The moment Pam Bondi’s Justice Department and the FBI quietly dropped a memo on the Fourth of July weekend, attempting to draw a line under the Jeffrey Epstein files saga, it was “like a bomb went off” in the White House, a new report reveals.
For President Donald Trump’s administration, the handling of the Epstein case has been a chaotic summer of “disorganization,” high-stakes strategy meetings in the Situation Room, “finger-pointing,” and a series of “unforced errors,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
Tensions in the Trump administration on how best to handle the Epstein scandal — “a crisis of the president’s own making” — and appease his MAGA base had been simmering since February, when the Attorney General claimed the files were “sitting on her desk” and haphazardly arranged an ill-fated PR stunt with right-wing influencers.
This was the beginning of a series of “mistakes” by “multiple mouthpieces” and Trump advisers who deeply underestimated the issue that continues to dog the administration today, according to the WSJ.
Trump socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s before cutting off contact following the pedophile’s first arrest in 2006.
The Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files fallout was a summer of ‘disorganization,’ high-stakes strategy meetings in the Situation Room, and a series of ‘errors,’ according to a new report (Getty)
Now, the president is desperate to rid himself of the case, the outlet reports.
White House officials reportedly believed the issue would blow over and the president “couldn’t understand why people were so obsessed” with the late sex offender.
But the WSJ also reports that the president was “worried some of his friends might be mentioned in the files,” and they “might have been doctored to hurt him,” according to people familiar with Trump’s comments.
“This may be the worst managed PR event in history,” lawyer Ty Cobb, who led the first Trump White House’s response to a 2017 special counsel probe into the campaign’s ties to Russia, told the WSJ.
When approached by The Independent for comment, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the issue was a “dead story.”
“This is a lazy rewrite of a dead story,” Jackson said of the report. “It’s not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep.”
Trump socialized with Epstein in the 90s and early 00s before cutting off contact following the pedophile’s first arrest in 2006 (NBC News)
“Democrats and the media knew about Epstein and his victims for years and did nothing to help them while President Trump was calling for transparency, and is now delivering on it with thousands of pages of documents,” Jackson added.
In a statement to the WSJ, Bondi said she is working “tirelessly” alongside FBI Director Kash Patel to make America safer.
“Our only priority is to continue working together with the FBI to make America safer by ensuring murderers and violent criminals face the most severe justice,” Bondi said.
Here’s how events this year reportedly unfolded
White House officials given minutes’ notice about Epstein files binders event
Bondi had only been in post for three weeks when she was asked during a Fox News interview whether the Justice Department would release Epstein’s alleged client list.
“It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” she responded. “That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that.”
This statement “flummoxed” Trump officials, according to the WSJ. “What document was Bondi talking about?” they reportedly wondered.
Jubilant images of right-wing influencers holding Epstein binders aloft in an ill-fated PR stunt (Reuters)
FBI officials “pulled an all-nighter” to pull together the now infamous “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” binders for a publicity event on February 27, where far-right influencers, including Jack Posobiec and Scott Presler, as well as the individuals behind the LibsofTikTok and DC_Draino accounts, were given the documents.
Jubilant images of the group holding the binders aloft were published, but their excitement quickly faded when they realized that the content was already almost entirely in the public domain. Some were outraged and blamed Bondi.
Trump’s communications aides were given “only a few minutes’ notice” about the event and “didn’t know Bondi planned to talk about Epstein,” according to the WSJ.
It went down like a lead balloon with the White House. Bondi was reportedly pulled aside and told to tone down the issue, “not draw attention to it.”
Trump tells Bondi to ‘buck up’ amid criticism as FBI and DOJ drop bombshell memo
After the binder embarrassment, anger over the Epstein files continued to bubble away for the next few months.
It came to a head when Elon Musk tossed an Epstein grenade on June 5 following his exit from the White House as a public feud broke out between the billionaire and Trump.
Amid a feud with the president, Elon Musk posted on X that Trump was ‘in the Epstein files.’ He later deleted the post (AP)
“Time to drop the really big bomb: Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.”
Shortly after, he wrote: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
Later, perhaps as cooler heads prevailed, Musk deleted the post, but the damage was done.
Amid a tidal wave of backlash from MAGA, FBI Director Kash Patel and others at the bureau reportedly wanted to release a statement to explain why they were dropping the Epstein case, the WSJ reports.
Bondi, meanwhile, had complained to the White House and the president about the scrutiny she was receiving. “Trump encouraged her to buck up, and others told her to stop looking at social media and lashing out at those posting,” people with knowledge of the conversations told the newspaper.
“She told White House officials that FBI leaders, including Patel, were out to get her,” the people reportedly said.
The president told Bondi to ‘buck up’ amid a wave of criticism over her handling of the files, the WSJ reports (Reuters)
The Justice Department and the FBI dropped a 600-word memo on July 6, effectively closing the case into the pedophile. It determined that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” much was sealed by a court to protect Epstein’s victims, and “only a fraction of it “would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.”
