Hardline supporters of President Donald Trump are expressing their displeasure with him, accusing him and his administration of withholding files related to the death of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. A panel on ABC’s This Week on Sunday (July 13) laid blame on Trump for their anger, with host Jonathan Karl asking others on the panel if the “boys and gals of Team MAGA” would simply let the matter drop.
“Well, look, what Donald Trump is learning is when you start the fire, sometimes you can’t put it out,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said to Karl. “Now, he started this Epstein fire during the campaign and prior to that by alleging that this was all some, you know, Democratic plot, that he was perhaps murdered by former Democratic officeholder, that there were a lot of Democrats who had been down to Jeffrey Epstein’s island and all the rest.”
The uproar stems from a memo sent out by Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice stated that there was “no incriminating client list” or other evidence that suggested that Epstein was collecting information on high-profile figures, or that they were allegedly involved in salacious sex trafficking exploits with underaged girls. This comes after Trump and Bondi had repeatedly pledged to supporters that they would release damaging evidence including “flight logs”, supported by FBI director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
“He used that to fire up his own base, and he was going to get to the bottom of it, and he was going to release it because he’s absolutely in favor of transparency,” Christie continued. “And let’s be clear about this. Pam Bondi, there’s no chance, in my opinion, that Pam Bondi made this decision on her own. No chance.” According to The New York Times, a fiery spat between Bondi and Bongino over the memo has led to Bongino reportedly deciding to leave his position with the FBI.
Former DOJ spokesperson Sarah Issgur also called Trump out on the panel, noting that his MAGA supporter base is “really big on this stuff though, JFK, Epstein, the moon landing, chemtrails.” Trump took to his Truth Social media platform on Sunday (July 13), pleading with his supporters to “not waste time and energy” on the issue in a rambling post, defending Bondi and writing “We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.”
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