By Steve Neavling
President Donald Trump is trying to tamp down a political firestorm of his own making over the Justice Department’s decision not to release records tied to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case.
“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody,” Trump told reporters Tuesday, calling it “pretty boring” and insisting “the credible information has been given,” the Associated Press reports.
The comments, made during a return trip to Washington from Pittsburgh, come as Trump’s supporters lash out online, accusing him of going soft on a case they believe holds secrets about powerful elites. The backlash has exposed tensions between Trump’s administration and the same conspiracy-minded base he once courted with talk of a “deep state” and hidden government corruption.
The controversy intensified last week when the Justice Department and FBI dismissed the idea of an Epstein “client list” as false. Trump quickly defended Attorney General Pam Bondi and scolded a reporter for asking about the documents. Over the weekend, he took to Truth Social to calm his base, suggesting the feud between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino over the issue was hurting his administration “all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein.”
But his messaging hasn’t satisfied many followers, some of whom are urging him to release the files or risk alienating his supporters.
Asked Tuesday whether Bondi told him his name was in the files, Trump said no and suggested without evidence that some of the documents may have been fabricated by political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Obama and Biden.
Bondi declined to comment on the Epstein case during a press conference that day.
“The faulty assumption Trump and others make is they can peddle conspiracy theories without any blowback,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University. “The Epstein case is a neat encapsulation that it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle.”
