Overview

• A joint Department of Justice and FBI review concluded that no incriminating Epstein client list exists, found no evidence of blackmail and reaffirmed that his 2019 jail death was a suicide.
• President Trump, at a July 8 cabinet meeting, dismissed questions about Epstein as a distraction from issues like Texas flooding and urged supporters to move on.
• Comedian and longtime Trump ally Roseanne Barr took to social media on July 8 to chastise the president for downplaying child sex trafficking concerns, writing “Read the damn room.”
• MAGA loyalists have seized on the memo’s findings to call for Attorney General Pam Bondi’s removal after she previously suggested the Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk.”
• The fallout underscores growing rifts within Trump’s base, contrasting his 2024 pledge to expose Epstein’s crimes with his current stance to end the inquiry.