DOJ instructed Trump he’s named in Epstein information, WSJ experiences

Editor’s be aware: The Wall Road Journal shares widespread possession with Fox. Fox has not independently confirmed the reality of The Wall Road Journal’s reporting.

Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi reportedly instructed President Trump in Could that his identify was talked about a number of occasions within the “truckload” of paperwork from the Jeffrey Epstein case, in accordance with a report from The Wall Road Journal. 

Based on The Journal, many different high-profile folks have been additionally reportedly named within the information, and being named doesn’t robotically imply there was wrongdoing. 

The report comes days after Trump filed a lawsuit in opposition to The Wall Road Journal over its article about an alleged birthday letter Trump despatched to Epstein. It additionally comes the identical day a choose denied the Justice Division’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s legal circumstances – and the identical day a congressional committee issued a subpoena for convicted Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell to testify in August. 

The Trump administration is making an attempt to quell a storm amongst Trump supporters who consider there was a conspiracy to guard Epstein’s shoppers, conceal movies of crimes being dedicated and different proof.

FILE – US President Donald Trump throughout a gathering with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippines’ president, not pictured, within the Oval Workplace of the White Home in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg by way of G

What did Pam Bondi inform Trump in regards to the Epstein information? 

What they’re saying:

Based on The Wall Road Journal, Bondi and her deputy knowledgeable Trump of his mentions within the Epstein information throughout a routine White Home assembly in Could. Additionally they instructed Trump that they didn’t plan to launch any extra data linked to the Epstein investigation as a result of it included little one pornography and private details about the victims. 

Timeline:

The administration didn’t publicly announce their choice in regards to the Epstein information till July 7, when the Justice Division posted an unsigned memo on its web site. The Justice Division stated there was no record of Epstein’s shoppers and no proof that compelled them to reopen the case and go after uncharged third events. 

When a reporter requested Trump final week in regards to the Epstein information, Trump stated Bondi hadn’t instructed him his identify was within the information. 

“That is one other faux information story, similar to the earlier story by The Wall Road Journal,” White Home communications director Steven Cheung instructed The Journal.

Ghislaine Maxwell subpoenaed

Additionally on Wednesday, Rep. James Comer, a Republican congressman who chairs the Home Committee on Oversight and Authorities Reform, issued a subpoena for convicted Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell to testify in a deposition at a federal jail in Florida in August. Maxwell is serving a 20-year jail sentence for serving to Epstein abuse teenage women. 

“Whereas the Justice Division undertakes efforts to uncover and publicly disclose further data associated to your and Mr. Epstein’s circumstances, it’s crucial that Congress conduct oversight of the federal authorities’s enforcement of intercourse trafficking legal guidelines typically and particularly its dealing with of the investigation and prosecution of you and Mr. Epstein,” the subpoena reads, in accordance with Comer’s workplace.  Particularly, the Committee seeks your testimony to tell the consideration of potential legislative options to enhance federal efforts to fight intercourse trafficking and reform using non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.”

Home Democrats additionally launched a bid Wednesday to subpoena Trump’s Justice Division for information within the intercourse trafficking investigation into Epstein, goading GOP lawmakers to defy Trump and Republican management to assist the motion.

Democrats on a subcommittee of the Home Committee on Oversight made a movement for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon, simply hours earlier than the Home was scheduled to finish its July work session and depart Washington for a monthlong break.

The subcommittee’s Republican chairman, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, postponed a vote on the matter till the top of the assembly. Whereas a number of Republicans on the panel are members of a right-wing faction and have referred to as for the discharge of the information, it was not clear whether or not they would vote for the subpoena.

Throughout a quick break within the assembly, Higgins instructed reporters he anticipated the movement for the subpoena to cross with some adjustments.

Jeffrey Epstein’s hyperlinks to well-known folks 

The backstory:

 In 2008, Epstein, a rich financier, lower a cope with federal prosecutors in Florida that allowed him to flee extra extreme federal costs and as an alternative plead responsible to state costs of procuring an individual below 18 for prostitution and solicitation of prostitution.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal intercourse trafficking costs, whereas Maxwell was charged with serving to him abuse teenage women.

Speaker Johnson addresses Epstein information

Home Speaker Johnson speaks to media following “false headline” by the NY Time that signaled that the Home Republicans can be adjourning till September to keep away from a vote on releasing the Epstein information.

Epstein was discovered lifeless in his cell at a federal jail in New York Metropolis a few month after he was arrested. Investigators concluded he killed himself. Maxwell later was convicted at trial and sentenced to twenty years in jail.

The case attracted consideration due to Epstein and Maxwell’s hyperlinks to well-known folks, together with royals, presidents and billionaires. It additionally led to a number of the greatest conspiracy theories animating Trump’s base.

The furor over data has been stoked by the Justice Division. In February, far-right influencers have been invited to the White Home and supplied with binders marked “The Epstein Information: Part 1” and “Declassified.” The binders contained paperwork that had largely already been within the public area.

The division on July 7 acknowledged that Epstein didn’t have a listing of shoppers. It additionally stated no extra information associated to his case can be made public.

Epstein and Trump each stated they’d a falling out, WSJ experiences. Trump has stated their friendship ended earlier than Epstein was first indicted in 2006. When Epstein was arrested once more in 2019, Trump stated he hadn’t talked to Epstein in about 15 years. 

Choose denies bid to unseal Epstein grand jury information

Dig deeper:

Following the uproar from Trump supporters, the Justice Division final week requested the choose to launch data associated to the Epstein case in an effort to quiet the storm. 

Deputy Legal professional Basic Todd Blanche had requested judges in Florida and New York to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments in opposition to Epstein and Maxwell, saying “transparency to the American public is of the utmost significance to this Administration.”

In Florida, the choose dominated that the request doesn’t meet any of the extraordinary exceptions below federal regulation that would make them public. An analogous data request remains to be pending in New York.