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Right-wing media are flailing in response to Trump's DOJ memo about Jeffrey Epstein

Some figures called the Justice Department memo “bullshit” and attacked Pam Bondi as “incompetent,” while others accused Democrats and the “deep state” of destroying evidence

Written by Noah Dowe, Torri Lonergan, Emma Mae Weber, Gideon Taaffe, Isabella Sherk & Casey Wexler

Research contributions from Alex Kaplan

Published

Updated

Update (7/11/25): This piece has been updated with additional examples. 

Right-wing media figures are berating Trump administration officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, after a Department of Justice memo declared that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and did not keep a “client list.” Those who aren’t attacking the administration are tying themselves in knots and spinning conspiracy theories to come up with some way to avoid blaming President Donald Trump or the DOJ for the lackluster Epstein report.

  • Findings in Department of Justice’s memo “contradict past statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi”

    • On June 6, Axios reported, “President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a ‘client list’ or was murdered.” Axios noted, “The findings represent the first time Trump's administration has officially contradicted conspiracy theories about Epstein's activities and his death.” [Axios, 7/6/25]
    • In February, after Fox anchor John Roberts asked if the DOJ would release a “list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients,” Bondi responded, “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that.” The White House later claimed that Bondi’s words actually referred to the “entirety of all of the paperwork – all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.” NPR reported of the memo: “The findings contradict past statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi about an alleged list of Epstein clients.” [CNN, 7/7/25; NPR, 7/7/25]
    • Axios later reported that Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino are “clashing” over the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Axios reported, “Two sources familiar with Bongino's position say he was increasingly displeased with Bondi's handling of the Epstein case because she had publicly overpromised and underdelivered disclosures about an Epstein ‘client list’ that apparently never existed.” [Axios, 7/11/25]

