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WASHINGTON — President Trump “would not recommend” a special prosecutor in the Jeffrey Epstein case, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
“That’s how he feels,” she told reporters in her weekly briefing.
It comes amid growing calls for an independent prosecutor to be appointed to get to the bottom of the Epstein case, and for the release of investigative files.
A firestorm has been raging over the issue since the Department of Justice and FBI released a memo concluding the notorious dead pedophile did not have a “client list” — despite previous remarks from Attorney General Pam Bondi indicating there was one.
Leavitt stressed the president would welcome additional releases of “credible” information relating to the sex-trafficking case — but said that Trump believes the DOJ had done its job.
“The president believes that he directed the Department of Justice to do an exhaustive and thorough review, and they did that, and they all agreed, the FBI director, the deputy FBI director, the attorney general, on the memo that they drafted and they released,” Leavitt said.
Bondi and the FBI released a memo July 7 stating there was no “client list” held by the well-connected sex-offender — and that his 2019 death in a Manhattan federal jail cell was caused by suicide, despite conspiracy theories that he was murdered.
The investigation also concluded that Epstein did not blackmail any “prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the memo said.
While the review confirmed Epstein harmed over “one thousand victims,” the DOJ and FBI determined that, apart from their one memo, “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The subsequent surge of attention to the Epstein case — and away from Trump’s policies — has caused the president to lash out at those pressing the DOJ to release more files, calling it a Democratic “hoax” and a “scam.”
“Unlike Republicans, they [Democrats] stick together like glue. Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bulls—,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday, noting that past Democratic presidents hadn’t released files related to the case.
“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats[‘] work, don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore!”
He also questioned why there was so much “interest” in the “pretty boring stuff” in the Epstein case in remarks to reporters Tuesday.
Trump’s view that the Epstein case is a “hoax” stems from the fact that the Democrats “didn’t do a dang thing” about transparency in regards to the Epstein case, and are now the ones drawing attention to it, Leavitt said.
“It was this president who directed the Department of Justice and the attorney general to do an exhaustive review of all files related to Jeffrey Epstein, which they did,” she said.
“The attorney general and the FBI led by Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino, Kash Patel — these are great Patriots, some of the most trusted voices in the Republican movement,” Leavitt said.
Her defense comes as a faction of the MAGA line has been calling for accountability in the DOJ and FBI for the lack of information provided to the public.
Some of those most loyal to Trump, including right-wing activist Laura Loomer, called on Bondi to resign.
English (US)