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FBI scoured Epstein records for Trump mentions, US Senator claims
Five years after Jeffrey Epstein's arrest and death in prison, questions linger about who else might have been involved in his crimes.
Many are now pointing at President Donald Trump, who earlier this year ordered a full FBI and DOJ review of Epstein's evidence.
The outcome? A quiet DOJ memo released weeks ago, stating no further charges were needed—no new suspects, no infamous 'client list,' just Ghislaine Maxwell, already convicted.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 during Trump's first term, with authorities seizing what they described as a mountain of evidence from his homes, enough to convict Maxwell. Epstein, however, died in his cell before facing trial.
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Trump's supporters expected the Epstein files to be declassified as soon as he began his second term. Instead, in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi distributed binders labelled 'The Epstein Files: Phase I' to right-wing influencers.
Bondi claimed her team was sifting through 'tens of thousands' of videos, promising the full files would eventually be released. But FBI Director Kash Patel, appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast, bluntly stated there was nothing new to share.
Days later, the DOJ's memo confirmed his stance.
Senator Dick Durbin, in letters to Patel posted on his Senate website, has revealed that hundreds of FBI agents were tasked with combing through the Epstein files, specifically looking for mentions of Trump.
'According to information my office received, the FBI was pressured to put approximately 1,000 personnel in its Information Management Division (IMD) … on 24-hour shifts to review approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records in order to produce more documents that could then be released on an arbitrarily short deadline,' Durbin wrote.
This effort, spanning tens of thousands of hours over two weeks in March, culminated in a final memo that wasn't released until June.
'My office was told that these personnel were instructed to 'flag' any records in which President Trump was mentioned,' he added.
The three-month delay between the review and the memo's release has raised questions.
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What was found, and why hasn't it been made public? Trump, once vocal about declassifying the files, now appears to be urging his team to keep quiet.
Congressman Dan Goldman, in a letter, expressed concern: 'The convergence of your unexplained delay in releasing the Epstein Files … raises serious questions about whether President Trump has intervened to prevent the public release … to hide his own embarrassing and potentially criminal conduct.'
Trump's response has only fueled the fire.
He's lashed out at his own supporters, calling them ' weaklings' and saying he doesn't need their backing. When The Wall Street Journal published an old birthday note from Trump to Epstein, in which Trump wrote they 'have certain things in common' and wished for 'another wonderful secret,' Trump filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the outlet.
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