WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Vice President JD Vance says the Trump administration 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� mishandled the communications surrounding the
During a lengthy podcast interview with Joe Rogan released Wednesday, Vance pointed largely to former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who infamously stated that an alleged 鈥渃lient list鈥� of Epstein鈥檚 was 鈥渟itting on my desk right now.鈥� Epstein was a convicted sex offender who was known for his wide web of connections to the world’s elite.
In addition to those comments, the Justice Department under Bondi had also offered conservative commentators and influencers binders that were called 鈥淭he Epstein files: Phase 1鈥� and 鈥淒eclassified.鈥�
鈥淚 know Pam. I like Pam. I don鈥檛 think there was anything malicious going on,鈥� Vance told Rogan. 鈥淚 think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we had and what we didn鈥檛 have.鈥�
As a result, Vance said, Bondi was 鈥渞oasted鈥� publicly for it and led people to 鈥渕istrust鈥� the administration鈥檚 transparency efforts on the Epstein files.
鈥淲e absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did,鈥� Vance said. 鈥淏ut do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.鈥�
The controversy over the Epstein files dogged the administration for much of last year, with lawmakers eventually passing a measure that compelled the release of a massive trove of documents in the government’s possession related to its investigations of the disgraced financier. The Justice Department began releasing the documents in late December, which included photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts.
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