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In perhaps the biggest shock of Donald Trump‘s second presidential administration (so far), his Department of Justice (DOJ) declared the death of notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein a suicide – and further claimed the infamous former financier (whom nobody can ever recall actually doing any business) was not collecting blackmail material on the behalf of the intelligence community.
Mere months ago, Trump’s attorney general Pam Bondi took to Fox News to tout the forthcoming release of new evidentiary material tied to Epstein – who has been credibly accused of trafficking women and children to wealthy and powerful leaders on his private island and other properties scattered across the globe.
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RELATED | BONDI BLAMES FBI FOR EPSTEIN DOC DUD
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“There are well over – this will make you sick – 200 victims… well over 250, actually,” Bondi told Fox host Jesse Waters in an interview promising the forthcoming disclosure of information related to Epstein’s crimes.
“We have to make sure their identity is protected, and their personal information,” Bondi said.
Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, touted the release of binders dubbed “The Epstein Files: Phase One” – which a cavalcade of MAGA influencers mugged with (only to look like fools hours later when it was revealed very little of the information contained inside was not already publicly known).
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NEW: DC Draino, Chaya Raichik and others seen holding "Epstein Files: Phase 1" binders.
— Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) February 27, 2025
Credit: @JoshSukoff pic.twitter.com/IecZ5P7jKe
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Thing’s didn’t get better for Bondi, or her MAGA cheerleaders, in the months following the binder flop – but the fallout from that flub was nothing compared to the fallout from the Trump administration’s decision to clear Epstein.
FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy Dan Bongino took to Fox News to declare Epstein’s death a suicide – a joint interview that felt more like a hostage proof-of-life video.
“You know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was,” Patel declared.
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REPORTER: "You said Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide. People don't believe it."
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 18, 2025
PATEL: "They have a right to their opinion but…you know a suicide when you see one, & that's what that was."
BONGINO: "He killed himself. I've seen the whole file. He killed himself." pic.twitter.com/pduX7bU9AF
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While many who have followed the Epstein case found this claim implausible, the Trump DOJ truly shocked the world by producing a memo (.pdf) – first published by Axios – clearing Epstein of participating in the production of blackmail material.
“There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the memo stated. “We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
The memo was ostensibly created following the DOJ’s “exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein,” consistent with the department’s “commitment to transparency.”
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(USDOJ/FBI)
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According to the DOJ, “the files relating to Epstein include a large volume of images of Epstein, images and videos of victims who are either minors or appear to be minors, and over ten thousand downloaded videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.”
The memo noted that “teams of agents, analysts, attorneys, and privacy and civil liberties experts combed through the digital and documentary evidence with the aim of providing as much information as possible to the public while simultaneously protecting victims.”
“Through this review, we found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography,” the DOJ said, adding that one of the department’s “highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims,” and that “perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.”
The report linked two ten-hour videos (here and here) of what it claims is the outside of Epstein’s jail cell on the day of his death, concluding “it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
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Reporters were quick to point out the inconsistencies between the DOJ memo and recent promises of accountability, with FOX News‘ Peter Doocy asking Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt what exactly Bondi meant when she went on his network and claimed to have the Epstein files “on my desk.”
“Well, I think if you go back and look at what the attorney general said in that interview…” Leavitt began in an attempt to deflect Doocy – who regained control by reading the exact quote from the interview.
Doocy recalled that the interviewer told Bondi “the DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients,” and asked “Will that really happen?”
“It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,” Bondi replied.
Levitt attempted to spin Bondi’s answer, claiming she was referring to the literal paper on her desk.
“Yes, she was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes,” Leavitt said. “That’s what the attorney general was referring to.”
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“The FBI and the Department of Justice, they are more than committed to ensuring that bad people are put behind bars,” Leavitt continued.
In Leavitt’s defense, the DOJ did put one “bad person” behind bars in connection with Epstein’s debauched crimes, securing a 20-year sentence for accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell after she was found guilty of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor.
The question held by members of the public both before and after Maxwell’s multi-week trial still stands today: to whom were these minors sex trafficked?
Sadly, it appears that the public won’t get an official answer to this question anytime soon, and will instead have to settle for further exploration of the “unfounded theories” the DOJ insist harms Epstein’s victims.
Bondi et al. would clearly like for the public to forget the DOJ’s role in securing Epstein a plea deal so unusually lenient that he and any of his associates “known and unknown” were absolved of criminal liability when he was charged with procuring an underage prostitute in 2008. Court records documented the strange deal, which allowed Epstein to return to his office almost every day as a part of a work release program as he served 13 months in a federal prison.
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Newsweek reported the deal “provoked theories that Epstein was working for a U.S. or foreign spy service.”
The plea, signed by then-U.S. attorney Alex Acosta, became such a political liability that it forced Acosta’s resignation from service as Trump’s labor secretary in 2019.
Acosta denied Epstein’s involvement with intelligence agencies.
