White House pushes back after reports Trump is named in Epstein files

The Wall Street Journal said the president was informed of the fact by Attorney General Pam Bondi during a routine briefing. It noted that appearing in the documents was not a sign of any wrongdoing by Trump.

In response, a White House spokesman called it a "fake news story".

The Trump administration has been under mounting pressure to disclose more information about Epstein - with whom Trump was friendly before, according to the president, they fell out in 2004.

While campaigning for the presidency last year, Trump had promised to release such files about the well-connected sex offender.

But his supporters have since grown frustrated with the administration's handling of the issue, including its failure to deliver a rumoured "client list" of Epstein. In a memo earlier this month, the justice department and FBI said there was no such list.

Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited his trial on sex trafficking charges, following an earlier conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. His death was ruled a suicide.

His crimes, and the nature of his death, have long been the subject of conspiracy theories.

Separately on Wednesday, a US judge in Florida denied the justice department's bid to unseal court files on Epstein that relate to his prosecution there.

Later that same day, a sub-committee of the US House of Representatives voted to subpoena the justice department for its files. The legal order must be signed by the committee chairman before it is officially issued.

During her briefing of Trump in May, Bondi told the president that the files contained hearsay about many people, including Trump, the Wall Street Journal wrote in its report.

That contradicts an account given earlier this month by the president, who responded "no, no" when asked by a reporter whether he had been told by Bondi that his name appeared in the files.

Bondi also reportedly told the president that the Epstein records included child pornography and victim information that should not be disclosed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Being named in the documents is not evidence of any criminal activity, nor has Trump ever been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the Epstein case.

The story was later matched by other US media outlets, but has not been independently verified by the BBC.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, called the report "nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russia-gate scandal, which President Trump was right about".

The attorney general said: "Nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution."

FBI Director Kash Patel said: "The criminal leakers and Fake News media tries tirelessly to undermine President Trump with smears and lies, and this story is no different."

But an unnamed White House official told Reuters news agency they were not denying that Trump's name appears in the documents.

The official pointed to Epstein files disclosed months earlier by the justice department that had included Trump.

Those files, distributed to conservative influencers in February, included the phone numbers of some of Trump's family members, including his daughter.

Trump had directed Bondi to seek the release of all grand jury materials, prompting the justice department to ask courts in Florida and New York to unseal files related to cases in both those jurisdictions.

But Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled on Wednesday that releasing papers from Epstein's Florida case would violate state guidelines governing grand jury secrecy.

"The court's hands are tied," the Obama appointee ruled in her 12-page order.

The transcripts in question stem from Florida's investigation into Epstein in 2006 that led to him being charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Judge Rosenberg also declined to transfer the issue to New York, where two judges are separately deciding whether to unseal transcripts related to Epstein's 2019 sex-trafficking probe. That request is still pending.

The latest developments come as interest has switched back to Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse young girls.

A senior justice department official is planning to meet the former British socialite to discuss her knowledge of the case, her attorney confirmed to the BBC.

As well as their subpoena for the justice department files, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee earlier sent a legal summons for Maxwell to appear before the body remotely from prison on 11 August.

Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, told the BBC that if she chooses to testify, rather than invoke her constitutional right to remain silent, "she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would".

"As for the congressional subpoena, Ms Maxwell is taking this one step at a time," he added.

"She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds."

House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that Maxwell cannot be trusted to provide accurate testimony.

The Louisiana Republican said: "I mean, this is a person who's been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people."

Bondi said earlier this month the US justice department had uncovered no "incriminating client list" on Epstein.

She also said he did take his own life in a New York jail in 2019 - despite conspiracies over his death.

Bondi had previously suggested she would make major disclosures in the case, saying she had "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs".

The attorney general's reversal prompted fury from some of Trump's most ardent supporters, who called for her to resign.

Democrats have seized on the Republican infighting to accuse the Trump administration of a cover-up.

On Tuesday, Speaker Johnson closed down congressional voting for summer break one day early, in an attempt to stall legislative efforts to force the release of documents related to Epstein.

But Republican rebels in a House Oversight Subcommittee voted on Wednesday afternoon to force the justice department to release the files.

Three Republicans - Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack - joined five Democrats in voting for the subpoena. Two Republicans voted against.

But James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, must sign it off in order for the legal summons to proceed.

-BBC