Trump says Bondi should release 'credible' Epstein files
FILE-President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi should release "whatever she thinks is credible" in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation amid pressure from some lawmakers over the release of files related to the late wealthy financier's case.
"Anything that’s credible, I would say, let them have it," Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One, according to the New York Post.
RELATED: Trump cuts off question about Epstein list: What we know about Bondi's claims
But the Associated Press noted that Trump, while addressing reporters, also claimed there were credibility issues with the documents, intimating without citing evidence "made up" by former FBI Director James Comey and former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
The Associated Press reported Bondi refused to address the Epstein files during a media briefing about drug trafficking on Tuesday.
Last week, Trump defended Bondi amid criticism from some over the Justice Department’s refusal to release additional documents from the Epstein sex-trafficking investigation.
What are Bondi’s Epstein claims?
The backstory:
Attorney General Pam Bondi implied in a FOX News interview in February that Jeffrey Epstein had an alleged "client list" that was sitting on her desk.
But the Associated Press reported that the Department of Justice later distributed binders marked "declassified" to conservative influencers at the White House, and the agency later acknowledged in a two-page memo on July 7 that the "client list" didn’t exist.
RELATED: Jeffrey Epstein files: Bondi claims FBI reviewing 'tens of thousands' of videos in case
Bondi later said an FBI "source" told her of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the agency to furnish the "full and complete Epstein files," including any videos.
According to the AP, the attorney general was approached in a restaurant by a woman in April. The woman had a hidden camera and asked Bondi about the release of the Epstein files, with Bondi responding that there were tens of thousands of videos with "little kids" and the FBI would review each video.
RELATED: Epstein ‘client list’ does not exist, DOJ, FBI conclude
Conservative activist James O’Keefe, who obtained and shared the hidden-camera video, notified the Justice Department of Bondi’s encounter with the woman. The Associated Press noted that Bondi told reporters at the White House: "There are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn."
In 2019, federal prosecutors in New York charged Jeffrey Epstein with sex trafficking, but he killed himself in jail while awaiting trial. Maxwell was prosecuted for helping recruit his underage victims, and she was convicted in 2021 and is currently serving a 20-year prison term.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by previous LIVENOW from FOX reporting, the New York Post, and the Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.