The Jeffrey Epstein case continues to cause uproar in the US, along with the alleged connection based on American media reports between Donald Trump and the convicted pedophile. The Daily Mail reports exclusively on the moves the White House allegedly made targeting MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement influencers to brief them on the case, though this failed to shield Trump from criticism even from his supporters.
Specifically, according to the British outlet, President Donald Trump had been back in the White House for just 38 days when right-wing influencer Mike Cernovich was called to the West Wing. Cernovich, 47, wasn’t surprised by the invitation: as one of the original MAGA supporters, he had backed Trump for over a decade and had earned his place among the 15 online influencers who attended the February 27th meeting. But he was surprised by what happened inside, as he told the Daily Mail exclusively.
Read: WSJ: The Justice Department had informed Trump he was in the Epstein files
The distribution of Epstein case files to MAGA influencers, Trump’s comment and the “treasure” that proved to be “coal”
Cernovich and the others had been told they would meet Vice President JD Vance and perhaps some other officials as an informal welcome to the Trump 2.0 era.
“A bunch of people were invited, nobody really knew the agenda,” he said. “The purpose was to meet government officials.”
But after the meeting began, Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared with gifts. Government sources told the Daily Mail that Bondi surprised White House officials by arriving unannounced at the meeting and distributing white folders.
“She walks in; says, ‘hey, I have a surprise for you guys, here are the folders,'” revealed conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley, also known as dc_draino online, another attendee.
O’Handley explained on his Instagram channel: “We were pretty excited because the night before [Bondi] told Jesse Watters, ‘We’re going to release Epstein material.’ I thought, ‘oh my God, we have the Epstein files.'” Earlier, Bondi had even told Fox News that a list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients “is in my office right now for review.”
The 15 influencers left the White House after the meeting with alleged possession of juicy secrets, proudly displaying their binders to cameras, labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” “Only 15 binders were printed, given to 15 independent journalists now included in a growing press pool,” wrote Jessica Reed Kraus, another attendee, on Instagram.
“Proof that a powerful change is happening,” she boasted. “Trump came in and told us we are the most trusted media now. And that he considers our efforts as the reason he won.” The euphoria of MAGA-verse commentators was short-lived, the Daily Mail report notes.
The “Epstein Files” turned out to be nothing more than a completely redacted list of 254 “masseuses,” flight records that had been available online since at least 2019, and Epstein’s redacted index, equally corrupted, according to the report. An attendee at the meeting told the Daily Mail they subsequently found themselves on the defensive against critics who accused them of acting like government “pawns.”
Podcasters fire back at White House – Demand unsealing of Epstein case documents
Five months later, a group of MAGA-friendly podcasters feel similarly deceived by the White House, speaking about the lack of transparency surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Cernovich said the only way to resolve the rift was to publish “the original search warrant applications” for Epstein’s 2019 arrest, which he says Bondi “could have done already.”
“This is more work for an Inspector General,” he said. “A real tough, by-the-book person who has no patience for nonsense, and can order everyone to testify under oath.” Cernovich noted that the Justice Department doesn’t need a court order to unseal the documents: “To me that’s suspicious. Why don’t we have these basic things?”
Indeed, MAGA supporters’ anger hasn’t subsided after the July 7th memo published by Bondi’s Justice Department about their investigation. The document stated that the Justice Department didn’t possess an incriminating “client list” of Epstein’s, had no credible evidence that Epstein was blackmailing prominent figures, and concluded that the convicted pedophile wasn’t murdered in prison.
“No further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,” the Justice Department stated categorically. This position wasn’t well received.
“I told Vance: If you don’t reveal everything, you’re finished”
Tim Dillon, a popular podcaster who interviewed Vice President Vance on October 26 before the 2024 election, said he was invited to dinner last week with Vance, who told him the 10,000 hours of video footage related to the Epstein case was “commercial pornography” and couldn’t be released. Dillon claims Vance told him “they don’t have video of any powerful person in a ‘compromising’ position,” before observing skeptically, “Is this the official line they’re following?”
“What I told Vance, I said, ‘If you don’t reveal everything, you’re finished. Nobody will support you. You’re fully and completely part of this cover-up if everything doesn’t come out.’ I think it paralyzes their presidency,” Dillon said, adding, “[Vance] agrees with me.”
Conspiracy theorist and InfoWars host Alex Jones appeared on Dillon’s podcast Monday to say he too has communicated with the White House. “The White House has called me and tells me last week, ‘What do you want?'” Jones said. Jones said he told a White House staffer, “I want you to do what you were elected to do,” referring to Trump’s campaign promises for full transparency in the Epstein investigation.
Trump’s call to youth-influential podcaster and the “line” change
Dillon then responded: “They want this to go away… [But] it’s not going away until they [reveal] the information they [have].”
The Daily Mail can also report that the White House reached out to Charlie Kirk, the highly influential youth movement leader organized under his non-profit Turning Point USA. “I’m not downplaying this,” Kirk said on his podcast July 15th. “I’m just the messenger here. I’m just the middleman. Young men, and the Gen-Z audience I represent, are enraged by these things.” Kirk explained that the conservative people he talks to refuse to let the issue go because “they want to attack the government’s deep state.”
Trump, increasingly annoyed with his former allies’ obsession, called Kirk. A day later, Kirk seemed to backtrack: “Honestly, I’m done talking about Epstein for now. I’m going to trust my friends in government, I’m going to trust my friends in government to do what needs to be done, to solve it, the ball is in their court.”
On Tuesday, Attorney General Bondi announced that her deputy, Todd Blanche, will visit “in the coming days” Epstein’s accomplice and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell at the low-security federal prison in Tallahassee where she’s serving a 20-year sentence for her role in a sex trafficking network.
Maxwell was convicted in June 2022, and the Daily Mail reported exclusively last week that she’s willing to reveal everything she knows about Epstein. The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday it would issue a subpoena for her testimony.
But also on Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he was closing House business for the summer, to avoid votes on a bipartisan motion (made by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna) to force the release of Epstein-related files.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Justice Department officials told Trump in May that his name appears in a “truckload” of Epstein-related documents.
For his part, Cernovich told the Daily Mail he hadn’t been pressured by anyone in the White House to stop talking about Epstein – and added he would refuse if asked.
“Nobody has asked me to stop or tried to shape the discourse,” he said. “The whole situation seems strange to me. Suddenly we’re supposed to stop talking about Epstein? Suddenly, Democrats and Massie (who hates Trump, and did nothing to try to unseal documents during Biden’s term) say they want the files. Strange from all sides.”
In a statement, the White House told the Daily Mail: “We hold regular meetings and phone calls with influencers and new media figures, which began early in the White House administration. We discuss a range of topics, including current news and stories not being covered.”
But Cernovich warned: “This may be the only issue where the MAGA base will actually assert itself. On almost every other issue, Trump can drive the train wherever he wants. Not on Epstein.”
