Why is the pressure on the Trump government increasing to make public the archives of Jeffrey Epstein

When a journalist asked Trump if the attorney general had told him if his name appeared in the archives, he replied: “No, no.”

In subsequent comments, the president questioned the persistent fascination for the Epstein case, which described as “sordid but boring.”

“Only very bad people, including false news, want something like that to continue,” Trump said.

During the election campaign of last year, Trump promised to publish the files related to the financial fallen in disgrace.

The issue recently resurfaced when, in the midst of his dispute with the president, Elon Musk wrote on the social network X: “Donald Trump is in Epstein's archives. That is the real reason why they have not been made public”, a message he then eliminated.

Some Trump key allies, such as the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and President's own daughter -in -law, Lara Trump, have publicly requested transparency.

Epstein died in a cell in a New York prison in 2019 while waiting to be tried for crimes of sexual trafficking. His death occurred more than a decade after his conviction for requesting sexual services from a minor, so he was registered as a sexual offender.

According to a two -page memorandum of the Department of Justice and the FBI published earlier this month, the investigators did not find any “incriminating list” of customers or “credible evidence” that Epstein blackmail to prominent people.

The researchers also published images that, according to them, support the conclusion that Epstein committed suicide while being held at the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Some conspiracy theorists have been suggesting that Epstein was killed to prevent him from involving government officials, celebrities and other magnates who would be involved in crimes.

The director of the FBI, Kash Patel, and his attachment, Dan Bongino, had questioned the official version about Epstein's death, but since they joined the Trump government they have assured that Epstein took their lives.

The memorandum adds that the researchers “found no evidence that could justify an investigation against not accused third parties.”

However, many members of Donald Trump's political movement, Make America Great Again (“Return the United States again”, Maga), they continue to speculate that details of the crimes of the convicted pedophiles have been hidden, which had good contacts, to protect influential figures or intelligence agencies.

In recent days, Trump has expressed his frustration for the obsession with Epstein and has urged everyone to turn the page. But some of its Republican allies are not willing to do so.

Part of the pressure on Bondi comes from the comments he made in February, when a Fox News interviewer asked him about the alleged list of Epstein clients. “I have it right now on my desk to check it,” he replied.

Bondi spokesman said last week that he really referred to the files on the matter in general.

In an interview on Tuesday with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, stressed that he trusted Trump and his team, and that the White House was aware of facts that he did not know.

However, he said that Bondi “has to step forward and give explanations.”

“We must put everything on the table and let people decide.”

Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene's congresswoman told Benny Johnson in another interview: “Totally support transparency in this matter.”

He praised Bondi's work as attorney general, but said that elected officials must fulfill their promises to voters.

Another conservative republican, Lauren Bobert, of Colorado, said that if no more Epstein files were published, a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the crimes of the tycoon.

Senator John Kennedy, from Louisiana, said for his part that voters expect more accountability.

“I think it is perfectly understandable that the American people want to know who these women sold (Epstein) and why they were not prosecuted,” said NBC News.

Other influential Republicans, such as Senator John Thune and congressman Jim Jordan, defended the president in this matter.

In a press conference on another topic held on Tuesday, Bondi eluded the questions about the dispute.

“Nothing about Epstein,” he told reporters. “I'm not going to talk about Epstein.”

And he said that the Memorandum of the Department of Justice published last week, together with the FBI, which opposes more files about Epstein and confirms his death for suicide, “speaks for himself.”

According to the memorandum, the government reached those conclusions after reviewing more than 300 gigabytes of data.

On Tuesday, the Democratic legislators of the House of Representatives tried unsuccessfully to force a vote on the publication of the Epstein archives.

The Republicans pointed out that the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden also had access to the archives, but did not publish them either.

Analysis of Anthony Zurcher, BBC correspondent in North America

Trump started an extensive post posted on his social social network social this Wednesday with a style that is already familiar: blaming the controversy around Epstein's archives to the “radical leftist Democrats.”

“These deceptions and frauds are the only thing that the Democrats are good,” he wrote. “They are not good governing, they are not good in politics and they are not good by choosing winning candidates.”

Trump has already used this type of rhetoric of 'us against them' to strengthen his followers, presenting himself as someone who fights for the marginalized and unhappy that faces the privileged and rich and who is now in trouble.

However, that the strategy could be failed this time became evident to half publication, when he began to blame his own party and his followers of having fallen into a “leftist trap.”

“My followers of the past fell into this 'shit', they ate the hook,” he wrote. “They have not learned their lesson, and probably they will never.”

Later, in the Oval office, Trump continued to blame those of his own bench, repeating that “some stupid republicans, some silly Republicans, have fallen into the trap.”

The president is marking the battle lines on the Epstein issue and they divide his own side. And with this, he also risks undermining the foundations on which his political force is built.

Trump's success has been promoted by two central messages to his followers: that he is someone who fights an establishment corrupt, and that says things as they are.

At a time when many voters say they are tired of polished politicians with changing opinions, Trump's base sees it as authentic: without ornaments and controversial, yes, but honest.

Trump, who has never departed from wild conspiracy theories or from those who embrace them, is now arguing that there is no “credible” evidence that implies the rich and powerful in the Epstein case and that those who think otherwise are silly or naive.

His changing comments – which Epstein's archives should be published, that there are no files, that any possible file are deception – they also seem less and less a straight man and more someone with something to hide.

He faces the problem of trying to try a negative. And for the moment, some of his supporters are not believing him.

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