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President Donald Trump was in a generally jovial mood during his Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Which makes sense! It has been a very good last couple of weeks for the president.
But one question from a reporter turned the mood darker. It was about the ongoing controversy surrounding the Department of Justice’s conclusion that Jeffrey Epstein a) did, in fact, commit suicide in jail and b) did not have a list of clients who took part in his sexual escapades.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump responded. “This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking -- we have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things -- we -- and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.”
Which was….interesting. Because, honestly, Trump may be taking his frustration over the Epstein situation out on a reporter but his anger is almost certainly really aimed at Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Bondi has botched the release of information related to Epstein from the start. And that’s to put it kindly.
In late February, she made a big show of inviting 15 right-wing influencers to the White House and presenting them with big black binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” It was, she insisted, the start of blowing the top off this whole scandal.
Except that there was nothing new in the binders. And even the very influencers who were given the binders admitted it.
Around that same time, Bondi did an interview with Fox News Channel’s John Roberts about Epstein. Here’s their exchange:
Roberts: “[You said recently that] DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients? Will that really happen?
Bondi: “It is sitting on my desk right now, to review.”
So………was Bondi lying then? Or is she lying now when she says there is no client list? (Bondi, for her part, has said she misinterpreted Roberts’ question; she thought he was asking about the broader Epstein files, not the client list in particular.)
The problem for Bondi is not that people like me are noting this. It’s that the right-wing online/podcasting/talk radio community simply doesn’t believe her. Everyone from Laura Loomer to Tucker Carlson to Megyn Kelly have suggested that a) Bondi isn’t telling the truth and b) it might be time for her to resign.
“Her days are numbered,” Kelly said of Bondi on her podcast Tuesday.
Make no mistake: Trump listens to these MAGA influencers. (Loomer regularly visits the White House.) And, despite Trump urging everyone to move on, the furor over Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case got worse Tuesday rather than better.
This then is not a bunch of Democrats and some media types calling for a Cabinet official’s resignation — which makes Trump less likely to do it. These are HIS people. And people whose opinion he very much cares about.
I still think Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is the betting favorite as the next Cabinet Secretary to be pushed out — especially after the Ukraine weapons shipment debacle. But the ground is rapidly shifting under Bondi’s feet these days and she needs to hope Trump (and the MAGA influencer crowd) moves on — and fast.
