Epstein Files Threaten Tp Upend Trump Legacy
Tensions are rising after the Justice Department claimed it had no evidence that notorious sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein had a client list, blackmailed powerful people, or was murdered.
Democrats in Congress say they will introduce measures this week to press for the disclosure of files reported to Epstein, a wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who was found dead at the age of 66 in his New York City jail cell in 2019 after being arrested on sex trafficking charges involving young girls.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) is calling on House Republicans to hold a vote demanding the Trump administration release the “FULL Epstein files.”
“Why are the Epstein files still hidden? Who are the rich & powerful being protected?” Khanna said in a post on the social platform X over the weekend.
“On Tuesday, I’m introducing an amendment to force a vote demanding the FULL Epstein files be released to the public,” he continued. “The Speaker must call a vote & put every Congress member on record.”
The Justice Department last week released a memo concluding there was no evidence suggesting the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender kept a “client list” to blackmail high-profile individuals. The memo also found no evidence to suggest foul play in Epstein’s death, which had previously been ruled a suicide.
The memo spurred fierce backlash from many Trump supporters, who had long called on the government to release material on Epstein that they argue would expose wrongdoing at the highest level of elite circles.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a staunch ally of President Trump, said Sunday night there should be a special counsel to examine the handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Loomer, who has bashed Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of the Epstein documents, told Politico’s Playbook newsletter that a special counsel should be appointed “so that people can feel like this issue is being investigated, and perhaps take it out of [Bondi’s] hands, because I don’t think that she has been transparent or done a good job handling this issue.”
Much of the frustration from MAGA allies has been directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said earlier this year that files were on her desk but then seemed to suggest they did not exist by releasing the memo last week. Bondi argued she was referring to the case file on Epstein, not a specific “client list.”
Trump has remained adamant in his position and has fiercely defended Bondi against the onslaught of backlash.
“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and ‘selfish people’ are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said in the social media post on Saturday.
Dan Bongino, the Deputy Director of the FBI, reportedly threatened to leave the bureau if Attorney General Pam Bondi remains on the job due to her handling of the Epstein files, a source close to Bongino told The Daily Wire.
One source close to Bongino predicted to Axios, “He ain’t coming back.” Trump administration officials, however, are saying that Bongino remains on the job.
President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believes FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is “in good shape” following a reported clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I spoke to him today,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. “Dan Bongino, very good guy. I’ve known him a long time. I’ve done his show many, many times. And he sounded terrific actually. No, I think he’s in good shape.”
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FBI Director Kash Patel broke his silence on Saturday amid rumors that he might also consider leaving if Bondi stayed, saying in a post to X that the “conspiracy theories” were not true and that he would continue to serve under Trump as long as the president wanted him to be there.
Agent Who Took Bullet For Reagan Backs Secret Service After WHCA Dinner Chaos
A Secret Service agent who literally took a bullet for President Ronald Reagan is now defending the agency after the shocking armed breach at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Tim McCarthy — the agent wounded during the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan — says critics need to cool it.
“I think we need to ratchet down the rhetoric just a little bit and give the Secret Service at the moment quite a bit of credit for doing a hell of a good job,” McCarthy said on NewsNation Live.
That’s no small endorsement.
McCarthy was among the agents protecting Reagan outside the Washington Hilton in March 1981 when would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. opened fire. Reagan was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off his limousine, piercing his lung and causing massive internal bleeding. McCarthy, along with Press Secretary James Brady and others, was also struck — Brady left permanently disabled.
Now, more than four decades later, McCarthy is weighing in on another high-stakes moment at the very same hotel.
On Saturday night, an armed suspect stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where President Donald Trump was in attendance — sparking panic and fierce backlash online over security failures.
But McCarthy says the system worked.
Despite viral outrage — and even the suspect himself claiming there was “no damn security” — McCarthy emphasized the layered defense that stopped the threat cold.
Bottom line: the shooter never got close.
The Trump White House appears to agree.
Officials praised the Secret Service for quickly evacuating the president, vice president, and cabinet, while Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is set to review protocols going forward.
Still, critics have questioned whether more could have been done — including calls to lock down the entire hotel.
McCarthy dismissed that idea outright.
“Well, try finding a hotel with a ballroom if you’re going to shut the hotel down,” he said. “You’re not going to find one. No one’s going to want to do that.”
He also noted that security included multiple layers — possibly more than the standard three — and that the threat never reached the ballroom floor.
For McCarthy, who lived through one of the darkest days in presidential security history, the verdict is clear:
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