According to Senator Richard Durbin, FBI agents reviewing files from the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein were instructed to “flag” any records that mentioned President Donald Trump.
Durbin has requested that the Justice Department and the FBI explain what his office refers to as “apparent discrepancies” in the handling of the Epstein files, especially when contrasted with the findings of a Justice Department memo.
In response, President Trump has encouraged his supporters to halt their efforts to secure the release of the files, describing the controversy over their withholding by Attorney General Pam Bondi as nothing more than a “hoax.”
On Friday, Senator Richard Durbin asserted that FBI agents tasked earlier this year with reviewing investigative files in the criminal case of the infamous sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were directed to “flag” any documents in which President Donald Trump was named.
This claim was made in letters the Illinois Democrat sent to the Justice Department and the FBI, demanding they clarify the inconsistencies between previous statements promising a release of the Epstein files and a July 7 Justice Department memo which stated no such release would occur.
Durbin’s letters, which were addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, escalate the pressure on the Trump administration concerning Bondi’s decision to keep evidence about Epstein from the public, despite her earlier promises.
As the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Durbin is in a position that includes oversight of both the Justice Department and the FBI.
“Who made the decision to reassign hundreds of New York Field Office personnel to this March review of Epstein-related records?” Durbin inquired in his letters.
He also asked, “Why were personnel told to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned?”
In an email to CNBC, an FBI spokesperson stated, “The FBI has no comment,” when questioned about Senator Durbin’s letters.
Trump was a past acquaintance of Epstein, who died by suicide in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, just weeks after he was arrested on charges of child sex trafficking.
On Thursday night, a report from The Wall Street Journal alleged that a “bawdy” letter with Trump’s signature was sent to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003. Trump has strongly denied writing such a letter and has stated he intends to sue the Journal.
Durbin’s letters provided a timeline of the Justice Department and FBI’s actions in March, which occurred in the weeks after Bondi announced on Fox News on February 21 that the supposed Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”
On February 27, Bondi faced backlash after she released binders of documents concerning Epstein to conservative influencers, which were discovered to be composed of files that were already available to the public.
Durbin wrote, “After intense blowback from this incident, Attorney General Bondi then appeared on another FOX News show, Life Liberty Levin, and claimed that a ‘whistleblower’ told her that [the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office was] ‘sitting on thousands of pages of documents’; that ‘we will get everything’; that she was ‘assured’ there was more; and that the country would eventually see ’the full Epstein files.”
Durbin said his office was informed that afterward, the FBI was pressured to place about 1,000 personnel from its Information Management Division on 24-hour shifts to examine approximately 100,000 Epstein-related records to produce more documents under an arbitrarily short deadline.
“This effort, which reportedly took place from March 14 through the end of March, was haphazardly supplemented by hundreds of FBI New York Field Office personnel, many of whom lacked the expertise to identify statutorily-protected information regarding child victims and child witnesses or properly handle FOIA requests,” the letter stated.
“My office was told that these personnel were instructed to ‘flag’ any records in which President Trump was mentioned.”
Durbin then pointed to a widely known quote from Trump about Epstein, which was made to a magazine while they were still on friendly terms. “Notably, in 2002, Mr. Trump said of Mr. Epstein, ‘I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,’ ” Durbin wrote.
A memo released on July 7 by the Justice Department and the FBI stated that they had determined no Epstein client list existed and supported the long-held official conclusion that Epstein died by suicide.
The memo also noted, “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” and that they “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” It concluded that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”