The US attorney general has accused the FBI of withholding documents relating to the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking case, demanding all paperwork be delivered to her desk by Friday morning.
Pam Bondi, 59, has promised to release all the information the government holds regarding the paedophile financier, who killed himself while awaiting trial in a New York prison cell in 2019.
The failure of guards in the Manhattan jail to prevent Epstein, who was on suicide watch, from taking his own life has sparked online speculation about a grand conspiracy involving his network of powerful friends and associates.
On Thursday, Ms Bondi invited a select group of pro-Maga influencers to the Department of Justice and handed them a binder containing what she said was ‘Phase One’ of the full document release.
But expectations of bombshell news had been dampened by earlier reports that the 200-page document contained only phone-book contacts and flight logs, most of which have been available since 2015.
Amid a growing backlash online, Ms Bondi said she had been let down by the FBI, accusing the agency of blocking her efforts to release information.
Ms Bondi, the new US attorney general, says her department is working on protecting the personal information of more than 250 victims connected to Epstein – Will Oliver/Shutterstock
Addressing the new FBI director, Kash Patel, Ms Bondi wrote: “I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents.”
But, she added: “Late yesterday, I learnt from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.
“Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files.”
Ms Bondi continued: “By 8am tomorrow, Feb 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings… regardless of how such information was obtained.”
Among the influencers selected to receive the Phase One release were DC Draino, former One America News anchor Liz Wheeler, Mike Cernovich, and Chaya Raichik of the account ‘Libs of Tiktok’.
Ms Wheeler said that the “juicy stuff” had not been delivered to the group in a post on X.
She claimed that Ms Bondi realised she was not in possession of all the information she wanted as there was no ‘smoking gun’.
“Still, Bondi promised to release the documents, so she prepared a binder of them.”
She claimed that a whistleblower then told the attorney general that the Southern District of New York court was holding “potentially thousands” more documents. That explained Ms Bondi’s letter to the FBI, she said.
“Be outraged that the binder is boring,” Ms Wheeler added. “You should be. Because the evil deep state lied to your face.”
Ms Bondi, who was the Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019, initially promised to release the documents on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News.
“I think tomorrow… you’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office,” she told the cable TV channel.
But the damp squib of the documents’ release on Thursday saw Ms Bondi face criticism even within pro-Trump circles.
“Why is the release of the Epstein list always a s— show?” asked Dave Portnoy, the influential founder of BarStool Sports.
“There are no Epstein files,” Laura Loomer, a Maga influencer, wrote on X. “The binders are props.”
“Every single of those Right-wing paid influencers lied to all of you today!”
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000 – Davidoff Studios Photography
Julie Brown, an investigative journalist who broke key parts of the Epstein story, said that the FBI also “has hundreds of other documents in its vault that are redacted.”
“The Miami Herald and other media has repeatedly asked the FBI to justify these massive redactions and lift them so the public can judge for themselves how the case was handled,” she wrote.
One of the most high-profile people associated with Epstein is Prince Andrew, who was forced to step aside from public duties in 2019 over his friendship with the financier. The Duke of York has always denied any accusations of wrongdoing.
In January last year, a New York judge released more than 900 pages of documents related to a lawsuit filed against Ghislaine Maxwell, the former British socialite and convicted sex offender who helped Epstein abuse young girls.
Many of the 50 individuals named in the files, including Donald Trump, Michael Jackson and Stephen Hawking, had already been named in connection to Epstein previously. They are not accused of wrongdoing.
The files released by the court did not produce a “client list” detailing co-conspirators of Epstein, a key demand of those who believe the authorities are holding back information on the disgraced financier’s sex-trafficking operation.
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