Additionally, the memo said that no further charges were expected as investigators “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Also released were hours of footage, which officials say further confirms Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019, quashing the conspiracy theory previously pushed by Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino, that he was murdered.
“It was like a bomb went off after that statement went out,” one senior White House official told the WSJ.
Loomer calls for Pam ‘Blondi’s’ resignation
MAGA’s Laura Loomer, an influential voice in the movement, was among the loudest calling for Bondi’s resignation.
After news of the memo broke, Loomer gave the Attorney General the belittling nickname “Blondi” in social media posts on X/Twitter. “Blondi lied,” Loomer posted in July. “She was always lying.”
MAGA’s Laura Loomer gave Bondi the nickname ‘Blondi’ and called for her resignation (Getty)
“Who releases a statement about the Epstein files on the Sunday night of 4th of July weekend?” she asked her followers. “Someone who doesn’t want you paying attention.”
Later on, when Trump and his allies reportedly started ringing around MAGA allies to diffuse the situation, Loomer was contacted by a White House official who told her that “Bondi needed to be more careful, but that Trump had no intention of firing her,” the right-wing influencer recalled to the WSJ.
Susie Wiles convenes Epstein strategy meetings in the Situation Room
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles reportedly said the FBI and Justice Department memo “had been a mistake” as the administration faced uproar from Trump’s own base.
Things had become so fraught that Wiles moved to convene a series of Epstein strategy meetings in the Situation Room — the so-called “war room” used to discuss responses to highly sensitive global crises.
“[Vice President JD] Vance led the push for more disclosure, according to officials familiar with the discussions. Wiles and others argued that they would never be able to pacify the most rabid Epstein conspiracy theorists,” the WSJ reports.
Trump called Rupert Murdoch from Air Force One in bid to kill WSJ report
Despite aides’ best efforts, the Epstein story was not going away.
Trump made a call to Rupert Murdoch from Air Force One in an attempt to kill a WSJ report, published on July 17, about a 50th birthday greeting that the president allegedly sent Epstein in 2003.
The letter allegedly signed by Trump — which features a sexually suggestive drawing and a birthday wish that says “may every day be another wonderful secret” — was first published by the newspaper and then shared with members of Congress by the Epstein estate.
A birthday note for Jeffrey Epstein that appears to have been signed by Trump, which he denies (House Oversight Committee)
Trump has repeatedly denied writing the letter and denied that a signature on the document is his. The president’s $10bn defamation lawsuit claims that “no authentic letter or drawing exists,” and on his Truth Social account, he called WSJ’s story a “false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is.”
Lawyers for the newspaper hit back earlier this week and argued the president’s lawsuit “does not include a single plausible allegation” that any of the defendants — which include right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the newspaper’s parent companies — knowingly published false statements about him.
“The Article is true,” lawyers wrote Monday, and the evidence is publicly available for anyone to see.
Maxwell given Chick-fil-A breakfast before being questioned by Bondi’s deputy
Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend and the only person ever charged in connection with the financier’s crimes, reportedly spotted an opportunity in late July as rage over the case continued to die down.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had just ground the House of Representatives to a screeching halt in order to block legislation filed by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to force the release of the Epstein files in 30 days.
Maxwell’s current lawyer, David Oscar Markus, reportedly reached out to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche Blanche to make an offer, according to the WSJ.
Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell spotted an opportunity in late July as rage over the case continued to die down (Federal Bureau of Prisons)
“Would the Justice Department want to interview Maxwell and see what she now had to say?” Markus reportedly offered Blanche, who did not request a pardon or preferential treatment for his client, the outlet reports.
They took Markus up on the offer and questioned Maxwell for two days. She said she never saw the president doing anything inappropriate or illegal, transcripts later released by the Justice Department revealed.
On the second day of questioning, Maxwell was given breakfast from Chick-fil-A, according to the newspaper.
Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for her role in helping Epstein recruit, groom and abuse young girls. About a week after the interview, the 63-year-old British socialite was moved to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas.
Khanna and Massie held a press conference on September 3 with Epstein survivors, who called for the files to be released in their entirety (Getty Images)
The reason behind the move was over “concerns for her safety,” according to the WSJ.
Meanwhile, the White House debated whether to release the transcripts and audio of Maxwell’s interviews, believing it could finally end the drama.
They released the transcripts on August 22 and top officials were reportedly “convinced that the scandal would soon blow over.”
On September 2, when lawmakers returned from their summer recess, Massie filed a discharge petition in an attempt to force a House vote on releasing the files. Khanna and Massie held a press conference the following day with Epstein’s survivors, who called for the files to be released in their entirety.
Trump is reportedly now scrambling to sway the three Republican congresswomen who signed the petition, now that a majority of House members have signed a measure to force a full floor vote.
