11 key figures in the fight over Epstein files
The memo said there was no evidence Epstein kept a 'client list' or blackmailed powerful global figures. The report also concluded that Epstein had died by suicide in prison; some right-wing figures suspect he was murdered by powerful forces protecting secrets.
The report's findings were a serious blow to legions of right-wing keyboard warriors who had hoped the Trump administration would finally bring to light a vast conspiracy surrounding the financier and convicted sex trafficker.
Democratic lawmakers have fanned the flames of the MAGA infighting, even seeking to force votes in Congress to disclose more information about the convicted sex offender.
Here are 11 figures that have emerged as key fronts in the debate.
Steve Bannon
The former White House adviser has warned the Epstein turmoil is a serious problem for the MAGA movement, predicting Friday that the GOP could lose as many as 40 seats in the 2026 midterms over the issue.
'You're going to lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement. If we lose 10 percent of the MAGA movement right now, we ain't gonna … we're gonna lose 40 seats in '26,' he told a live audience during his 'War Room' podcast. 'We're gonna lose the president' in 2028, he added.
Bannon has avoided pointing fingers at Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel or FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who have taken significant heat online.
But he has blamed the 'deep state' for obstructing Trump officials inclined toward transparency and urged Trump to appoint a special counsel to examine the Epstein files.
'In that arc of looking at how the deep state has tried to stop Trump and the MAGA movement, you can easily fit in the Epstein situation,' he said at the Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Student Action Summit, a major gathering for young conservatives held this weekend.
Charlie Kirk
Kirk, the popular conservative activist who helped found TPUSA, has encouraged his followers to move on from the Epstein files in recent days.
'Honestly, I'm done talking about Epstein for the time being. I'm going to trust my friends in the administration. I'm going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done, solve it, ball's in their hands,' he said on his show Monday.
Trump reportedly called Kirk over the weekend as the president seeks to shut down criticism of the administration's handling of the Epstein files.
'I'm going to trust my friends Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, my friend Pam Bondi. All these guys,' Kirk said, also mentioning Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Many young conservatives in Kirk's ecosystem, however, have not been as willing to trust the Trump administration. Some attendees at the weekend summit were adamant they still wanted the files.
'I think that there was plenty of, let's say, speeches that were directed towards this topic this last weekend. So we don't need to spend our valuable time on this program relitigating it,' Kirk said Monday.
Laura Loomer
The far-right influencer has been among the loudest voices calling for Bondi's ouster, often referring to the attorney general as 'Scam Blondi' on X. On Sunday, she also called for a special counsel to investigate the government's handling of the files.
'Blondi is literally blowing up the Trump admin by concealing information, spending time on Fox News lying to MAGA base and by releasing contradictory statements,' she wrote on X last week. 'She lied on national TV and needs to be held accountable for harming the Trump admin and public trust.'
Loomer is known to have Trump's ear and has taken credit for the April firings of several senior national security officials.
Trump has so far stood by Bondi. 'What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB!' the president said Saturday on Truth Social.
Tucker Carlson
Carlson has taken a different bent from many MAGA figures, focusing on the theory that Epstein was an intelligence asset affiliated with the Mossad, Israel's national spy agency.
'The only other explanation that I can think of … is that intel services are at the very center of this story, US and Israeli, and they're being protected,' he mused in a lengthy podcast with conservative commentator Saagar Enjeti last week.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett dismissed the claim as 'categorically and totally false' and specifically derided Carlson in a Monday post on X.
Megyn Kelly
Kelly, the former Fox News anchor who now hosts an eponymous show, has criticized Bondi for setting false expectations around the release of Epstein files, while refusing to dismiss the idea that the disgraced financier might have connections to foreign intelligence.
'She has never missed an opportunity to go on television and dangle sweet nothings that might be coming your way,' Kelly said of Bondi at TPUSA's summit, onstage with Kirk.
'I am convinced, based on my own sources and my own reporting on this story, he wasn't one of ours,' Kelly said of Epstein.
