direction to unseal grand jury testimony will be his saving grace among MAGA loyalists who are growing impatient. During his 2024 campaign, Trump vowed transparency on the Epstein files and claimed his administration would release troves of government secrets, including in the child sex trafficking case. Trump dubbed the entire ordeal a 'con job' and 'scam' as he again tore into the continuation of the saga in a Thursday night Truth Social post. It comes as yet another piece of evidence emerged that may shine additional light on Trump's relationship with Epstein. The New York Times reported that the president called Epstein 'the greatest' in a newly unearthed message he wrote for the disgraced billionaire on a copy of his 1997 book 'Trump: The Art of the Comeback.' The report comes as Trump is grappling with the fallout from a story by the Wall Street Journal claiming that the president signed a birthday note with a drawing of an outline of a naked woman to Epstein in 2003. Epstein's longtime girlfriend and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell wrote an introductory letter to a leather-bound book of birthday notes, which the Times also published. Trump has fiercely denied ever drawing the picture and sued the Journal for $10 billion for libel claims. Shortly after the WSJ article was published, Trump shot back in a post to Truth Social saying: 'The supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE.' The report claimed that Trump wrote in his birthday note to Epstein: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump's communications director has a standard statement he appears to be sending to all media who ask about Trump's connection to the Epstein debacle, and dismissing the reports as more 'fake news.' 'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,' Cheung said in the statement sent to multiple outlets, including the Daily Mail. 'This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he concludes. Trump is now all-in on his direction for the Justice Department to request courts unseal grand jury testimony. 'As things are revealed and, I hope will take place quickly, you will see that it is yet another Democrat con job,' Trump said on Truth Social in relation to the Epstein files. 'Hopefully, the Grand Jury Files will put an end to this hoax,' the president wrote on Truth Social shortly after the NYT piece was published. 'Everyone should see what is there, but people who are innocent should not be hurt.' Trump last week instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to request the grand jury testimony on the Epstein case amid mounting pressure from his base to release more information. However, his plan is already hitting a snag. The Southern District of Florida this week denied the request for the highly-sensitive materials to be made available. And the Southern District of New York asked Trump's DOJ to respond to a request for more information on why they are seeking the additional court documents. It's very difficult to get grand jury testimony unsealed as it's one of the more highly-protected and secretive pieces of court materials. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche flew to Florida on Wednesday and met with Maxwell on Thursday to find out what more she knows and can reveal about Epstein. It's no secret that Trump associated with Epstein in the 1980s and 1990s. They ran in similar circles in New York City and Palm Beach and were oftentimes pictured at the same events. CNN unearthed images this month that showed Epstein attended Trump's second wedding to Marla Maples on December 20, 1993 at The Plaza Hotel in New York.
CNN
2 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's Epstein nightmare worsens amid new revelations and a GOP revolt
Donald Trump Tulsi Gabbard Fighting disinformation RussiaFacebookTweetLink Follow The Jeffrey Epstein morass surrounding President Donald Trump is deepening amid growing defiance by some Republicans and despite the administration's most inflammatory attempt yet at distraction. New reports Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in documents related to the case of Epstein, an accused sex trafficker, offered a plausible explanation for the president's growing fury over the drama. They will fuel accusations of a cover-up since the administration has refused to release the files. And although there is no evidence that Trump was involved in any wrongdoing or that he knew of Epstein's criminal activities when they ran in the same social circle decades ago, there is bound to be intense speculation about the nature of mentions about the president in the investigative files. The storm is also intensifying in Congress. A vote in the House Oversight Committee to subpoena the Department of Justice for files related to Epstein worsened Trump's political headache, since it revealed the appetite for more disclosure among some MAGA Republicans. The GOP-majority committee also voted to subpoena testimony from Epstein's accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison term. Trump responded to the ballooning crisis with the oldest trick in his political book, pushing a conspiracy theory against Barack Obama — a decade and a half after his false claims about the 44th president's birthplace electrified his coalition and political career. He enlisted the top US intelligence official, Tulsi Gabbard, who misleadingly claimed in a theatrical White House appearance that Obama's handling of Russian election meddling in 2016 amounted to a coup to destroy Trump's first presidency, a