The White House is not denying that US President Donald Trump’s name appears in the files associated with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Earlier, the White House dismissed as “fake news” a Wall Street Journal report that US Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May his name appeared in Justice Department (DOJ) files related to Epstein.
An administration official said the fact of Trump’s name appearing in the files had been acknowledged in briefing binders that were shared with influencers.
However, when Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed President Donald Trump in May on the Justice Department’s review of the documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, she told him that his name appeared in the files, sources familiar with the discussion told America’s CNN.
According to CNN, the conversation, which also included Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was characterised by two White House officials as a “routine briefing” that covered the scope of the Justice Department’s findings.
The official’s comment came as a federal judge in South Florida denied a US Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, the first ruling in a series of attempts by the Trump administration to release more information on the case.
The request stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents.
The Justice Department has pending requests to unseal transcripts in Manhattan federal court related to later indictments brought against Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
US District Judge Robin Rosenberg found that the Justice Department’s request in Florida did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret.
The Justice Department concluded in early July that there was no basis to continue the Epstein probe, triggering a backlash among many of Trump’s supporters.
The grand jury transcripts in Florida related to the first federal sex trafficking probe of Epstein, which was run by the US attorney’s office in Miami.
Prosecutors agreed in 2007 not to bring federal charges against Epstein in exchange for him agreeing to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution.
He served 13 months in prison before taking his own life.
