President Donald Trump outraged many of his supporters after the Justice Department published an unsigned memo saying it would not release any more documents related to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For years, Trump and some members of his administration fanned conspiracy theories about the content of the files.
But in a rapid reversal, some conservative influencers who criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the “Epstein files” are now telling fellow skeptics to move on.
Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI leaders repeatedly said they would release all documents related to Epstein, including a supposed list of clients involved in child sex trafficking.
The department’s July 7 memo caused an uproar among many of Trump’s most ardent supporters.
“The fact that the U.S. government, the one that I voted for, refused to take my question seriously and instead said, ‘Case closed. Shut up, conspiracy theorist,’ was too much for me,” former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, said July 11 at Turning Point USA’s student summit in Florida. “And I don’t think the rest of us should be satisfied with that.”
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Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said “every hand of 7,000 people” went up when he asked if the Epstein scandal “mattered a lot.”
Trump responded to the criticism July 12 on Truth Socialtelling his supporters not to “waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein.”
Soon after, many pundits fell in line. Kirk said July 14 that he was “done talking about Epstein for the time being” and would “trust” his “friends in the government to do what needs to be done.”
The same day, political commentator and podcast host Dinesh D’Souza said it was “time to move on,” adding that “it seems pretty clear we’re not gonna get more information out of the government.”
Whether a “client list” exists remains unproven. But that hasn’t stopped people from speculating that Trump’s past relationship with Epstein is why the administration is closing the case.
When a reporter asked Trump if Bondi had told him that his name appeared on the files, Trump said “no,” adding that the “files were made up by (former FBI Director James) Comey, they were made up by (former President Barack) Obama, they were made up by the Biden (administration).”
Trump didn’t explain what he meant. Epstein was indicted in 2007, during former President Georg W. Bush’s administration. He entered a secret agreement with federal prosecutors in 2008 during Obama’s administration, and he was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges during Trump’s first term.
It is well documented that Epstein knew Trump, but there has been no publicly documented evidence tying him to Epstein’s crimes. Trump and Epstein attended the same parties in the 1990s and Trump flew on Epstein’s private jet at least seven times, according to flight logs. But the two had a falling out.
Here’s what we know about the Epstein files and Trump.
Who was Epstein?
Epstein hobnobbed with powerful people and received lenient treatment by the criminal justice system until the Miami Herald published an extensive investigation in 2018.
In 2005Palm Beach police began investigating Epstein after reports that a 14-year-old girl was molested at his mansion. A grand jury indicted Epstein in 2006 on a single count of prostitution and he was arrested. Critics of then-State Attorney Barry Krischer accused him of going easy on Epstein.
The FBI launched an investigation and was prepared to bring an indictment, but in 2008 Epstein pleaded to one state count of soliciting prostitution and one state count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He served about a year in jail, largely on work release.
The Miami Herald investigation showed how federal prosecutors and Epstein’s lawyers covered up the scope of Epstein’s crimes. The newspaper revealed for “the first time that there were as many of 50 victims, a handful of whom spoke publicly about their abuse, and how they felt betrayed by prosecutors,” the Herald wrote.
In July 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal charges for recruiting dozens of underage girls to his New York City mansion and Palm Beach estate from 2002 to 2005 to engage in sex acts for money. He was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell Aug. 10, 2019, and investigators concluded he died by suicide.
The Justice Department’s July memo concluded that Epstein died by suicide, saying the FBI investigator’s conclusion by video from the common area of the jail Epstein was in. (A “missing minute” of footage spurred a new round of controversy.)
A New York prosecutor points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at a 2020 news conference. (AP)
What are the Epstein files?
The Epstein files are the federal government’s investigative files pertaining to the Epstein prosecution. The Trump administration has given conflicting information about what’s in them.
Bondi released what she called the “first phase” of the declassified Epstein files in February. The materials consisted of flight logs, an evidence list and a redacted list of contacts.
Bondi said the Justice Department would release more case files after redacting victims’ names.
“There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn and there are hundreds of victims,” Bondi told reporters in May. “And no one victim will ever get released. It’s just the volume and that’s what they’re going through right now. The FBI is diligently going through that.”
When Fox News host John Roberts asked Bondi in February whether her department would release a list of Epstein’s clients, she said“It’s sitting on my desk right now to review.”
But in the July memo, the Justice Department said there was “no incriminating ‘client list.’”
“There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the memo said. “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced an amendment that would have required the Justice Department to release “any records or evidence related to any investigation, prosecution, or incarceration of Jeffrey Epstein.” The House Rules Committee voted July 14 against the amendment moving to a full House vote.
Epstein’s lawyer David Schoen also threw water on a Trump connection. He told CNN that Epstein responded “absolutely not” when Schoen asked before his death whether Epstein had incriminating information on Trump.
Dan Novack, a New York-based media attorney, filed a 2017 lawsuit on behalf of entertainment news website Radar Online and journalist James Robertson, seeking FBI records about the investigation of Epstein.
He previously told PolitiFact that the FBI consistently stonewalled through the first Trump administration, the Biden administration and the second Trump administration, but he didn’t have a view about what the unreleased information contained.
Jack Posobiec hold up a binder with a cover titled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” at the White House, Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP)
What do we know about the relationship between Trump and Epstein?
Trump and Epstein shared the same social circles in the 1990s. Epstein attended parties at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private Palm Beach club, and the two were photographed together in social settings multiple times. In a 2002 interview for New York magazineTrump called Epstein a “terrific guy.”
“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump told the magazine.
When federal agents charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors in 2019, Trump, then in his first term, said he was “not a fan” of Epstein.
Flight logs released as evidence in the trial of co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell show that Trump flew on Epstein’s private plane at least seven times in the 1990s between Palm Beach and New York. We did not find a record of Trump visiting Epstein’s private island, Little St. James in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein was accused of transporting underage girls.
Many other high-profile people, including former President Bill Clinton, were also recorded as guests on Epstein’s plane.
In a September interview with podcaster Lex FridmanTrump said he never visited Epstein’s private island.
“I never went to his island, fortunately,” Trump said. “But a lot of people did.”
The Washington Post reported that at some point, Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago.
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