On Tuesday, President Donald Trump accused former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden of making up the Epstein files, which have recently become a thorn in the Trump administration’s side.
When asked by a reporter if Attorney General Pam Bondi told him his name appears in the files, Trump briefly replied “no” before saying he was given a “very quick” briefing on the credibility of the documents.
“These files were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama. They were made up by Biden,” Trump said.
“We went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax,” he added, noting Bondi has handled the Epstein situation “very well” and calling on her to release “whatever she thinks is credible.”
Trump’s comments reiterated his Truth Social post in which he insisted that the Epstein files were “written by Obama, Crooked Hillary [Clinton], Comey, [former CIA Director John Brennan], and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration.”
“They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called ‘friends’ are playing right into their hands,” Trump posted on his social media platform over the weekend. “Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it?”
Conservative commentators, particularly Megyn Kelly, have expressed outrage over Bondi’s botched handling of the late Jeffrey Epstein’s client list, which the Justice Department now says no longer exists.
After Trump bemoaned the waste of “time and energy” on Epstein and defended Bondi amid backlash, Kelly suggested the president is directing a cover-up of the Epstein files debacle. Since last week, the conservative journalist has openly called for Bondi’s resignation.
It’s unlikely Bondi will resign given Trump’s public support of her.
Previously, news reports indicated that FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino would resign due to a feud with Bondi over her handling of the Epstein case. Patel denied the rumors he was imminently resigning, but Bongino has not publicly commented on the rumored infighting and his potential departure.
DEMOCRATS SEE OPENING WITH EPSTEIN FILES TO DRIVE WEDGE BETWEEN TRUMP AND MAGA
However, tensions may be easing after Trump revealed he spoke with Bongino on Sunday.
“I spoke to him today. Dan Bongino, very good guy,” he said. “I’ve known him a long time, I’ve done his show many, many times, and he sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he’s in good shape.”