EXCLUSIVE: Top Trump Officials Admit They’re Pissed At How The Epstein Story Was Handled

Top administration officials admitted to the Daily Caller that they are upset with the way the investigation into the Jeffrey Epstein files was handled and explained some of the missteps made along the way.

Coming off the July 4 holiday weekend on Sunday night, Axios published a memo from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announcing that their investigation found no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein maintained a “client list” or was murdered. It was an abrupt shock to the president’s base, especially after Attorney General Pam Bondi previously acknowledged that she was reviewing a “client list” and a group of MAGA social media influencers received a “Phase 1” binder of the Epstein files.

Administration officials say they are frustrated and feel like the DOJ dropped the ball by over representing how much evidence they had to take down Epstein’s alleged child trafficking ring.

“You can arrest all the drug leaders and cartel leaders, but people want closure on this case, and the Attorney General must find a better way to reconcile that,” one official told the Caller about the public response to Sunday’s announcement. 

Senior administration officials also expressed confusion to the Caller on whether the Epstein case was truly “closed” after the memo went out. One source said the memo from the DOJ read like the case was closed, but noted that there are still sealed documents in various ongoing cases. 

A third source familiar with the situation told the Caller that a very few people actually knew about the final memo being published.

As MAGA grapples with the abrupt ending to the Epstein investigation, many have pointed back to Bondi’s previous comments which seemingly contradict the final report.

A month into Trump’s administration, Fox News’ host John Roberts asked Bondi about the release of a so-called “client list.”

“One of things that you alluded to, and this is something Donald Trump has talked about, the DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients? Will that really happen?” Roberts asked during a Feb. 21 interview on “America Reports.”

“It is sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump, I’m reviewing that. I’m reviewing JFK files, MLK files. That’s all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of President Trump for all of these agencies,” Bondi said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Jeffrey Epstein client list is “sitting on my desk right now to review.” pic.twitter.com/O82bVBkBH3

— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 21, 2025

The apparent flub has been a point of irritation within the administration.

One senior administration official told the Caller that it was known that there was never a “client list” or a “smoking gun” at the time when Bondi went on Fox News and said she was reviewing the list on her desk. The official said they were unsure why Bondi made the comments and added that generally the DOJ was prone to overpromising. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted in a press briefing on Monday that Bondi was referring to Epstein-related documents in their entirety.

A source familiar confirmed to the Caller that when Bondi made those comments about the “client list” that she did have a tranche of Epstein documents on her desk, but did not yet know what was in them.

The source added that some close to Bondi fear she was not adequately prepared and that she is taking the brunt of the blame for poor guidance from lower-level officials. 

Leavitt told the Caller that Trump still has confidence in Bondi and that there is no discord within the administration.

“President Trump is proud of Attorney General Bondi’s efforts to execute his Make America Safe Again agenda, restore the integrity of the Department of Justice, and bring justice to victims of crime. The continued fixation on sowing division in President Trump’s Cabinet is baseless and unfounded in reality,” Leavitt said in a statement shared with the Caller.

A few days after that Fox News interview in February, the DOJ made another spectacle around the release of the Epstein Files.

On Feb. 27, various conservative influencers, including Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok, Jack Posobiec, DC Draino, Mike Cernovich, Chad Prather and Liz Wheeler were given a white binder titled “Epstein Files: Phase 1.” They were photographed exiting the White House with the documents, raising them in the air for onlookers to see.

There was significant hype around the binders and anticipation of what might come in a “Phase 2” or “Phase 3” release. (RELATED: DOJ Releases New Epstein Docs To Group Of Influencers, Reportedly Containing Little New Information)

A group of people, including @DC_Draino, exit the West Wing smiling and waving binders reading “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” pic.twitter.com/ERxNBpIO4Z

— Josh Sukoff (@JoshSukoff) February 27, 2025

🚨I will be going live with the Epstein Files given to me in the binder today momentarily pic.twitter.com/6L6da6Jtsv

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) February 27, 2025

But internally, the binders were recognized as a major misstep that shaped perceptions about the rest of the investigation.

One senior administration official told the Caller that they knew there was never going to be a neat conclusion to the saga in the way the binders suggested. 

All of the DOJ’s actions surrounding the Epstein files after the influencers’ photo op, two officials told the Caller, were designed to cover up the mistake of releasing the binders. 

Less than two months before the memo was released, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino defended their agency’s findings that Epstein had killed himself during appearances on Fox News.

Their answers fueled public doubt, and even now some MAGA influencers wonder if there is a “cover-up” happening.

Around the FBI, one senior administration official said that no one was “satisfied” with the end result, and felt like the DOJ dropped the ball on the investigation. 

In the days following the Epstein fall out, major MAGA social media personalities have lashed out at the administration. Some who once raised the “Phase 1” binder outside of the White House have even called for Bondi to resign.

A source familiar with the situation alleged to the Caller that some social media X accounts make it their business model to grift off of conspiracy theories and dark web propaganda that does not reflect the majority of the party. 

But despite the public frustration, the president appears to be standing with his attorney general. A source familiar with the president’s thinking told the Caller that in private Trump has not indicated at all that he is disappointed or frustrated with the attorney general.

One senior administration official similarly told the Caller that the president still has complete confidence in Bondi. The official stressed that the attorney general has spent her entire career arresting and prosecuting bad actors and that is still her goal. 

Trump defended Bondi during his Wednesday cabinet meeting, as the attorney general sat just two seats down from the president for the first time this administration. The president also signaled that he was ready to move on from the Epstein story, despite what members of his base may be saying.

“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Trump asked of a reporter who questioned Bondi about the controversy.

“This guy’s been talked about for years. We have Texas, we have this, we all of the things … And are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable … I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question about Epstein at a time like this where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration,” he added.