Trump Scolds Reporter for Asking About Epstein

President Trump has leapt to the defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi amid fresh scrutiny from elements of his base over recent Justice Department revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation. Trump headed off a reporter's Epstein-related questions for Bondi at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, chiding the journalist for asking "about a guy who's been talked about for years," the AP reports.

• "We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? That is unbelievable," Trump said, per CNN. "I mean, I can't believe you're asking a question on Epstein at a time like this, where we're having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration."

• The president's response appeared to signal his continued support for Bondi even as she faces questions over the Justice Department's acknowledgment in a memo on Monday that Epstein did not maintain a "client list."
• Bondi has faced pressure after a first document dump she hyped failed to deliver revelations. Far-right influencers were invited to the White House in February and provided with binders marked "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified" that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain.
• After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were poring over a "truckload" of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI and raised expectations of forthcoming releases. But after a months-long review of evidence in the government's possession, the Justice Department said in Monday's memo that no "further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."
• The department's client list revelation was especially dismaying for conservative influencers and online sleuths given that Bondi in a Fox News interview in February had intimated that such a document was "sitting on my desk" for review. Bondi insisted Tuesday that she had been referring to the Epstein case file as being on her desk, as opposed to a specific client list. "That's what I meant by that," she said."
• Elon Musk—who claimed Trump was "in the Epstein files" when he clashed with the president last month—has been one of the administration's most prominent critics over the issue. "How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?" he said in a post on X Tuesday.