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New court challenge filed in Pennsylvania to prevent some mail-in ballots from getting thrown out

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New court challenge filed in Pennsylvania to prevent some mail-in ballots from getting thrown out

A new lawsuit filed Tuesday by a constellation of left-leaning groups in Pennsylvania is trying to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being thrown out in November’s election in a battleground state that is expected to play a critical role in selecting a new president.

The lawsuit, filed in a state court, is the latest of perhaps a half-dozen cases to challenge a provision in Pennsylvania law that voters must write the date when they sign their mail-in ballot envelope.

PENNSYLVANIA CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS TO MISS BALLOT AFTER LEGISLATIVE DEADLOCK

Voters not understanding that provision has meant that tens of thousands of ballots have been thrown out since Pennsylvania dramatically expanded mail-in voting in a 2019 law.

A new lawsuit filed by left-leaning groups in Pennsylvania is trying to prevent thousands of mail-in ballots from being thrown out in November’s election. (FOX News)

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The latest lawsuit says multiple courts have found that a voter-written date is meaningless in determining whether the ballot arrived on time or whether the voter is eligible. As a result, rejecting someone’s ballot either because it lacks a date or a correct date should violate the Pennsylvania Constitution’s free and equal elections clause, the 68-page lawsuit said.

“This lawsuit is the only one that is squarely addressing the constitutionality of disenfranchising voters under Pennsylvania’s Constitution,” said Marian Schneider, a lawyer in the case and senior policy counsel for voting rights for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

Enforcement of the dating provision resulted in at least 10,000 ballots getting thrown out in the 2022 mid-term election alone, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit names Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s top election official, as well as the election boards in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, both heavily Democratic jurisdictions.

However, Democrats have fought to undo the dating requirement, while Republicans in the past have fought in court to ensure that counties can and do throw out mail-in ballots that lack a complete or correct date.

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Roughly three-fourths of mail-in ballots tend to be cast by Democrats in Pennsylvania, possibly the result of former President Donald Trump baselessly claiming that mail-in voting is rife with fraud.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Black Political Empowerment Project, POWER Interfaith, Make the Road Pennsylvania, OnePA Activists United, New PA Project Education Fund, Casa San José, Pittsburgh United, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Common Cause Pennsylvania.

Currently, a separate challenge to the date requirement is pending in federal court over whether it violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act or the constitution’s equal protection clause. In March, a divided 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the date requirement does not violate the civil rights law.

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DOJ rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal in SCOTUS response

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DOJ rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal in SCOTUS response

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The Department of Justice on Monday asked the Supreme Court to deny Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghilaine Maxwell’s appeal of her sex-trafficking conviction, a move that comes as the department has recently come under fire for its handling of Epstein’s case files.

Maxwell, 63, was convicted by a jury in New York in 2021 of five counts involving sex trafficking of a minor and conspiracy. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Maxwell appealed her conviction, saying it should be tossed out for several reasons, including that a plea deal Epstein reached with the federal government in 2007 immunized her and that statutes of limitations had run out.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN DIED BY SUICIDE, DID NOT HAVE CLIENT LIST: DOJ

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Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein smile in this undated photograph. This photo was one of many unearthed during Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial in the Southern District of New York, where she was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022 for working with Epstein to sexually abuse minors. (U.S. Department of Justice/Mega)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied her appeal, but Maxwell argued that circuit courts have issued disparate orders about what kind of immunity is granted through non-prosecutorial agreements, such as the one Epstein received in 2007, and that the Supreme Court should weigh in.

Maxwell is serving out her prison sentence in Tallahassee, Florida. It is set to end in 2037.

The DOJ’s response to the high court comes after the department recently ignited fury among a faction of President Donald Trump’s supporters by announcing it had no new information to release related to Epstein’s case. Epstein was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking underage women, but he died before he could stand trial. Authorities ruled his death was caused by suicide.

BONDI UNDER SIEGE AFTER DOJ REVEALS NO EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST

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Some Trump DOJ officials had advanced theories that the government was hiding information related to Epstein’s case, but they have since walked back those claims.

