Conservative pundits have been highly critical of the Trump administration and Attorney General Pam Bondi, specifically, regarding their conclusions about the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case and Epstein’s ultimate suicide.
After years of speculation that the government was withholding information about the disgraced financier, his “client list” of powerful people across the world to whom he trafficked underage girls, and his suicide, the administration has concluded that there was no government cover-up and that there is little to no new information to report.
In response, talk show host Glenn Beck has called for Bondi to resign, other commentators blame Bondi for suggesting there was a mountain of forthcoming evidence on Epstein and then releasing very little new information, while another called the conclusions the “biggest fumble” of the Trump administration. Megyn Kelly wants more answers. Meanwhile, Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro has said he believes the Trump administration’s Justice Department did an honest investigation.
The White House is defending the attorney general.
“President Trump is proud of Attorney General Bondi’s efforts to execute his Make America Safe Again agenda, restore the integrity of the Department of Justice, and bring justice to victims of crime,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“The continued fixation on sowing division in President Trump’s Cabinet is baseless and unfounded in reality,” Leavitt continued.
On his show “War Room” on Wednesday, Steve Bannon, who advised President Donald Trump’s first campaign and was a White House adviser during part of Trump’s first term, said, “The Epstein thing, whether they have it or not, it’s a central front in the taking down of the deep state. It must be done.”
The Justice Department and the FBI concluded that Epstein did not have a “client list.” And after much speculation of foul play in his death, federal law enforcement also concluded Epstein committed suicide in his prison cell.
During a Tuesday Cabinet meeting, a reporter asked several questions about Epstein, prompting Trump to be dismissive.
“We have [the floods in] Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy, this creep?” Trump asked. He later added, “I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Epstein at a time like this when we are having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration.”
Liz Wheeler, a conservative host and commentator, posted on X, “President Trump snaps at reporter who asks him Epstein question. Trump is massively misreading his base on this.”
During the Cabinet meeting, Bondi gave a detailed answer to the reporter, addressing several points, including a question about one minute of missing video from outside Epstein’s cell in federal prison the night he committed suicide.
“The minute missing from the video. We released the video showing definitively—the video wasn’t conclusive—but the evidence prior to it was showing he committed suicide,” Bondi said. “What was on that, there was a minute that was off the counter. What we learned from the Bureau of Prisons is that every night, they redo that video. It is old, from like 1999. So, every night, the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing. So, we are looking at that video to be released as well showing that a minute is missing every night.”
This wasn’t a satisfactory answer for Beck, who questioned Bondi’s competence.
“Pam Bondi should resign—not because of a cover-up, but for incompetence,” Beck posted on X. “Not only is there a minute missing from the Epstein cell video, BUT IT WASN’T EVEN THE RIGHT CAMERA ANGLE. What the DOJ gave us was a partial view of the facility, which JUST MISSES Epstein’s cell.”
Beck, of BlazeTV, continued: “We’ve known for years there wasn’t a working camera on his cell, so WHY RELEASE THIS VIDEO? And why not tell us there’s a video glitch in advance of the release?! This isn’t about whether Epstein killed himself or not. What matters more is REAL transparency and justice. But instead, what we got was absolute INCOMPETENCE in the Attorney General’s Office.”
Shapiro, of the Daily Wire, questioned why so many people doubted findings that Trump’s FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino stand behind.
“If you are willing to throw that over and claim they are lying, I would like to see you present your evidence that they are in fact lying,” Shapiro said. “I know Dan. I don’t think Dan Bongino is lying to me. I know Kash Patel a little bit. I don’t think Kash Patel is lying to me.“
But Jack Posobiec, senior editor of Human Events, said on Real America’s Voice TV that Bondi led Americans to believe there was more to come in the Epstein case.
“People aren’t asking questions for no reason. People are asking questions because you told them that you had the answers,” he said Tuesday. “No one forced you to say all of these things. You did. And you went on TV night after night after night. You invited people into the White House and acted like you had troves and troves of information. You personally handed me a binder that said ‘Phase 1 of the Epstein Files,’ as in, there’s going to be two, three, four, and however many more. Now, you’re saying there’s nothing? So don’t sit there and say ‘case closed’ when your own actions are what led to this point.”
Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News and NBC News host who now has one of the largest podcast audiences in America, said the administration handled the matter poorly. She suggested Bondi, Patel, and Bongino answer more questions on her show to dispel any conspiracy theories.
“I’m a supporter of the president. But this is not going well. They need a shift in strategy,” Kelly said. She added, “I’ll sit down with all three of them. Give me Bondi, Patel, and Bongino for two hours. No holds barred. I can ask anything. Then the audience can see whether they are truth-tellers.”
She spoke well of all three, but added, “This is why you have to keep some distance between yourself and the administration, even when they are your friends. You have to be able to report honestly on them, and to call out bull—- when you think you smell it, and I think I smell it.”
During an interview with host Jesse Watters on Fox News Tuesday, popular podcast host Patrick Bet-David called this the “biggest fumble” by the Trump administration.
“This is by far—and I’m a supporter; three times I voted for this man—this is by far the biggest fumble of the administration they’ve had thus far,” he said.
“Why are you fumbling this? Why are you not having an emergency meeting together to conversate to say, we’re going to be together on the same page with messaging on this,” he added. “All you have to do is send a message to everybody saying, ‘Guys, let’s have a conference call. Here’s what we are going to be saying about this.’ Because this was a very important issue to not 80% of voters that voted for President Trump, but I think 20% of voters wanted to know what would happen with Epstein, and it’s a big letdown.”
Trump supporter Laura Loomer, often considered a more colorful commentator, posted on X, “Today, Pam Blondi lied and said the U.S. government has ‘no knowledge’ of Jeffrey Epstein being a spy or agent for an intelligence agency,” referring to Bondi by a nickname she gave her.
The Daily Signal reached out to the Department of Justice for comment but has not heard back as of publication time.
