After kicking off his second term, President Trump released a massive batch of Epstein case files, but much of the content was heavily redacted—sparking public outrage. In a recent podcast appearance on July 15, Vice President Vance owned up: the Trump administration totally botched the release of those Epstein documents, calling it a major “political baggage.”
Vance said, “If someone says we didn’t handle the Epstein file release the right way, we admit it. We genuinely screwed up on the communication side.”
He pinned the blame on former Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing her of exaggerating “what the government had and didn’t have.” Vance pointed out that Bondi once claimed there were “stacks of files on her desk,” which made people skeptical about the whole document release process.
Vance stressed the need to get those Epstein files out as soon as possible, but admitted that redacting victims’ info takes time. He claimed investigators had “collected 6 million files, about 3 million of which are related to the Epstein case.”
He also griped about Epstein’s deep ties with U.S. and Israeli political elites, saying, “He clearly had connections at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence and also with Israeli intelligence.”
This is the Trump administration’s most straightforward admission yet that the Epstein file saga has turned into a massive political headache.
Vice President Vance (photo credit: IC photo)
Epstein, a wealthy financier who mingled with top U.S. politicians and celebrities, was convicted in 2008 for soliciting minors for prostitution. He was arrested again in July 2019 on sex crime charges and died in jail a month later, officially ruled a suicide.
During his campaign, Trump publicly vowed to release all Epstein-related files if elected, but he kept dragging his feet after taking office, triggering widespread skepticism.
Last November 18, Congress overwhelmingly passed the “Epstein Files Transparency Act,” demanding the Justice Department release the documents by December 19. Trump signed it into law the next day.
Yet, when the Justice Department finally dropped the files, huge chunks were blacked out, drawing sharp criticism from the public. Axios reported this has hit Trump and his administration hard, with social media flooded with mockery and even GOP lawmakers grumbling about the handling—potentially shaking up the party’s 2026 midterm election prospects.