Attorney General Pam Bondi has indicated that a list of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s clients will be released.
President Donald Trump “has given a very strong directive, and that’s going to be followed,” Bondi told conservative commentator Benny Johnson when asked about the release of the list in an interview that he posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.
The Justice Department has been contacted for comment via an online contact form on its website.
Why It Matters
Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, was found dead in a cell in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide, but it prompted a wave of conspiracy theories due to his well-documented connections to public and powerful figures.
While hundreds of pages of court documents that named people with ties to Epstein—including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew—have been unsealed, many of them were not accused of wrongdoing and were already public. They included victims of sex abuse, his employees and others with only a passing connection to the scandal.
Those names were not the rumored list of Epstein’s purported clients that some believe would implicate high-profile figures in sex crimes.
On the campaign trial, Trump suggested that he would be open to releasing the Epstein “client list.”
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
“Where are we at with the Jeffrey Epstein list, the documents?” Johnson asked Bondi at the Conservative Political Action Conference, according to the 50-second clip posted on X. Johnson noted that recently confirmed FBI director Kash Patel has “made a lot of public statements” about it.
“I was briefed on that yesterday I can’t talk about that that publicly,” Bondi said, before adding that Trump’s directive would be followed. “A lot of documents,” she added.
Asked by Johnson whether Americans can expect “actual movement on this,” Bondi said: “Donald Trump doesn’t make empty promises. I think promises made, promises kept. And that’s why we’re all there to carry out his directive about making America safe and prosperous.”
Conservatives and supporters of Trump cheered Bondi’s comments on social media, with some expressing the belief that a list could be released within hours and others speculating about the names.
What People Are Saying
Bondi said during an interview with Fox News in November that anyone named in documents related to Epstein who is “still fighting to keep their names private, Sean, they have no legal basis to do so unless they’re a child, a victim or a cooperating defendant.”
Patel said in an interview in November that the way to restore trust in the government is “by giving the American people the truth. And that’s what they feared about Donald Trump. He’s going to come in there and might just give them the Epstein list, the ‘Diddy list,’ and everything else they’re terrified of being exposed.”
Trump said on a podcast in September that he had never visited Epstein’s private island, where prosecutors said Epstein’s alleged abuse of underage girls took place.
Asked why the names of those who did visit the island was not public, Trump said it was “very interesting” and that he would “certainly take a look at” releasing it.
What Happens Next
The Trump administration will likely continue to face pressure from his supporters to release the list.