Congress could call on Maxwell to testify before lawmakers. Citing anonymous sources, the Daily Mail reported Monday that Maxwell is interested in doing that. Maxwell’s attorney did not respond to a Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the report.

Her attorney did, however, take a jab at Trump over the DOJ’s position on Maxwell’s appeal.

“I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal,” attorney David Oscar Markus said. “He’s the ultimate dealmaker — and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it. With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the government made and broke.”

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Trump administration asks appeals court to lift restrictions on SoCal immigration raids

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Trump administration asks appeals court to lift restrictions on SoCal immigration raids

The Trump administration asked a federal appeals court Monday to allow immigration agents to resume unfettered raids across Southern California, seeking to overturn a federal judge’s order in Los Angeles that barred “roving patrols” in seven counties.

The order “is inflicting irreparable harm by preventing the Executive from ensuring that immigration laws are enforced, severely infringing on the President’s Article II authority,” Department of Justice lawyers wrote in a motion asking for an emergency stay on Monday. “These harms will be compounded the longer that injunction is in place.”

After weeks of aggressive sweeps by masked and heavily armed federal agents, the operations seemingly ceased in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties following a temporary restraining order granted Friday night by U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong.

A coalition of civil rights groups and private attorneys sued the federal government, challenging the cases of three immigrants and two U.S. citizens swept up in chaotic arrests that have sown terror and sparked widespread protest since June 6.

“It should tell you everything you need to know that the federal government is rushing to appeal an order that instructs them only to follow the Constitution,” said Mohammad Tajsar, an attorney with ACLU of Southern California, who argued the case. “We look forward to defending the temporary restraining order and ensuring that communities across Southern California are safe from the federal government’s violence.”

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Despite arguments from the Trump administration that its tactics are valid, Frimpong ruled that using race, ethnicity, language, accent, location or employment as a pretext for immigration enforcement is forbidden by the 4th Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The judge found that preventing detainees from meeting with lawyers violates the right to due process guaranteed by the 5th Amendment.

“What the federal government would have this court believe — in the face of a mountain of evidence presented in this case — is that none of this is actually happening,” she wrote.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem incorrectly referred to Frimpong as a man when responding to the order during a news conference Saturday, saying of the judge’s order: “He’s an idiot.”

“We have all the right in the world to go out on the streets and to uphold the law and to do what we’re going to do. So none of our operations are going to change,” Noem said. “We’re going to appeal it and we’re going to win.”

In addition to blocking roving patrols, the judge also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to open part of its detention facility in downtown Los Angeles to attorneys and legal aid groups.

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“While the district court injunction is a significant victory for immigrants, the whiplash of court orders and appeals breeds uncertainty,” said Ming Hsu Chen, a professor at UC Law San Francisco. “That form of real-world insecurity weakens communities and undermines democratic values in places like L.A.”

The Trump administration did not immediately contest the 5th Amendment portion of the ruling. Instead, its attacked the 4th Amendment claim, seeking a stay that would immediately restore the status quo for immigration agents across Southern California while the case is heard by judges from the higher court.

“It is untenable for a district judge to single-handedly ‘restructure the operations’ of federal immigration enforcement,” the appeal argued. “This judicial takeover cannot be allowed to stand.”

But some experts say that’s unlikely.

“Their argument [is] the sky’s falling,” said professor Carl Tobias of the University of Richmond. “They make very extreme arguments, and that doesn’t necessarily help their case in the 9th Circuit.”

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The appeal escalates an already fierce and sprawling legal battle over Trump’s promised mass deportations and the means used to achieve it.

After the president deployed troops to quell anti-ICE protests in June, California sued and won a temporary restraining order that would have stripped the president of command.

The appellate panel swiftly blocked that decision, before overturning it in mid-June, leaving thousands of soldiers in Trump’s hands.

But the Trump appointee who authored the June 19 ruling, Judge Mark J. Bennett of Honolulu, also bristled at the government’s argument that the president’s actions in the case were “unreviewable.”

