Asked whether Attorney General Pam Bondi told him his name is in the Epstein files, President Trump doubled down on the far-fetched notion that the whole thing is the product of a Democratic conspiracy against him.
Speaking to reporters, the president revealed that he’d received “a very quick briefing” on the files from Bondi, leading one to ask whether his own name appears in them. (Trump, after all, had a storied relationship with the deceased sex criminal.)
“No, no, she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” Trump replied, before venturing the paranoid notion that the Epstein affair is actually a Democratic plot to take him down.
“In terms of the credibility of the different things that they’ve seen, and I would say that, you know, these files were made up by [former FBI Director James] Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by the Biden inf—you know.”
Reporter: Did Bondi tell you your name appeared in the Epstein files?Trump: No.. I would say these files were made up by Comey and Obama, made up by the Biden… pic.twitter.com/6ESZSVQSzB
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 15, 2025
He then deferred to Bondi, who he said has handled the situation “very well.”
“It’s going to be up to her,” he continued. “Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.” Bondi responded shortly thereafter, telling reporters, “Today, our memo speaks to itself, and we’ll get back to you on anything else. I haven’t seen all of [Trump’s] statements today.”
Meanwhile, House Republicans have blocked Democrats’ attempts to force the release of the files, and MAGA rancor over the matter is going nowhere.
Over the past week, Trump has been enduring a revolt from his political base over a recently released Justice Department memo that deflated conspiracy theories (that his own top officials had previously elevated) about elite figures’ ties to Epstein.
The memo found that Epstein had maintained no “client list” and stated that no more information related to his case would be released. Trump’s supporters predictably objected, with many turning against Bondi.
The president over the weekend pleaded with his “boys” and “gals” to drop the subject. On Truth Social, he suggested, as on Tuesday, that the true Epstein conspiracy is that a slew of his adversaries, such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden, had created Epstein-related, “Radical Left inspired Documents” in order to undermine him.
This new tack—that a MAGA cause célèbre was, in reality, a left-wing conspiracy all along—seems unlikely to dissuade the countless people, across the political aisle, who are now hungrier than ever for answers about Epstein’s death and connections.
The post Trump Spirals After Being Asked if His Name Is in Epstein Files appeared first on New Republic.
