The US Justice Department told Trump that his name emerged in the Epstein files, claims Wall Street Journal after Trump sued the publication
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Within a week of the US President Donald Trump suing the Wall Street Journal for publishing an article claiming that he wrote a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein with a hand-drawn portrait of a naked woman, the newspaper came out with another bombshell report claiming that Trump’s name emerged multiple times during the review of documents relating to the convicted sex offender Epstein by the US Justice Department.
Quoting some senior administration officials, the report claimed that in May 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told President Trump during a meeting at the White House that his name was mentioned in the infamous Epstein files. “They told the president at the meeting that the files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay about many people, including Trump, who had socialised with Epstein in the past, some of the officials said. One of the officials familiar with the documents said they contain hundreds of other names,” the report said.
As per the report, the Attorney General and her deputy further told the President that the Justice Department will not be releasing any more documents from the Epstein files because they contain child pornography and the personal information of victims. Notably, while responding to a journalist’s question last week, Trump reportedly said that Bondi had not told him that his name was in the Epstein files.
The Epstein files, which are sealed investigative records relating to the investigation into Epstein’s criminal activities, have sparked the curiosity of the American people, including Trump’s support base. After Trump swore in as the US President in January this year, Attorney General Bondi indicated that all the Epstein documents, including what many thought was a “client list” of influential individuals who were part of Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, would be made public.
Justice Department’s U-turn
In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi released the initial batch of redacted documents, including flight records and contact lists. She affirmed that more would be released after review to shield victims’ identities. Bondi even stated that one time a client list was “sitting on my desk” to be reviewed.
However, on 7th July, the Justice Department posted an unsigned memo on its website stating that a detailed review of the Epstein files has revealed that there is no list of clients. It further said that the department found no evidence to investigate any uncharged third parties and that there were no additional documents to disclose. It added that most of the material contains child pornography and victim information and would have been sealed during a trial.
The Trump administration’s U-turn on the Epstein files has disappointed several of Trump’s core supporters, including political commentator Tucker Carlson. Even though Trump has been denying any links to the Epstein files, his refusal to release the Epstein files has lent credence to the speculations of his complicity.
The defamation case against the WSJ
On 18th July, a defamation suit was filed in the Miami federal court against reporter Rupert Murdoch and the WSJ after the newspaper published a report claiming that a letter bearing Trump’s name was in a 2003 birthday album of Epstein assembled before Epstein was indicted for sexual offences. The letter had a hand-drawn portrait of a naked woman and alluded to a “secret” that the two men shared. The WSJ report suggested a common interest between Trump and Epstein, a financier who died in jail while undergoing trials relating to charges of sexual offences and trafficking.
Denying the authenticity of the letter and the report, Trump expressed his outrage on the social media platform Truth Social, calling the report a “scam” and the letter “fake”. He accused WSJ editor Emma Tucker of purposefully releasing false content and threatened to “sue the ass off” Murdoch and the publication. The defamation suit claims at least $10 billion in damages, claiming reputational damage and political consequences.
Who is Jeffrey Epstein?
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier who was convicted by a Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. He served 13 months in jail and was arrested again in July 2019 after being charged with sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died a month later in August while undergoing trial.
Epstein files are investigative documents containing files, records, videos, and contacts compiled by federal agencies during the investigation into Epstein’s criminal activities. The files are said to contain flight logs from Epstein’s private aircraft, contact lists, accounting records, and even video evidence of abuse.
