Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed FBI Director Kash Patel to handle the seemingly rogue FBI Field Office in New York for repeatedly refusing to provide her with the “full set of documents” related to the late billionaire predator Jeffrey Epstein, a letter from her office revealed Thursday.
A photo of the letter, dated February 27 from Bondi to Patel, was obtained by independent journalist Tim Pool and confirmed as authentic by Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec, both of whom were present at the White House for an “Epstein Files: Phase 1” briefing on Thursday morning:
Bondi began her letter:
Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein’s list of contacts, and a list of victims’ names and phone numbers.
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we have received the full set of documents,” the attorney general continued, before reporting that she got a tip from a source at the FBI Field Office in New York stating that the bureau was withholding the complete files.
“Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and the indictment of Epstein,” Bondi wrote. “Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files.”
Bondi noted that she had already spoken to Patel after receiving the tip on Wednesday evening, writing that the FBI director was “just as surprised as I was to learn this new information.”
She then handed Patel two hard deadlines:
By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained.
…
I am also directing you to conduct an immediate investigation into why my order to the FBI was not followed. You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days.
In her conclusion, Bondi added that she knows that Patel is “committed to transparency for the American people.”
A Department of Justice (DOJ) source corroborated Bondi’s claim that the FBI Field Office in New York “withheld” Epstein files in a statement to RealClearPolitics.
The source also claimed that Bondi and Patel are “100 percent on the same page,” RealClearPolitics’ Philip Melanchthon Wegmann reported:
The source inside the FBI Field Office in New York apparently alerted Bondi to the withheld files just hours after she announced on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime that her office would begin releasing “a lot” of information on Thursday:
“Jesse, there are well over — this will make you sick — 200 victims… Over 250, actually. So we have to make sure that their identity is protected… but other than that, I think tomorrow, Jesse… You’re going to see some Epstein information being released by my office,” Bondi told the Fox News host on Wednesday.
“What you’re going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information. It’s pretty sick what that man did, along with his co-defendant,” she added, referring to convicted British child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
While the DOJ source told RealClearPolitics that the first installment of the Epstein files would still be published on Thursday, they stated that the contents would “largely” be materials that have already been leaked to the public.
“There are more that the FBI director and AG have demanded because they’ve been withheld and kept from us,” the source stated.
Conservative journalists and influencers were spotted exiting the White House with binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” on Thursday morning, sparking confusion online as social media users wondered when the files would be released to the general public.
Photos captured by Medill News Service reporter Josh Sukoff show several familiar conservative personalities, including Chaya Raichik of the Libs of TikTok social media page, Rogan O’Handley of the DC_Draino page, former OANN host Liz Wheeler, and film producer Mike Cernovich as they left the West Wing with the binders in their hands:
Conservative personality Alex Lorusso, known as “ALX” on social media, was also seen flipping through the binder outside the White House:
Republican activist Scott Pressler was also photographed exiting the West Wing with his Epstein binder, and Human Events senior editor Jack Posobiec confirmed on social media that he also received one at the briefing.
According to Cernovich, the group of influencers and journalists had an already-scheduled meeting at the White House to discuss “new media,” but were given the binders of what Bondi already had on Epstein because she had been “stonewalled” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the FBI’s Field Office in New York:
“There was a meeting scheduled previously to discuss new media. Already on calendar. AG Pam Bondi had been stonewalled by SDNY and the FBI,” the producer and blogger wrote on X, adding that the content of the Epstein binders “wasn’t anything material.”