White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to explain why Attorney General Pam Bondi talked earlier this year of a Jeffrey Epstein client list but now a Justice Department memo says there is none.
At the press briefing on Monday, Fox News‘ Peter Doocy asked Leavitt noted that the Justice Department and FBI memo “revealed no incriminating client list.”
“So what happened to the Epstein client list that the attorney general said that she had on her desk?” Doocy asked Leavitt.
“Well, I think if you go back and look at what the attorney general said in that interview with your network, on Fox News,” Leavitt said.
“I got the quote,” Doocy said. “[Anchor] John Roberts said, the DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein clients. Will that really happen?’ And [Bondi] said, ‘It’s sitting right now on my desk to review.”
Leavitt responded, “Yes, she was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein crimes. That’s what the attorney general was referring to.”
In the memo, first published by Axios, the DOJ and FBI concluded that there was “no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.” The memo said that the review confirmed that Epstein harmed more than 1,000 victims. The review also supported the conclusion that Epstein died by suicide while in incarceration in 2019. The federal authorities also said that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
Leavitt said that “there was material they did not release, because, frankly, it was incredibly graphic and contained child pornography, which is not something that is appropriate for public consumption, but they committed to an exhaustive investigation.”
The Justice Department/FBI conclusions, though, have been met with furor among some MAGA media figures and commentators, who have long embraced conspiracy theories and other claims surrounding Epstein’s death. They have called on the federal government to release records related to the investigation. In the aftermath of the memo, Laura Loomer wrote that Bondi “needs to resign.”
The post White House Press Secretary Tries To Explain Why Pam Bondi Once Said She Had Jeffrey Epstein Client List, But Now The DOJ Says There Isn’t One appeared first on Deadline.
