FBI agents were told to look for and mark any files that mentioned Donald Trump during a rushed review of Jeffrey Epstein records, according to Senator Dick Durbin.
Durbin wrote letters to the Justice Department and FBI on Friday asking why this happened and who gave the order. He said FBI agents were pulled into a March review and told to “flag” any record that had Trump’s name. He wants answers from Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
Durbin leads the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said Bondi had promised the public would see the full Epstein files. But a memo from the Justice Department on July 7 said the files would not be released.
Durbin’s letter asks, “Who made the decision to reassign hundreds of New York Field Office personnel to this March review of Epstein-related records?” He also asked, “Why were personnel told to flag records in which President Trump was mentioned?”
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The FBI gave no answer and told CNBC, “The FBI has no comment.”
Trump was once friends with Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 after being arrested for child sex trafficking.
On Thursday night, the Wall Street Journal said Trump had sent Epstein a “bawdy” birthday letter in 2003. The letter had Trump’s signature. Trump said he never wrote such a letter and would sue the Journal.
Durbin said Bondi went on Fox News on February 21 and said, “The so-called Epstein client list was sitting on my desk right now to review.” Then on February 27, she gave binders to conservative influencers, but the files were already public records.
After people complained, Bondi went back on Fox and said a “whistleblower” told her that the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office was “sitting on thousands of pages of documents.” She said, “We will get everything,” and that she was “assured” there was more. She also said, “The country would eventually see the full Epstein files.”
Durbin said his office was told the FBI put around 1,000 people on 24-hour shifts to go through about 100,000 Epstein documents. He said the job was rushed and sloppy. Many of the agents were not trained to handle sensitive files about children or to deal with public records properly.
He also said the FBI told those agents to “flag” any documents that mentioned Trump.
Durbin reminded everyone that Trump once said in 2002, “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.”
On July 7, the Justice Department and FBI said there is no Epstein client list. They said Epstein killed himself and that they found “no credible evidence” he blackmailed powerful people. They also said no more files will be released.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
