Closing of Epstein Investigation Unpopular With Voters

On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his Attorney General Pam Bondi to release files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, including Grand Jury testimony, for which a judge's approval is necessary, however. The move came after more than a week of controvercy around the topic and Trump trying to deflect the uproar that would just not die down. Pressure mounted yesterday after the Wall Street Journal published a previously unreleased letter by Trump on the occasion of Epstein's 50th birthday, including the drawing of a naked woman.

Despite campaign promises by Trump to release certain files pertaining to the investigation into deceases society figure and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, his administration in early July declared that these documents, a client list specifically, did not exist and that it believed that Epstein had taken his own life in prison.

The announcement alienated Trump's base which for years has been fed a narrative around an Epstein conspiracy, including by Trump and people now in his administration. The conspiracy claims that documents implicating prominent figures in sex crimes have been held back for years and that Epstein was murdered as a cover-up. Attorney General Pam Bondi had as recently as February refered to the list as existing, while Trump confidant Elon Musk in June tweeted that Trump was implicated in the files.

In July, only 17 percent of U.S. voters approved of the handling of the Epstein files, the lowest among eight surveyed issues including immigration, trade, the economy, the Russia-Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict. All issued had approval ratings under 50 percent.