Trump and Bondi, Confronted Over Epstein Files, Tell Supporters to Move On

Politics|Confronted Over Epstein Files, Trump and Bondi Tell Supporters to Move On

President Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi once suggested they would expose the hidden, potentially sinister truth about Jeffrey Epstein’s death in 2019. On Tuesday, they had a message to supporters incensed by the decision to close the case once and for all: Get over it.

“You still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” Mr. Trump, visibly exasperated, asked a reporter at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the day after the Justice Department released a memo concluding that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted” in the investigation of Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

Ms. Bondi, the main target of critics on the right, added, “He committed suicide.”

But Epstein obsessives, who make up a small but influential cohort of Mr. Trump’s far-right political coalition, showed zero inclination to move on — quite the opposite, in fact. They largely spared Mr. Trump, but have turned with a vengeance on Ms. Bondi; the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel; and his top deputy, Dan Bongino, for failing to come up with anything new or salacious in a case that multiple investigations have long deemed a dead end.

“She needs to resign,” wrote Laura Loomer, a Trump ally who has suggested, without evidence, that the department had suppressed evidence that Mr. Epstein was murdered. “The American people and MAGA base will not tolerate being lied to.”

Elon Musk, who has had a falling-out with Mr. Trump, has criticized the Justice Department and the president himself over the Epstein case. “How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?” Mr. Musk posted on social media on Tuesday afternoon.

There are no indications that Mr. Trump is considering replacing Ms. Bondi or anyone else over the investigation, which has occupied a remarkable amount of government time and political attention. But he clearly wants it behind him and was visibly agitated to be asked questions about it during the meeting, which was intended to celebrate recent foreign policy and legislative victories and to discuss the deadly floods in Texas.