“Some of the things they say are unorthodox, arguments we don’t usually hear in court,” Chen said. “Instead of framing this as executive overreach, they’re saying the judiciary’s efforts to put limits on executive power is judicial overreach.”

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Last week, another 9th Circuit judge challenged that June decision, petitioning the court to rehear the issue with a larger “en banc” panel — a move that could nudge the case to the Supreme Court.

“Before [courts] became so politicized, many judges would often defer to the three-judge panels that first heard appeals, because they trusted their colleagues,” Tobias said. “Increasing politicization of most appeals courts and somewhat decreased collegiality complicate efforts to predict how the Ninth’s judges will vote in this case.”

Meanwhile, California is gathering evidence to bolster its claim that Marines and National Guard forces participating in immigration enforcement run afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids using soldiers to enforce civilian laws.

Compared to those questions, the legal issues in the L.A. appeal are simple, experts said.

“What makes this case different is how much it’s based on facts,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. “It’s much harder for an appellate court to overturn a trial court finding of fact then it is with regard to legal conclusions.”

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DOJ brass vowed full transparency on Epstein before turning up empty-handed

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DOJ brass vowed full transparency on Epstein before turning up empty-handed

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Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino all called for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking secrets to be made public long before the DOJ’s stunning about-face last week.

“This systemic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list,’” read a joint memo leaked to Axios a week ago. “There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.” 

The revelation shocked many MAGA Republicans and Trump supporters, who had for years believed that Epstein was at the heart of a child sex trafficking ring that involved blackmailing prominent movers and shakers worldwide. Many also doubt the government’s finding that Epstein died by his own hand in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center in 2019.

Trump has since brushed off the Epstein investigation as old news, slamming a reporter who asked about Epstein during a Cabinet meeting last week, and posting a Truth Social message on Saturday defending Bondi for her leadership over the case and claiming that Epstein is “somebody that nobody cares about.”

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“LET PAM BONDI DO HER JOB — SHE’S GREAT! The 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and they tried to do the same thing in 2024 — That’s what she is looking into as AG, and much more,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post defending Bondi. “One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it’s the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World. Let’s keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.”

MAGA WORLD ERUPTS OVER TRUMP’S DEFENSE OF BONDI AMID EPSTEIN FILES FALLOUT

President Donald Trump speaks Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting with Attorney General Pam Bondi. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As MAGA supporters continue calling for details on Epstein’s crimes and alleged ties to the world’s elite, Fox News Digital took a look back at what Bondi, Patel and Bongino had to say about Epstein before the anticlimactic memo dropped. 

Pam Bondi

Attorney General Pam Bondi joins “Hannity” on June 30, 2025. (Fox News/Hannity)

AG PAM BONDI 

Just a couple of weeks after Bondi was sworn in as the nation’s 87th attorney general on Feb. 5, she joined Fox News Channel and touted her mission of transparency, most notably on Epstein, and the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. 

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“The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients. Will that really happen?” Fox News’ John Roberts asked Bondi in an interview on Feb. 21. 

“It is sitting on my desk right now to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump. I’m reviewing that. I’m reviewing the JFK files, the MLK files. That is all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of the president from all these agencies,” Bondi responded. 

“Have you seen anything that you said, ‘Oh, my gosh?’” Roberts asked.

“Not yet,” Bondi responded. 

Bondi released an initial batch of files on Epstein to a handful of social media personalities in late February, but the packets did not contain new evidence. However, Bondi once again vowed to come through on Trump’s message of transparency on Epstein’s “disgusting actions.”

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“This Department of Justice is following through on President Trump’s commitment to transparency and lifting the veil on the disgusting actions of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators,” Bondi said in press release. “The first phase of files released today sheds light on Epstein’s extensive network and begins to provide the public with long overdue accountability.” 

KASH PATEL TORCHES ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’ ABOUT BONDI FEUD AMID MAGA FUROR OVER EPSTEIN FILES

The next month, in March, Bondi joined Fox News’ Sean Hannity and said she ordered the FBI to deliver evidence related to Epstein under a firm deadline, claiming a local field office in New York initially withheld evidence on Epstein. 

