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In November, Pam Bondi, now the U.S. attorney general, spoke with Fox News about the deceased financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and footage of the interview has gone viral on social media.
In the interview, Bondi indicated that she wanted more details about Epstein’s associates to be made public “unless they’re a child, a victim or a cooperating defendant.”
Newsweek has contacted Bondi for comment via the Department of Justice‘s media inquiry form.
Why It Matters
On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead at New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Though the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled his death a suicide, the incident triggered a wave of conspiracy theories online.
Some supporters of President Donald Trump, such as members of the QAnon movement, believe the Republican is locked in a secret battle against mass child sex trafficking carried out by prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites, and Bondi may face criticism if she doesn’t release further information about Epstein’s associates.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/GETTY
What To Know
On Wednesday, Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative filmmaker, posted a clip of Bondi’s Fox News interview, on X, formerly Twitter.
Without noting the date of the footage, he wrote: “BREAKING: newly confirmed US Attorney General Pam Bondi is calling for the Epstein client list to be released to the public! This is what Americans want! Expose the evil!”
The post went viral, receiving 1.8 million views and being shared 15,000 times by Thursday morning.
In the clip, Bondi told host Sean Hannity: “Human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar business in this country, and Jeffrey Epstein is dead, and Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison for 20 years where she belongs. And if people in that report are 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 by some chance in some potential case against Ghislaine Maxwell.”
For years, online rumors have claimed without proof that an extended list of Epstein’s “clients” exists. In January 2024, dozens of Epstein’s associates were named in 900 pages of court documents that were unsealed by a New York judge, including Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew, a member of the British royal family.
The documents were not the rumored “client list,” and many of the people named were not accused of wrongdoing and had not been mentioned previously in legal proceedings or news accounts.
Trump has previously been pictured with Epstein, and when asked in July 2020 about Maxwell, a former Epstein associate who is serving a 20-year prison term related to child sex trafficking and other charges, Trump said, “I just wish her well.”
BREAKING: newly confirmed US Attorney General Pam Bondi is calling for the Epstein client list to be released to the public! This is what Americans want! Expose the evil! pic.twitter.com/8dYdBGwigO
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) February 5, 2025
What People Are Saying
In a September interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Trump commented on the possibility of releasing more details about Epstein’s associates if elected for a second term: “I’d certainly take a look at it … I’d be inclined to do the Epstein. I’d have no problem with it.”
Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, tech billionaire Elon Musk said: “If Trump wins, that Epstein client list is gonna become public. Some of those billionaires behind Kamala are terrified of that outcome.”
What Happens Next
The Trump administration will likely face further pressure, not least from its own political base, to release more details about Epstein’s associates.