“I would hesitate to take this reporting as fact,” Acosta told the Washington Examiner.
Acosta was tacitly referencing the reporting of Vanity Fair journalist Vicky Ward, who claimed Trump’s first-term transition team asked Acosta about Epstein’s lenient plea and were told Epstein was protected by the intelligence community.
“I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,” Acosta allegedly told the transition-team member in confidence.
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“Four separate sources told me — on the record — that Epstein’s dealings in the arms world in the 1980s had led him to work for multiple governments, including the Israelis,” Ward reported.
What’s more, Maxwell – Epstein’s co-conspirator – is the daughter of media mogul and purported Israeli intelligence asset Robert Maxwell.
“Maxwell, who was himself a conduit between the Israelis and other governments during his life time, introduced Epstein to Israeli leaders, who then allegedly used Epstein as the equivalent of an old-fashioned Russian ’sleeper,’ someone who could be useful in an ‘influence campaign,’” according to Ward.
Ward recounted a conversation with convicted fraudster Steven Hoffenberg about Epstein’s connection to Maxwell.
“Epstein had also told Hoffenberg that via Maxwell and Leese he was involved in something that Hoffenberg described as ‘national security issues,’ which he says involved ‘blackmail, influence trading, trading information at a level that is very serious and dangerous,” she noted.
Maxwell, like Epstein, met a mysterious end in 1991 after allegedly ‘falling off’ his yacht – the Lady Ghislaine.
Epstein’s career as an alleged blackmail collector can be best understood by considering his connections before and after his 2008 federal charges.
Prior to being publicly outed as a sexual predator, Epstein enjoyed the company of royalty, political leaders and businessmen – famously flying with the likes of Prince Andrew and former president Bill Clinton on his “Lolita express” private jet.
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It was during this time period Trump was recorded flying on Epstein’s jet on seven occasions.
Epstein’s social circles changed after his 2008 arrest, relegating him to hobnobbing with scientists and academics. Fortunately for him, his arrest and time served in prison for procuring sex with a child didn’t prevent him from befriending Bill Gates in January 2011.
Gates and Epstein went on to meet “at least three times at Mr. Epstein’s palatial Manhattan townhouse,” with Gates “at least once staying late into the night,” the New York Times reported.
While Gates, Trump, Prince Andrew and Clinton maintain their innocence, the fact Epstein’s residences were wired with hidden cameras in the bedrooms and bathrooms have led many to conclude Epstein wasn’t doing all of this for his own benefit.
Perhaps the most famous person to recently reach this conclusion is Elon Musk, who took to his social media platform X to blast Trump for his ties to Epstein during a feud with the president over the “Big Beautiful Bill” in early June.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”
Musk quickly deleted the tweet, with the link to the message now reading “nothing to see here.”
Still, Musk couldn’t help but needle Trump over Epstein again after the DOJ’s issued its own “nothing to see here,” message.
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“This is the final straw,” Musk wrote in a separate tweet.
Mike Cernovich, a right-wing pundit who personally funded civil litigation that forced the release of records implicating Epstein in pedophilia prior to his 2019 arrest, was one of the influencers photographed brandishing Bondi’s binder earlier this year.
Yet Cernovich also took to X to express his disappointment.
“Puff Daddy/ Diddy trial mopped up. Epstein acted alone. All nice and tidy,” Cernovich said, before ironically adding that “billionaires like Reid Hoffman and Bill Gates flew to a small desolate island with Jeffrey Epstein so they could jet ski and sauna.”
All a part of the highly (in)credible “lone sex trafficker theory.”
“This will be part of your legacy” Cernovich added, warning Trump “there’s still time to change it!”
Influencer Chaya Raichik (@LibsofTikTok) who also attended Bondi’s binder event, retweeted a message demanding justice for Epstein’s victims.
“We don’t have to see the assaults!” Raichik’s post read. “We just want the names of the predators that targeted these girls.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
(Via: Travis Bell)
Dylan Nolan is the director of special projects at FITSNews. He graduated from the Darla Moore school of business in 2021 with an accounting degree. Got a tip or story idea for Dylan? Email him here. You can also engage him socially @DNolan2000.
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5 comments
Disgusting Major Coverup. Likely: Musk is right.Trump is involved with Epstein. Who was also probably working for the Israel Government. Democrat’s won’t look at this opportunity to nail Trump. Because, they are involved too! The Truth will come out eventually, it always does. And, Trump’s legacy will be destroyed.
Funny how all the MAGA people expressing their disgust at this blatant coverup can’t bring themselves to actually say who the beneficiary is of this…hint: it ain’t Bill Clinton.
Clinton is a pedo. You know that!
Everything Trump accuses someone else of doing is a confession. Just treat it that way and you will understand Trump. Trump cannot allow the Epstein files to be produced, because he is all over those files. He did all the evil deviant acts he has accused others of doing.
I see you are a fan of MSNBC.