Attorney General Pam Bondi
Much of MAGA's ire has focused on an interview Bondi gave on Fox News in February, in which she responded to a question about Epstein's client list by saying it was 'sitting on my desk right now to review.'
After the release of the DOJ's memo, Bondi claimed she was referring broadly to case files related to Epstein, not to a literal list of clients.
Earlier this month, before the memo's release, Bondi raised eyebrows when she said the FBI was reviewing 'tens of thousands of videos' of Epstein 'with children or child porn.'
Bondi also addressed questions around a 'missing minute' in 2019 security camera footage of Epstein's prison cell around the time he died inside, showing no one went in or out. She said the brief lapse around midnight was caused by a daily reset of the video feed.
Deputy FBI director Dan Bongino
Bongino reportedly skipped work on Friday after clashing with Bondi over the Epstein situation.
The New York Times reported that Bondi, who has taken much of the fire online, accused him of planting negative news stories about her.
Bongino was a podcaster before he joined the FBI and, like his boss Patel, helped fuel conspiracies surrounding Epstein.
'I think Jeffrey Epstein may have some videotape of people central to the Democrat, and maybe Republican party, doing some things, let's just say they shouldn't be doing,' he said on his podcast in 2023, citing an 'unimpeachable source.'
Trump has backed Bongino in recent days.
'I spoke to him today,' Trump told reporters Sunday. 'Dan Bongino, very good guy. I've known him a long time. I've done his show many many times. He sounded terrific, actually. No, I think he's in good shape.'
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Ill.)
Khanna is among the Democrats seeking to stoke the controversy with demands for transparency.
The Illinois Democrat attempted Monday to force a House vote to release records related to Epstein via an amendment to a cryptocurrency bill. The amendment died in the House Rules Committee after a Republican majority voted to strike it down.
'We won't stop until the files are released. This may have been our first attempt, but the public will not be gaslit. We will keep fighting for transparency,' Khanna wrote on social media after the vote.
Democrats on Tuesday, in a last-ditch attempt, sought to force a vote on the amendment, but the GOP torpedoed the move.
House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, have also called on the DOJ to release the files.
Elon Musk
Musk asserted during his public breakup with Trump that the president is named in the Epstein files, and seized on the DOJ memo, which coincided with the launch of his new political party.
Musk said last week that exposing secrets around Epstein would be a high priority for his 'America Party.'
'What the hell kind of system are we living in if thousands of kids were abused, the government has videos of the abusers and yet none of the abusers are even facing charges!?' he wrote on X Saturday. 'This is a very big deal.'
Alan Dershowitz
Epstein's former lawyer Alan Dershowitz said this week that judges in New York are suppressing information about the case, not the Trump administration.
Dershowitz, who helped get a plea deal for Epstein in 2008, said that there's no Epstein 'client list,' just a redacted FBI affidavit from accusers. He added none of the Epstein associates named in the affidavit are figures currently holding a public office.
'There are several of them from accusers that accuse Jeffrey — that accuse various people of having improper sex, and that has been redacted, the names of the people accused have been blacked out,' Dershowitz said Monday in an appearance on NewsNation's 'Cuomo.'
Dershowitz has said he knows the names, but is 'bound by confidentiality.'
President Trump
Trump hob-nobbed with Epstein in both New York City and Palm Beach, but the president has said they had a falling out years before Epstein was convicted of any crimes.
Trump has previously raised questions about how Epstein was killed and promised to bring transparency to the case. He again defended Bondi while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.
'The attorney general has handled that very well. She has really done a very good job,' Trump said of the attorney general, also backing the findings of the memo.
'The credibility is very important. And you want credible evidence for something like that. And I think the attorney general has handled it very well,' Trump added.
The White House has denied reports of divisions within the Trump administration.
'Any attempt to sow division within this team is baseless and distracts from the real progress being made in restoring public safety and pursuing justice for all,' the White House said in a statement.
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