US president dismisses lingering questions on accused intercourse trafficker after legislation enforcement assessment dismays supporters.
United States President Donald Trump has waved away lingering questions on accused intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein after the release of a law enforcement memo about the case incensed segments of his MAGA base.
Trump’s offended dismissal of the persevering with curiosity within the case on Tuesday got here after a joint assessment by the US Division of Justice (DOJ) and FBI concluded that Epstein died by suicide and didn’t possess a “consumer checklist”.
“Are you continue to speaking about Jeffrey Epstein? This man’s been talked about for years,” Trump stated in response to a reporter’s query directed at US Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi.
“Are individuals nonetheless speaking about this man, this creep? That’s unbelievable,” Trump continued, earlier than asking Bondi if she needed to “waste the time” addressing the query.
“I imply, I can’t consider you’re asking a query on Epstein at a time like this, the place we’re having a few of the best success and likewise tragedy, with what occurred in Texas,” Trump stated.
“It simply looks as if a desecration.”
Outstanding figures in Trump’s “Make America Nice Once more” coalition reacted to Monday’s memo with disbelief and outrage, accusing members of the administration of becoming a member of a cover-up in regards to the reality of Epstein’s loss of life and his connections to political and monetary elites.
Alex Jones, the founding father of the conspiracy web site InfoWars, known as the memo “excessive sickening” and urged the DOJ would possibly subsequent declare that Epstein “by no means even existed”.
Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and influencer, known as on Bondi to resign, suggesting in a radio interview that she appeared extra fascinated by being “one other Fox Information Barbie” than doing her job as lawyer basic.
In an episode of his podcast, Former Fox Information host Tucker Carlson claimed Bondi was masking up “very critical crimes”.
Conspiracy theories suggesting that Epstein was murdered and possessed sexually compromising materials on highly effective figures have circulated extensively since his 2019 loss of life in a Manhattan jail cell, notably in right-wing circles.
Earlier than the discharge of Monday’s memo, senior Trump administration figures, together with Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel, had been among the many most outstanding figures to lend credence to the existence of an inventory of Epstein’s shoppers.
In an interview with Fox Information in February, Bondi was requested if her division deliberate to launch “the checklist of Jeffrey Epstein’s shoppers”, to which she responded: “It’s sitting on my desk proper now to assessment.”
On Tuesday, Bondi sought to make clear these feedback, saying they referred to paperwork in regards to the Epstein case, reasonably than a particular checklist.
Bondi additionally stated that she had “no information” of whether or not Epstein labored with US or overseas intelligence companies and that 1000’s of movies reviewed within the case couldn’t be launched as they consisted of kid sexual exploitation materials.
“Little one porn is what they had been. By no means going to be launched, by no means going to see the sunshine of day,” she stated.