  • Right-wing media figures are attacking the Trump administration over the memo

    • War Room host Steve Bannon asked why the Department of Justice has “not just done one basic thing” by unsealing the Epstein records: “This is supposed to be about the most transparent administration ever.” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton added, “This just again shows contempt for the people's right to know,” claiming, “The Justice Department and the FBI are irredeemably compromised and corrupted.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/7/25] 
    • On The Tucker Carlson Show, conservative podcaster Saagar Enjeti called the memo “complete bullshit” and addressed Trump officials: “Do not use your platform to enrich yourself on these podcast platforms and constantly talk about Epstein and the Epstein files, eventually assume office, change on a dime, and expect us to trust you.” Carlson responded that while he was not “attacking the president,” he felt that “this threatens to blow up the whole thing.” [YouTube, The Tucker Carlson Show, 7/8/25]
    • Right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson called the DOJ’s Epstein memo a “self-own” that “looks like it's part of the cover-up.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 7/8/25]
    • Trump associate Laura Loomer called for Bondi to be investigated over her handling of Epstein files and said she “should be fired.” Loomer wrote, “We need an investigation into Pam Blondi. She has completely undermined the Trump administration and direct statements made by both President Trump and @JDVance @AGPamBondi should be fired.” [Twitter/X, 7/8/25]
    • Loomer posted, “I hope Trump realizes what an Fing LIAR Pam Blondi is. She’s useless. Covering for pedophiles and never arresting criminals.” She later declared, “Kash Patel and Dan Bongino should call for Blondi’s public resignation today to save themselves and to also push for full transparency into the Epstein files. … Trump should just FIRE her.” [Twitter/X, 7/7/25, 7/11/25]
    • Pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec wrote, “Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been,” noting, “We were all told more was coming.” In a later post, Posobiec argued, “If there were no clients, not even Prince Andrew was a client then? Cmon.” Posobiec was one of a number of right-wing influencers Bondi gave binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” back in February. [Twitter/X, 7/6/25, 7/7/25; CBS News, 2/27/25] 
    • Infowars host Alex Jones posted, “The DOJ is running cover for the CIA and Mossad,” adding, “NO ONE IS BUYING THIS!!” His post also argued, “Next the DOJ will say ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.’ This is over the top sickening.” [Twitter/X, 7/7/25]
    • White nationalist Stew Peters: “President Trump and his merry band of grifters have announced that there are no Epstein files.” Peters later wrote that Bondi should “fuck off” for “failing to protect girls that were raped, tortured, and sacrificed on Epstein island.” [Rumble, The Stew Peters Show, 7/8/25; Media Matters, 3/13/23; Twitter/X, 7/9/25]
    • Conservative influencer Robby Starbuck called the debunk “unacceptable” and asked whether Bondi was “lying then or is she lying now?” He wrote, “Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was on her desk to review for release to the public just a few months ago. Now the DOJ she leads claims that there’s no Epstein client list.” In another post, Starbuck argued that “Bondi just made it all worse with this memo. What a terrible, terrible idea it was to write this memo. It’s also incredibly insulting to our intelligence.” [Twitter/X, 7/6/25, 7/6/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty said he doesn’t “buy” the DOJ's story about Epstein. Finnerty complained that the DOJ’s report “makes absolutely no sense.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 7/7/25] 
    • Fox host Will Cain said that even if there’s “no Word document, there’s no notes app on his phone, there’s no printed-out list with names on it,” “there were clients” nevertheless, adding that it's hard to believe that none of the “thousands of videos” in the DOJ’s possession showed anyone other than Epstein and the victims. Cain said, “Pam Bondi herself has said there’s thousands upon thousands of videos. So, am I to believe that it was all just Jeffrey Epstein and victims on those videos? Or other individuals? It’s just hard to accept there’s nothing more to see here.” [Fox News, The Will Cain Show, 7/7/25] 
    • Conservative broadcaster Erick Erickson called for Bondi to be “fired for lying to the American public” because she “looked the American people in the eye and said she had Jeffrey Epstein's list.” [Twitter/X, 7/8/25]
    • PBD Podcast host Patrick Bet-David called the report on Epstein “the biggest fumble of the administration … so far." Co-host Vincent Oshana called for the resignation of Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. [Valuetainment, PBD Podcast, 7/8/25] 
    • BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler posted that “Trump is massively misreading his base on this one” and said that the DOJ report on Epstein could cost Trump the midterms. Wheeler wrote, “People CARE about Epstein. Not only because of the grisly crimes against children, but because there’s evidence of a government cover up.” [Twittter/X, 7/8/25]
    • The Gateway Pundit ran the headline “Wait, What? If There Was No Epstein Client List Then Why Did NY Court Refuse The Gateway Pundit’s Legal Request for the List Based on an Anonymous ‘John Doe’ Who Was On the List?” Jim Hoft wrote, “How can the courts deny our request for the Epstein client list in 2022 based on the wishes of an anonymous John Doe and then today the DOJ tells us there is no Epstein client list? Something is not adding up!” [The Gateway Pundit, 7/6/25]
    • Right-wing influencers the Hodgetwins: “Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison for 20 years for sex trafficking kids with Epstein. And the DOJ and FBI just said that there is no client list, he didn’t blackmail nobody, and nobody else is getting charged. So they sex trafficked kids to nobody??” [Twitter/X, 7/6/25]
    • Podcast host Megyn Kelly said Bondi is either “lazy and incompetent, or she willingly humiliated some of the president's most loyal supporters.” [Sirius XM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 7/8/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said “it seems almost surreal to believe” that Trump “is now all of a sudden beholden to whatever it is that's trying to suppress a potential client list for Jeffrey Epstein.” Schmitt’s guest, Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, said he was “a little profoundly confused by just some of the administration officials that told us that there was going to be this big reveal, Rob. And then we didn't quite get that. … And I think that some clarification down the road might be very well suited.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 7/9/25]
    • Fox host Jesse Watters said “no one believes” the Trump administration claims about the Epstein files. “Like, where did this guy go,” Watters asked, “Where did that whole case go? Where did all the files go? They just went nowhere?” [Fox News, The Five, 7/9/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty complained about the DOJ’s announcement of “Russiagate” investigations: “It's almost like the Justice Department doesn't want us talking about Jeffrey Epstein anymore.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 7/9/25; The Washington Post, 7/29/25; The Atlantic, 8/19/20]
    • Far-right commentator Candace Owens declared “this is a uniparty” and argued “they’ve infiltrated Trump” based on his inability to stand up to Epstein’s “demonic” actions. “We elected you for a reason,” Owens said, “The reason was definitively not to turn the other cheek when it comes to pedophilia.” [YouTube, Candace Owens, 7/9/25] 
    • On The Megyn Kelly Show, Liz Wheeler said Trump “is smart, he’s strategic,” but “he's misreading his base on this one.” She told Kelly that Trump’s base is asking, “Are we actually going to see justice for these egregious wrongdoings like we were promised?” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 7/10/25]
    • Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton alleged there is an Epstein client list but the administration doesn’t want to release it for “political purposes.” He told Fox host Laura Ingraham that that is the “charitable interpretation, but there is a list. There is no doubt. They talk about it in the memo they wrote.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 7/9/25]
    • Twitch streamer Zack Hoyt, known online as Asmongold, called Bondi’s defense of not releasing more information about Epstein “real fucking bullshit.” Hoyt called it a “cover-up” and argued, “It makes them look awful, I don’t think they understand how big of a deal this is for the average public.” [Twitch, ZackRawrr, 7/9/25]
    • War Room co-host Natalie Winters: “If you can’t get the Epstein stuff right, how in the heck — how in the hell are we going to get the 2020 election audit right?” She continued, “This is rudimentary stuff. This is easy. This is basic.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/10/25]
    • Flagrant podcast host Andrew Schulz said that the Trump administration is “insulting our intelligence.” Schulz argued, “Something changed because they ran on this idea of exposing it all.” [YouTube, Flagrant, 7/10/25]