“I gave [the FBI] a deadline of Friday at 8 a.m. to get us everything,” Bondi said. “And a source had told me where the documents were being kept, Southern District of New York, shock. So we got them all by Friday at 8 a.m.”

“Thousands of pages of documents. I have the FBI going through them… and Director Patel is going to get us a detailed report as to why the FBI withheld all of those documents,” she continued at the time. 

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Bondi again in May fanned the flames of a potential Epstein bombshell when she stated there were no files missing from her investigation and that the DOJ had uncovered tens of thousands of videos showing Epstein with “children and child porn.”

“No, the FBI, they’re reviewing tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn,” Bondi told the media in May when asked about the Epstein files. 

“There are hundreds of victims,” she added. “… The FBI is diligently going through that.”

FBI’S DAN BONGINO AND ATTORNEY GENERAL PAM BONDI CLASH OVER HANDLING OF EPSTEIN FILES

Bondi was confronted about her February comments on the Epstein files during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, where she defended her remarks to Fox News regarding claims that the Epstein files were on her desk and ready for review. 

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“I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘it’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed,’ meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK files as well,” Bondi responded. 

“That’s what I meant by that. Also, to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,” she continued, saying no such videos would be released or “see the light of day.” 

kash patel testifying

FBI Director Kash Patel (House Committee on Appropriations )

DIRECTOR PATEL

Long before Patel was floated and named as Trump’s FBI chief, the longtime opponent of the “Deep State” claimed the FBI was in control of Epstein’s reported client list and said it could be released on Trump’s first day in office via a subpoena. 

“That’s under direct control of the director of the FBI,” Patel said in 2023 during an interview with BlazeTV’s Glenn Beck. “That’s a thing I think President Trump should run on. On day one, roll out the black book.” 

Patel added in an interview with conservative social media personality Benny Johnson that same year that the FBI was keeping the list private due to the high-profile names in Epstein’s orbit. 

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“Put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” Patel said, aiming his remarks at Republican lawmakers. 

10 REASONS THE DOJ AND FBI FACE BACKLASH OVER EPSTEIN FILES FLOP

He continued that “one subpoena to the FBI” would have forced the release of the alleged list during the same interview with Johnson. 

Patel, who was seen as one of Trump’s more controversial Cabinet picks, earned the praise of key senators for his public calls to uncover details on Epstein ahead of his confirmation hearings. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., for example, promoted Patel’s nomination as FBI director as he would reveal details on Epstein. 

“I look forward to working with Kash Patel as FBI Director to release Epstein’s flight logs and black book,” Blackburn posted to X following Patel’s nomination in November. “Under the Trump administration, the American people are going to get answers.”

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Fast-forward to his confirmation hearing in January, Patel vowed he would work to uncover Epstein’s alleged vast web of crimes and connections to high-profile individuals. 

TRUMP DEFENDS EMBATTLED AG PAM BONDI, SAYS ‘NOBODY CARES ABOUT’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN

“I want to talk to you about the Epstein case,” Blackburn told Epstein in January during his confirmation hearing. “I have worked on this for years, trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein’s plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking, sex trafficking ring. Now earlier I urged then Chairman Durbin to subpoena those records and I ended up being blocked by Senator Durbin and Christopher Wray. They stonewalled on this and I know that breaking up these trafficking rings is important to President Trump. So will you work with me on this issue so we know who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in building the sex trafficking rings?”

“Absolutely, Senator,” Patel responded. “Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward.”

Patel again vowed in February that he would let no stone go unturned as Bondi demanded more documents from the FBI related to Epstein. 

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“The FBI is entering a new era – one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned – and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be. The oath we take is to the Constitution, and under my leadership, that promise will be upheld without compromise,” he posted to X a the time. 

Patel and Bongino joined Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in May and defended that evidence showed Epstein killed himself in his New York City jail cell in 2019 – a death many speculated was not suicide, but a cover-up to allegedly protect elites wrapped up in Epstein’s crime – which sparked outrage among conservatives for their handling of the case. 

