FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino found himself in a tense confrontation earlier this week with Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding the Trump administration’s approach to the Jeffrey Epstein case — especially over the so-called “client list,” which officials now insist never actually existed.
Sources told The NY Post that the clash was so intense that Bongino opted to take Friday off and is seriously weighing whether to step down from his position, which he’s held for under four months. The working relationship between him and Bondi appears to have broken down entirely.
“I don’t think Dan comes back if Pam stays,” one insider remarked. This, despite both Bongino and Bondi having publicly acknowledged that their review of Epstein-related documents revealed no groundbreaking information about his death, his inner circle, or his criminal activity.
The conflict intensified after the Justice Department wrapped up its investigation into Epstein’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10, 2019 — just weeks after he faced charges.
That probe involved a collection of materials that Bondi, during a February appearance on Fox News, claimed were physically on her desk awaiting inspection, implying they might include Epstein’s infamous “client list.”
“In February, I did an interview on Fox, and it’s been getting a lot of attention because I said — I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘it’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed,’ meaning the [Epstein] file along with the JFK and MLK files as well,” Bondi said Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting.
Over the years, Epstein was connected to numerous high-profile figures, including Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew.
Trump, too, had socialized with Epstein in the 1990s before entering politics. However, he reportedly kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago in 2007 over an incident.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department released several records from its review, including Epstein’s contact list and flight logs from before his 2019 arrest. Most of the contents had already come out during the 2021 prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate.
In a gesture that was intended to demonstrate openness but ended up being widely mocked, conservative social media personalities were invited to the White House and given binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1,” though no new revelations emerged.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump pledged transparency if elected, saying he’d be fine with releasing the full trove of Epstein documents, including the supposed “client list.” He added, “not involved” and emphasized that he “never went to his island” — a reference to Epstein’s infamous Little St. James.
Bondi had also alluded to the existence of extensive materials held by the FBI’s New York office, suggesting earlier this year that thousands of documents tied to Epstein’s indictment and broader investigation were in their possession.
However, her office issued a brief two-page statement on Monday, summarizing that a thorough review had concluded Epstein hanged himself and that he had abused “over one thousand victims,” but no concrete “client list” had ever been found.
“There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions,” the memo noted.
“We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
When asked on Tuesday whether Epstein may have operated as an intelligence operative — a theory floated due to the leniency of his 2008 plea deal — Bondi replied, “To him being an [intelligence] agent, I have no knowledge about that. We can get back to you on that.”
That plea deal had been brokered by Alex Acosta, the then-U.S. Attorney in Miami. Acosta had reportedly said while being vetted for a position in Trump’s first administration: “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone.”
Bondi also addressed questions about the missing 60 seconds in the 10-hour surveillance video released by DOJ, which was meant to show that no one entered Epstein’s cell the night he died. She attributed the gap to outdated video systems in federal prisons.
“What we learned from the Bureau of Prisons was, every year, every night, they redo that video. It’s old, from like 1999, so every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing,” she said.
“So we’re looking for that video to release that as well, showing that a minute is missing every night.”
Back in June, Bongino had gone on Fox News to reiterate that nothing in the Epstein files pointed to foul play.
“The evidence we have in our files clearly indicates that it was, in fact, a suicide. We do have video,” the former Fox News personality stated. “It’s not the greatest video in the world.”
{Matzav.com}