AG Bondi briefed Trump that his name was in Epstein files

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to reporters as President Donald Trump listens, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

When U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed U.S. President Donald Trump in May on the U.S. Justice Department’s review of the documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, she told him that his name appeared in the files, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN.

The conversation, which also included U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was characterized by two White House officials as a “routine briefing” that covered the scope of the Justice Department’s findings. Trump’s name appearing in the files, they said, was not the sole focus of the discussions.

• U.S. House subcommittee votes to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files

Bondi also raised in the meeting that several names of high-profile figures were also mentioned, and that investigators did not find evidence of a so-called client list or evidence refuting that Epstein died by suicide, the officials said.

The sources familiar with the department’s review said the files appeared to include several unsubstantiated claims that the Justice Department found not to be credible, including those relating to Trump.

It wasn’t clear in what context Trump’s name appeared in the files. Like many high-powered people in 1990s New York, Trump was an associate of Epstein’s, who worked to cultivate celebrities to burnish his business. The revelation that his name appears in the documents does little to advance previous knowledge about his ties to the late sex offender.

“The White House is not surprised by this – Trump’s name was present in the binders that Bondi produced and handed out,” one of the White House officials said, adding that many of the materials already released by the Justice Department had included mention of the president’s name.

“The White House does not view this as groundbreaking or new or surprising at all,” the official said, adding that there is no evidence that Trump was involved in any wrongdoing.

• U.S. House Oversight Committee subpoenas Ghislaine Maxwell for deposition

“The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN, referring to Epstein. “This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Bondi informed Trump in May about his name appearing in the documents.

The revelations about the meeting contradict Trump’s more recent denials that he was told he was in the files.

Pressed last week on whether Bondi had told him he was named in the documents, he said, “No, no. She’s given us just a very quick briefing.”

Trump has struggled to tamp down weeks of backlash over the administration’s decision not to release more documents related to the Epstein investigation — a move that infuriated a vocal segment of the MAGA base and put the president at odds with some of his most ardent supporters.

Inside the White House, officials were outraged that Bondi did not redact Trump’s name from publicly available materials contained in Epstein binders distributed to influencers in February, sources said. Her failure to protect the president during the episode has been a longstanding point of contention between the DOJ and the White House.

• CNN exclusive: Newly discovered photos and video shed fresh light on Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein

“The DOJ and FBI reviewed the Epstein Files and reached the conclusion set out in the July 6 memo,” Bondi and Blanche said in a statement on Wednesday. “Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution, and we have filed a motion in court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts. As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings.”

The White House has dismissed the ongoing focus on the Epstein files, arguing that it’s distracting from the administration’s accomplishments and aiding Democrats’ efforts to damage the president.

But a growing and bipartisan chorus of lawmakers have since called for a full release of the documents, forcing Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to cut short their legislative session to avoid taking a series of votes on the matter. But before leaving town, a House Oversight subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena the Department of Justice to release files related to Epstein.

A Wall Street Journal report last week – about a letter bearing Trump’s name and the outline of a naked woman that was included in an album given to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003 – has also ratcheted up the pressure on Trump.

Trump denied writing the letter and has since sued the Wall Street Journal over its publication of that article.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Paula Reid and Kit Maher contributed to this report.