President Trump says he doesn't understand 'fascination' with 'pretty boring' Epstein case
"I don't understand it, why they would be so interested," Trump told reporters on July 15. "He's dead for a long time. He was never a big factor in terms of life. I don't understand what the interest or what the fascination is. I really don't."
Despite Trump's efforts to downplay ‒ and discredit ‒ the Epstein case, the president has been unable to tamp down rising calls from top congressional Republicans and MAGA influencers for the Justice Department to disclose more information from the investigation.
More: Mike Johnson calls for 'transparency' in Epstein case, in a break with Trump
In a break from Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, on Tuesday called for the full release of files related to the Epstein case that the Justice Department has withheld. Trump loyalist Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee, requested that Epstein's convicted accomplice and onetime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell testify before Congress. Infowars host Alex Jones called the situation a "giant fiasco" on his show Tuesday. And conservative commentator Megyn Kelly has criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi's handling of the Epstein files as "incompetence."
Trump, who had a friendship with Epstein years ago, compared the government's Epstein investigation to past federal inquires that targeted himself.
"Don't forget: We went through years of the Mueller witch hunt, all of the different things, the Steele dossier, which was all fake," Trump told reporters, before describing the Epstein as "pretty boring stuff."
"It's sordid, but it's boring. And I don't understand why it keeps going. Really only bad people, including fake news, want to keep something like that going" he said.
Earlier in the day, Trump said the Epstein files were "made up" by his political enemies when a reporter asked whether Bondi told the president that his name is in the files.
"No no," Trump said. "She's given us just a very quick briefing. And in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen, I would say that these files were made up by Comey, Obama, they were made up by the Biden ‒ and we went through years of that with the 'Russia, Russia, Russia' hoax."
Trump added that "whatever she thinks is credible she should release," referring to Bondi.
More: Dems say voters were conned. Trump says it's time to move on. Latest on Epstein conflict.
Epstein died in August 2019 in a federal prison during Trump's first term. He had been arrested five weeks before on federal sex trafficking charges brought by the Trump Justice Department. More than a decade before his death, federal prosecutors in Florida ‒ when George W. Bush was president ‒ agreed to a plea deal with Epstein that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution on sex trafficking charges.
More: Jeffrey Epstein had no 'client list,' died by suicide, DOJ and FBI conclude
In a July 7 joint memo, the Justice Department and FBI said they found no evidence that Epstein kept a "client list" after Bondi earlier this year built up intrigue about the Epstein files. Trump endorsed releasing remaining documents in the case during the 2024 campaign.
A review of Epstein materials in the U.S. government's procession also found no evidence that Epstein blackmailed prominent people as part of his actions or that he was murdered while in custody, according to the agencies' memo. Federal authorities have said Epstein by suicide.
The Epstein files contain large volumes of images of Epstein and victims who were minors or appeared to be minors, the Justice Department and FBI said, as well as more than 10,000 videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography. The memo said federal authorities found "no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography."
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Trump says he doesn't understand interest in Epstein case
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