day after her boss accused his predecessor of treason. There is no evidence that Trump did anything wrong or illegal in his interactions with Epstein. But days of stalling by the White House and new disclosures drove speculation to a fever pitch over their relationship in the 1990s and early 2000s, long before the wealthy financier was charged with sex trafficking and abuse and died in prison in 2019. The frantic confluence of events Wednesday underscored Trump's failed attempts to put a lid on the Epstein drama, the most serious challenge to his authority over the MAGA base in either of his administrations. In fact, the storm is now gathering its own momentum, and it's increasingly hard to see how the president calms it. The controversy is overshadowing Trump's recent political successes, including trade deals he announced with Japan and the Philippines and recent legal victories enabling a key goal: the gutting of swaths of the federal government. And it's outracing House Speaker Mike Johnson's attempts to contain it. Among developments on Wednesday with the greatest capacity to damage Trump politically were revelations that Bondi warned him in May that his name appeared in documents related to the Epstein case. The conversation, which also included Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was characterized by two White House officials as a 'routine briefing' that covered the scope of the Justice Department's findings. Trump's name appearing in the files, they said, was not the sole focus of the discussions. Bondi also told Trump that several other high-profile figures were mentioned. She also briefed that investigators did not find evidence of an Epstein client list or that suicide was not his cause of death — two key elements of a MAGA conspiracy. Simply being mentioned along with hundreds of others in documents does not imply wrongdoing by the president. And White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN that Trump had kicked Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club because he regarded Epstein as a 'creep.' Still, details of Bondi's briefing, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, offered new context about the political controversy that erupted over the Epstein files, since it took place three months after Bondi raised huge expectations for disclosure by telling Fox in February that she had Epstein's client list sitting on her desk. It's hardly a surprise that Trump was mentioned in the Epstein files, since his former friendship with the disgraced financier was well known. The men were pictured together on multiple occasions. And Trump's name was included in flight logs of Epstein's plane that were among documents released by Bondi earlier this year in a political stunt meant to reward conservative bloggers. But Wednesday's revelations are politically difficult for Trump since they will renew speculation that the administration's refusal to release Epstein documents, as his top aides promised on the campaign trail, is motivated by an attempt at a cover-up. Now that it is established that Trump's name is in the documents, speculation will go into overdrive on the nature of the mentions and whether they add to the public knowledge of Trump's ties to Epstein and whether he knew anything about the offenses with which the financier was later charged. Again, this does not imply Trump himself did something wrong. But since he's the sitting president, the focus on him and his handling of the Epstein matter in government will be intense. This is especially the case since Bondi and Kash Patel, who now heads the FBI, had vehemently demanded the release of Epstein documents before finding themselves on the other side of the conspiracy theory they had puffed up when they took top jobs. Their agencies issued a joint statement earlier this month saying that there was no evidence of a client list or to support the conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered. But the pattern of inconsistencies and denials that typically fuel Washington's scandal machine are piling up. Trump, for instance, appeared to deny this month that Bondi had told him his name was in the Epstein files, which he then claimed were made up by Obama and fired former FBI Director James Comey. Ironically, the growing clamor is a test case of why grand jury material and other documents are typically sealed. That's partly out of a need to protect the reputations of people — including witnesses, victims and blameless third parties — who are identified during an investigation but are not charged with any offenses. But the MAGA movement is obsessed with conspiracy theories and has a bedrock belief that Washington is run by a cabal of 'deep state' elites who suppress the truth. This tempted Trump, Bondi and other officials to tap into the political well and to promise the release of previously sealed information on famous cases also including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. When the administration then refused to make public all the evidence about Epstein, top officials looked like they'd become avatars of the deep state they once decried. As anger built in the MAGA base, the Justice Department launched an effort to get court permission to unseal grand jury testimony in the case. But a federal judge in Florida on Wednesday ruled against the release of material that represents only a small portion of the thousands of documents in the Epstein case file. The DOJ move is a legal long shot, but it may still serve the purpose of building political cover for the administration as supporters demand more transparency. Trump's growing nightmare was exacerbated in a rare show of defiance by Republicans in Congress on Wednesday. A subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee voted 8-2 to subpoena the Department of Justice to release files related to Epstein. Republican Reps. Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack joined with Democrats in a revolt against Johnson's leadership. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, meanwhile, subpoenaed Maxwell, a day after Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, announced that he'd visit her in prison to see if she has more information on Epstein's offenses. Blanche's move raised alarms because Trump, with his pardon power, could commute her sentence or pardon her, suggesting an incentive for Maxwell to offer testimony that might help him. CNN's Kaitlan Collins, citing two people familiar with the meeting, reported that it is expected to take place on Thursday. The actions of the Oversight Committee suggested there is genuine desire for more accountability among some Republicans despite the possibility that it could inflict political damage on the president. This suggests that any hopes harbored by Trump and Johnson that the furor might abate over the summer recess will prove to be ill-founded. Johnson has accused Democrats of playing political games over Epstein, since the documents they now want released were not made public during the Biden administration. And he denied that his attempt to shut down House votes on the matter before September meant he was losing control of his conference. 'No one in Congress is blocking Epstein documents. No one in Congress is doing that,' the speaker said Wednesday. 'What we're doing here, Republicans are preventing Democrats from making a mockery of the Rules Committee process because we refuse to engage in their political charade.' But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer taunted Johnson, accusing him of 'skedaddling out of town early.' The New York Democrat added, 'If the speaker thinks he can make the Epstein escapade disappear by sending folks home early, he's got another thing coming.' The looming political question is whether fury over the Epstein saga among prominent MAGA media figures and influencers is mirrored more broadly in Trump's base. Summer recess town halls involving GOP members could begin to answer that question. A Quinnipiac poll released on July 16 showed splits on the issue. While 40% of Republicans backed how Trump was handling the issue, 36% disapproved. But a CBS/YouGov poll Sunday showed that only 11% of Republicans said Epstein-related issues matter a lot to how they evaluate Trump's presidency. Trump has responded to the building Epstein scandal with increasingly heated attempts to distract attention and to provide alternative programing for the conservative media universe. Gabbard's appearance in the White House briefing room on Wednesday represented the most striking effort yet to weaponize elements of the federal government to advance Trump's personal political aims. The director of national intelligence declassified a highly sensitive congressional report written by Republicans in the first Trump presidency to bolster her claim that the Obama team plotted to ruin her boss's first administration with its investigations and public statements on Russian election meddling. 'The evidence that we have found and that we have released directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment,' Gabbard said. She focused in particular on the report's conclusion that an intelligence community finding that Russian President Vladimir Putin developed a preference for Trump in 2016 and wanted to help him win was based on poor sourcing. 'They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true,' Gabbard said. While there was a debate among intelligence analysts about Putin's intent, Gabbard's presentation represented an attempt to cherry-pick evidence that is not reflected in other congressional and government assessments of Russian election meddling. The overwhelming consensus in Washington, including from a report released in 2020 by the Senate Intelligence Committee on which Secretary of State Marco Rubio served, is that Russian interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump win and to hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The documentation that Gabbard produced did not back up Trump's absurd claims of treason by Obama or her own assertion that there was an orchestrated plot to discredit Trump. Democrats accused her of jeopardizing the safety of US intelligence sources and offering valuable information to the Russians while sending a message to assets that it was not safe to report politically sensitive information. Even if Obama did something wrong, Trump's argument that he should be in prison would be undercut, ironically, by one of his own famous legal victories. Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in a case related to Trump's indictment on charges of election interference related to the 2020 election that ex-presidents enjoy substantial immunity from prosecution. The choreographed outrage in the White House briefing room, meanwhile, showed that the Russian election-meddling controversy — one of Trump's greatest obsessions — is back and is sowing yet more division and mistrust among voters. Gabbard's decision to revive it was a reminder that Putin's scheme was one of the highest-yielding, lowest-cost intelligence operations in history.
