President Donald Trump allegedly knows his name appears in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Attorney General Pam Bondi told the president that his name is in the documents at a White House meeting in May, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing senior administration officials.
It comes after Trump said last week that Bondi hadn’t told him that his name was in the files on the late convicted sex offender he once called a friend.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Did [Bondi] tell you at all that your name appears in the files?” a reporter asked him.
“No, no. She’s given us just a very quick briefing,” he replied.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the Wall Street Journal: “This is another fake news story.”
Cheung told the Daily Beast: “The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.”
The Journal also reported that FBI Director Kash Patel privately told other government officials that Trump’s name is in the files.
The FBI declined to comment to the Daily Beast.
During the meeting in May, Bondi and her deputy told Trump that his name appears in the files multiple times, according to the Journal. They also reportedly said the files included what officials considered unverified hearsay about many high profile figures, including Trump.
The duo reportedly informed Trump that the Justice Department planned to stop releasing Epstein-documents because they included child pornography and victims’ personal information. Trump reportedly told Bondi he would leave the decision to release more files up to the DOJ.
On July 7, the DOJ posted a memo concluding that Epstein did not keep a “client list” and was not murdered. The memo said no “further disclosure” of Epstein-related material “would be appropriate or warranted.”
The memo set off a firestorm among Trump’s MAGA base, who were long promised that his return to office would result in the full release of the Epstein files, and has inadvertently renewed scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with the disgraced financier.
Trump was friends with Epstein for more than a decade, but he says their relationship ended before allegations that Epstein sexually abused underage girls first emerged in 2005.
When reached for comment, the DOJ referred the Daily Beast to an X post by DOJ spokesperson Gates McGavick.
“This is a collection of falsehoods and innuendo designed to push a bulls--t narrative and drive clicks,” McGavick wrote in response to the Journal report.
