U.S. President Donald Trump is serious about draining the swamp — but will he circle the drain and get sucked into controversy?
On Friday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke about the so-called Jeffrey Epstein client list during an interview on Fox News with host John Roberts.
When asked if the Department of Justice might be releasing the list of Epstein's clients, Bondi said, "It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump."
Trump was an acquaintance of Epstein. He said in a 2002 New York Magazine article, "I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
Bondi also mentioned she is reviewing the matter alongside the JFK and MLK files, which Trump ordered declassified at the start of his second term.
When pressed by Fox about whether she had seen anything notable in the documents, Bondi said, "Not yet," indicating her review is ongoing, but no revelations have been uncovered as of Friday.
The term "Jeffrey Epstein client list" is used colloquially, but erroneously, to refer to people connected with Jeffrey Epstein — who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
There is no official "client list" explicitly detailing people who paid Epstein for illicit services, as popular stories often suggest.
Instead, what exists are court documents, flight logs, and personal contact lists that mention people connected to Epstein in different capacities, ranging from business associates and social acquaintances to alleged victims and potential co-conspirators.
The records have fuelled speculation, but they don’t constitute a singular, definitive "list" of clients.
Epstein’s "black book," a private phone directory seized by the FBI in 2009, contains 301 British phone numbers and contacts for high-profile figures like Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Trump, Mick Jagger, and Henry Kissinger, and others.
It was made public in 2015 during litigation by Virginia Giuffre, an Epstein victim, against Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former associate convicted in 2021 of trafficking-related charges.
However, inclusion in the book doesn’t mean wrongdoing — it reflects Epstein’s huge network of elite contacts.
Flight logs from his private plane, dubbed the "Lolita Express," also name passengers like former U.S. President Bill Clinton — who took at least 26 trips between 2001 and 2003 — and Trump — who flew multiple times in the 1990s, predating Epstein’s first criminal conviction in 2008.