JD Vance isn’t sugarcoating it. The Trump administration completely botched how they handled the public relations around the Jeffrey Epstein files. He admitted as much on Wednesday.
Speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Vice President pointed the finger at former Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi had previously teased the public, claiming a supposed Epstein “client list” was sitting right on her desk. It was a bold claim. It was also a mistake. To make matters worse, the Justice Department had handed out binders labeled “The Epstein files: Phase 1” and “Declassified” to conservative influencers. It looked messy.
“I know Pam. I like Pam. I don’t think there was anything malicious going on,” Vance told Rogan during the interview. He figured she was just reacting to the intense political pressure of the moment. In his view, she simply oversold what the government actually had in its possession.
The fallout was swift. Bondi got dragged online. Public trust evaporated.
“We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did,” Vance said. Still, he insists it wasn’t a cover-up. He claims they weren’t trying to hide anything. They were just incompetent at managing the message.
This whole headache dragged on for most of last year. Congress eventually stepped in, forcing the government’s hand with legislation to release the massive hoard of documents. The Justice Department finally started dumping the files in late December. What did the public get? A mountain of photos, call logs, grand jury transcripts, and interview notes. Just another day in Washington.
