The Department of Justice said Monday that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not have a “client list” and was not murdered in prison.
The announcement comes after months of promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi and the DOJ that transparency was coming about an alleged list of nearly 200 names of prominent public figures associated with Epstein. It’s the latest in a yearslong saga to uncover Epstein’s crimes and controversy over how he died.
In a memo, the DOJ and FBI said they conducted an “exhaustive review” of investigations into Epstein’s sex trafficking scandal. The review included digital and physical searches that uncovered a “significant amount of material” but no further information would be released to the public.
The DOJ said it combed through the material, much of which includes images and videos of victims who appear to be minors and evidence of “illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.”
“Teams of agents, analysts, attorneys and privacy and civil liberties experts combed through the digital and documentary evidence with the aim of providing as much information as possible to the public while simultaneously protecting victims,” the memo said.
While it was reported for months that the Trump administration would release a list that incriminated high-profile “clients” of Epstein, the DOJ said there was no list and no evidence Epstein blackmailed prominent people.
The announcement has led to questions, especially after Bondi said in an interview with Fox News the client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was questioned by reporters on Monday after the memo’s release.
“This administration wants anyone who has ever committed a crime to be held accountable, and I would argue this administration has done more to lock up bad guys than certainly the previous administration, and the Trump administration is committed to truth and to transparency,” Leavitt said in the briefing. “That’s why the attorney general and the FBI director pledged at the president’s direction to do an exhaustive review of all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and his death.”
Leavitt argued the findings were “incredibly graphic” and not suitable for “public consumption.”
Fox News’ Peter Doocy pressed Leavitt about Bondi’s statement about the client list.
“She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. That’s what the attorney general was referring to,” Leavitt said. “And I’ll let her speak for that.”
Several influencers on the right have since criticized Bondi for the apparent switch-up, saying President Donald Trump needs to fire her, The Guardian reported.
Bondi addressed the concerns in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, clarifying that when she was asked earlier this year about the client list, her response was about the entire file, as well as a file on John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King’s assassinations.
“Also to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,” she said. “Child porn is what they were. Never were they going to be released, never going to see the light of day.”
The review found Epstein harmed more than 1,000 victims through his years of sex trafficking. The memo noted that the information obtained in the review was sensitive, including identifying information of the victims.
“One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims,” the memo read. “Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.”
The DOJ said that while it wanted to keep the public informed about Epstein’s crimes and the investigation, together with the FBI, they determined that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The FBI also disclaimed theories that Epstein was killed in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City in 2019. The agency said Epstein died by suicide, which is consistent with the findings of other agencies.