TRUMP SLAMS REPORTER FOR ASKING ABOUT ‘CREEP’ JEFFREY EPSTEIN DURING CABINET MEETING

“As someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor who’s been in that prison system, who’s been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who’s been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was,” Patel said when questioned about Epstein’s death during the interview. 

As Trump supporters spoke out against the FBI and DOJ memo determining there was no Epstein bombshell, reports circulated that a rift at DOJ could lead to Patel resigning. The FBI chief denied such claims on X while also adding that “the conspiracy theories just aren’t true.” 

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“The conspiracy theories just aren’t true, never have been. It’s an honor to serve the President of the United States @realDonaldTrump – and I’ll continue to do so for as long as he calls on me,” he posted to X. 

Dan Bongino

Dan Bongino had urged Americans to follow the Epstein case long before he joined the FBI. (Reuters)

DEPUTY DIRECTOR BONGINO 

Back when Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino hosted a popular national podcast, he urged Americans to keep their eyes peeled on details related to Epstein because it’s a “big deal.”

“That Jeffrey Epstein story is a big deal. Please do not let that story go. Keep your eye on it,” he told his audience in May 2023. 

In January 2024, Bongino again claimed to his audience that details surrounding Epstein were shocking and that he heard from trusted sources that there were multiple videos showing Epstein with associates abusing children. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, it has been speculated by many people who are extremely credible,” Bongino said on a podcast in 2024, “including multiple sources to others and to me – one I spoke to directly – that there are a multitude of tapes.”

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“This is where I get really upset at the media,” he said later in the podcast, adding that journalists had “done almost like no – maybe because I was an investigator before, it’s like, I’m amazed at how few people are putting two and two together.”

Following Patel and Bongino reporting to the public that evidence showed Epstein committed suicide, Bongino posted to X that he was not asking Americans to “believe me, or not,” but was telling them the facts surrounding “what exists, and what doesn’t.”

AG PAM BONDI ON EPSTEIN FILES: ‘THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW’

“I was asked about some of the details surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein case. I have reviewed the case. Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. There’s no evidence in the case file indicating otherwise,” Bongino posted on the social platform X after the interview. “I’m not asking you to believe me, or not. I’m telling you what exists, and what doesn’t. If new evidence surfaces I’m happy to reevaluate.”

Reports spread over the weekend that Bongino clashed with Bondi over the Epstein files, including allegedly raising his voice at White House chief of staff Susie Wiles before abruptly leaving a meeting. Bongino was said to be irate over Bondi’s “lack of transparency from the start” over the handling of the files. Bongino is considering resigning over the matter, but no decision has been made publicly known. 

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Trump in Philadelphia

President Donald Trump has brushed off focusing on the Epstein case in recent days. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Trump, meanwhile, threw his support behind Bondi in the Saturday Truth Social post while underscoring members of his administration are all on the same team. 

“What’s going on with my ‘boys’ and, in some cases, ‘gals?’ They’re all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB,” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social on Saturday. “We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening.” 

“For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” Trump continued while pinning blaming for the files on Democrats. “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden administration.”

“They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called ‘friends’ are playing right into their hands,” Trump wrote. “Why didn’t these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn’t they use it?”

jeffrey epstein sits on purple couch (left) attorney general pam bondi gives press briefing (right)

Jeffrey Epstein and Attorney General Pam Bondi

Trump, who said from the campaign trail he was open to releasing such Epstein files if re-elected, slammed a reporter on Tuesday for inquiring about the files, calling Epstein a “creep” who was old news in comparison to national tragedies such as the floods that gripped Texas this month. 

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“This guy’s been talked about for years. You’re asking.… We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And are people are still talking about this guy, this creep?” Trump asked. “That is unbelievable.”

“I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump added. “At a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration. But you go ahead.” 

The DOJ and White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the previous remarks from DOJ leadership ahead of the memo determining Epstein did not have a client list. 

Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver, Brooke Signman, and Brie Stimson contributed to this report. 

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