President Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on the Justice Department and FBI, alleging the now-released Jeffrey Epstein files are fabricated by a conspiracy involving former President Barack Obama, ex-FBI Director James Comey, and the Biden administration.
Speaking to reporters in front of the White House, Trump said: “These files were made up by Comey, they were made up by Obama, they were made up by the Biden administration. And we went through years of that with the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, with all of the different things that we had to go through”.
The comments came after the Department of Justice and FBI released a joint memo on July 7 stating that an “exhaustive review” of more than 300 gigabytes of data uncovered “no credible evidence” that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals or operated with protection from government officials.
Even within Trump’s MAGA base, the Epstein fallout is stirring dissent. On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart said “MAGA is in open revolt,” referencing right-wing influencers pushing for the release of all Epstein-related documentation. “For the first time in memory,” Stewart said, “MAGA is not giving in to Trump’s reality distortion field.”
In a June 2024 interview on Fox & Friends Weekend, Trump was asked if he would declassify the Epstein files if reelected. “Yeah, I would,” Trump said on air.
But as Semafor later reported, Fox News omitted the rest of his answer, where he questioned the credibility of the documents: “It’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world.”
Trump defended Attorney General Pam Bondi’s decision not to publicly release the Epstein files: “She has really done a very good job,” he said. In a Feb. 21 interview with Fox News, Bondi claimed an alleged Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk,” though she later walked that back, clarifying she meant case documentation more broadly.
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Actor Kevin Spacey, whose name was included in unsealed Epstein court documents alongside stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Cate Blanchett, posted on X: “Release the Epstein files. All of them… For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can’t come soon enough.”
Release the Epstein files. All of them. For those of us with nothing to fear, the truth can’t come soon enough.
I hate to make this about me — but the media already has.
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) July 15, 2025
None of the celebrities named in court documents have been accused of crimes related to Epstein.
Trump and Epstein were known to be close in the early 2000s. In a 2002 interview with New York Magazine, Trump said Epstein was “a terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Their relationship reportedly ended in 2004 following a dispute over Florida real estate.
DOJ Reaffirms: No Evidence of Foul Play
The DOJ memo also reiterated previous findings that Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in August 2019.
Despite ongoing conspiracy theories, the report states: “We found no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials and will not permit the release of child pornography.”
