U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday afternoon clarified previous remarks on files related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, saying that previous comments she had made were about documents related to the case, not a “client list” that officials this week said was nonexistent.
During a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump and other administration officials, Bondi was asked questions by reporters about the Epstein case.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy has been talked about for years. … I can’t believe you’re asking a question about Epstein,” Trump interjected in the White House meeting before Bondi started to speak.
Bondi then said that she wanted to clarify an interview with Fox News in February in which she was asked about the Epstein list, and she replied, “It’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed” along with files relating to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. She said that the desk comment was referring to “the files” and not a “client list.”
Referencing the videos and evidence she reviewed, she said they “turned out to be child porn downloaded by” Epstein and that the pornography will “never see the light of day.”
Bondi then said that she has “no knowledge” about Epstein being a government agent, which was asked by a reporter. She also said that the video footage from his August 2019 death in a New York City jail showed that he committed suicide.
Responding to complaints that a minute was taken off the Epstein cell surveillance video counter, Bondi said that it’s normal and that a minute is missing from jail footage every night. She indicated that video footage will be released to show that.
During the news conference, Bondi appeared to be responding to complaints online after both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI this week revealed in a memo that Epstein didn’t have a client list and maintained that he killed himself in jail while awaiting new federal sex trafficking charges. There was also no evidence that Epstein allegedly blackmailed individuals, the agencies said.
“As part of our commitment to transparency, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have conducted an exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein,” the FBI and DOJ said in the memo, confirmed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday.
But federal officials concluded that Epstein had “harmed over one thousand victims” and noted that “each suffered unique trauma.”
“To ensure that the review was thorough, the FBI conducted digital searches of its databases, hard drives, and network drives as well as physical searches of squad areas, locked cabinets, desks, closets, and other areas where responsive material may have been stored,” the memo reads.
Earlier this year, FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in an interview with Fox News that Epstein, who was also known to have owned an island in the Caribbean and a private jet, died via suicide in his jail cell.
Epstein’s death has been the subject of speculation due to his ties to wealthy, powerful, and famous individuals. His brother, Mark Epstein, has for years claimed that Epstein didn’t kill himself.
Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted on sex trafficking charges in 2021 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.
Epstein in 2008 had pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting a prostitute and procuring a minor for prostitution, ultimately serving 13 months in prison and was able to leave jail as part of a work-release program.
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