MAGA turns on Pam Bondi, Trump administration over Epstein files
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump's top law enforcement officials are on the receiving end of MAGA criticism − including some calls for their resignations − over a review of materials related to Jeffrey Epstein that don't match their public comments about the disgraced financier.
A memo from the FBI and Justice Department concluded that Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while in custody for sex trafficking charges. It also states the agencies' "exhaustive review" found no evidence of an Epstein "client list."
Trump's supporters have pushed for his administration to release details about Epstein's associates, and many are expressing displeasure at the latest development.
"I remember when a bimbo Barbie was installed as AG and then all of these child sex crimes were wiped under the rug," conservative activist and social media influencer Laura Loomer wrote on X July 8, referring to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Loomer, a close Trump ally, also added a direct appeal to Vice President JD Vance, asking him to "please encourage President Trump to fire Pam Blondi. She is a disgrace."
In an interview in February with Fox News, Bondi was asked about a "client list" and seemed to confirm its existence when she responded, "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."
The attorney general walked those statements back during a Cabinet meeting July 8, saying she had been referring to the entirety of the Epstein case materials.
Multibillionaire and former Trump adviser Elon Musk joined the criticism, posting on his social media platform X, "How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?"
Another X user asked Musk "Will exposing the Epstein files rank high on the America Party’s list?" in reference to political party Musk has just announced his intention to form. Musk replied with "100," meaning yes.
Musk was staunch supporter of Trump's, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help elect him in 2024, but recently fell out with the president over Trump's just-signed megabill increasing the national debt.
While campaigning in 2024, Trump suggested he would have "no problem" releasing more details on the Epstein investigation. Bondi said in a statement in February that the Justice Department was following through and "lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators."
Two other Trump appointees, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino, were once leading voices questioning the official record of Epstein's death.
Now members of the administration, Patel and Bongino have seemingly reversed course and rejected conspiracy theories that he had been murdered rather than that he died by suicide.
Trump, in the Cabinet meeting July 8, also blasted a reporter for posing a question about Epstein, saying: "Are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.
"I mean, I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein," the president added.
But some of the president's most fervent allies are coming out against his administration over the question.
"I just really need the Trump administration to succeed and to save this country, and they’re doing so much good. And then for them to do something like this tears my guts out," radio host Alex Jones said in a video posted to X July 7.
Jones was ordered by courts in 2022 to pay more than $1 billion in damages to the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre after promoting false claims that the shooting was a hoax.