Trump's name is in Epstein's file. "He was notified"

The U.S. Department of Justice notified President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared in documents related to the case of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The White House said this was fake news.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy reportedly told Trump during a May meeting that his name appeared in documents related to the case, the newspaper reported, citing senior administration officials. According to them, Trump's name appears in the documents multiple times. The newspaper emphasized that the mere appearance of a name in the documents does not mean that the individual engaged in improper conduct.

The president was also informed that the names of numerous other prominent individuals appeared in the files. The department was informed that it did not plan to release any further documents related to this investigation due to the child pornography contained within them and the need to protect victims. During the meeting, Trump said he would support the department's decision not to release further documents.

Last week, Trump insisted that Bondi did not tell him that his name appeared in the documents.

White House spokesman Steven Cheung accused the newspaper of denouncing Wednesday's publication as fake news. "This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news concocted by Democrats and the liberal media," he said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters. Last week, the president accused the WSJ of defamation over a story about his ties to Epstein.

Also last Thursday, Trump announced that he had asked the attorney general to produce grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. Bondi announced she would take the matter to court. On Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida refused to unseal the testimony. This is the first court ruling on the matter.

Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday that Trump had been notified of the decision not to pursue the Epstein investigation. "There was nothing in the documents that would provide a basis for further investigation or prosecution, and we filed a motion with the court seeking disclosure of the grand jury testimony. We notified the president of our findings as part of our routine briefing," the statement said.

Trump admitted last week that he had lost faith in some of his supporters, who he said had been drawn into the Democrats' "hoax" surrounding the Epstein case. He also said the issue was one the public should not be concerned with.

Earlier, the attorney general announced that the investigation into Epstein had failed to establish the existence of the client list she promised to publish, and that the billionaire himself had committed suicide. The Justice Department announced that no new documents in the case would be released. This sparked unprecedented divisions within the Republican community and outrage within the pro-Trump MAGA movement. The government was accused of concealing the truth about Epstein's death, which had previously been determined to have committed suicide in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Trump himself promised to release further documents concerning the financier upon his return to the White House. For years, right-wing media outlets have suggested that the government is concealing information about Epstein, who, according to them, maintained a "client list" used to blackmail prominent figures. Bondi told Fox News in February that the "client list" was already on her desk, awaiting review.

From Washington, Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

Sun/ car/