  • Others spin conspiracy theories to defend the Trump administration, with some suggesting the “deep state” or Democrats supposedly destroyed evidence

    • Benny Johnson said it “seemed like the deep state” was “pulling one over” with the new report, saying, “This entire thing seems to be concocted to embarrass the Trump administration.” Johnson stated, “Everything from the binder release that had redacted information in it that was already public, like, that was just a spitting in the face.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 7/7/25]
    • Former Newsmax correspondent Emerald Robinson posted that the “FBI hid” “Jeffrey Epstein's video tapes,” among other things, “from the public.” The post also declared that “America is a banana republic where the secret police protect the guilty elites.” [Twitter/X, 7/7/25]
    • On Jesse Watters Primetime, former CIA analyst John Kiriakou said he wasn’t “blaming” Bongino or Trump’s FBI Director Kash Patel, noting that “that layer beneath them that’s part of what we like to call the deep state has taken this bull by the horns” and “probably destroyed information.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/7/25]
    • Streamer Tim Pool suggested that “the Democrats covered it up a long time ago” and there is no evidence for the Trump administration to find. He also mentioned “one of the conspiracies” floating around — that the DOJ’s rollout of the Epstein files is an attempt to discredit conservative influencers, noting that Patel, Bongino, and Bondi “are being largely discredited as well.” [Rumble, Timcast IRL, 7/7/25] 
    • Pool proposed a theory that the Trump administration wouldn’t release the client list because it contained powerful CEOs and foreign leaders who, when outed, would cause the collapse of various stocks and the destruction of international trade alliances. Pool said, “I think that the U.S. government, Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino, Kash, they get in there, they see the evidence, and they went, how many companies will this destroy? … The powers that be within the government, even the ones we like, are going, we have no choice but to just shut this down.” [Rumble, Timcast IRL, 7/7/25] 
    • Pool doubled down in a social media post, suggesting that the Trump administration purposely didn’t release a client list in order to protect the economy. Pool wrote: “Think about the economic fallout if say, hypothetically, Bill Gates was revealed to have been flying around with Epstein and then we got videos of him abusing underage girls. We absolutely cannot risk shareholder value by telling the people what really happened.” [Twitter/X, 7/7/25]
    • QAnon conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin suggested the Trump administration was engaging in a plot to get “both your MAGA base and Democrats … righteously pissed off” about Epstein’s “blackmail operation.” She continued, “People can panic all they want. I’m sitting here comfy and cozy eating popcorn.” [Twitter/X, 7/8/25]
    • Numerous far-right and QAnon influencers have also used this argument, suggesting that the Trump administration is intentionally trying to stir up public outrage in order to facilitate the true release of the files. [Bluesky, 7/9/25]