FBI director refuses to answer key Trump-Epstein question seven times

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Washington: FBI director Kash Patel has refused seven times to say whether he ever told Attorney-General Pam Bondi that US President Donald Trump’s name appears in files related to the sex-trafficking investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a combative hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Patel said he had never discussed the so-called Epstein files with Trump, and dodged questions about how many times the president’s name appeared in the documents.

FBI director Kash Patel refused to answer key questions about the appearance of Donald Trump in the Epstein files.

“The number is a total misleading factor,” said Patel, who also said he had not read all the files. “We have not released anyone’s name in the Epstein files that has not been credible.”

Under questioning from Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell, Patel denied that Trump’s name appeared at least 1000 times, at least 500 times or at least 100 times. “I don’t know the number, but it’s not that,” he said.

“My job is not to engage in political innuendo … Your fixation on this matter and baseless accusations that I’m hiding paedophiles is disgusting.”

Swalwell then asked whether Patel had ever disclosed to Bondi that Trump’s name appeared in the files. It was Bondi, along with the FBI, who in July issued a memo saying there was no more credible information to release about the Epstein investigation, enraging parts of Trump’s MAGA base and leading Democrats to complain of a cover-up.

Trump has previously said he knew Epstein socially in the 1990s and early 2000s, but later ended their friendship.

Eric Swalwell tried to ask at least seven times he ever told Attorney-General Pam Bondi that Trump was named in the documents.

“The attorney-general and I have had numerous discussions about the entirety of the Epstein files and the reviews conducted by our teams,” Patel said.

Swalwell pressed for an answer to the question at least seven times, with the two men repeatedly talking over each other as Patel avoided a direct response.

“Why don’t you try spelling it out if you’re going to mock me?” Patel said. “Use the alphabet. A, B, C … D, E, F.”

Swalwell replied: “It sounds like you don’t want to tell us.”

Socks worn by FBI Director Kash Patel, as he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Patel then dodged the question for the seventh time, saying: “Why don’t you try serving your constituency by focusing on reducing violent crime in this country and the number of paedophiles that are illegally harboured in sanctuary cities in California?”

Swalwell noted Patel did not answer the question and said: “We will take your evasiveness as consciousness of guilt”.

Several Democrats grilled Patel during the hearing on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), as did Republican Thomas Massie, who asked Patel about FBI documents summarising interviews with Epstein victims that took place as part of the 2019 sex-trafficking indictment against Epstein.

“According to victims who co-operated with the FBI in that investigation, these documents in FBI possession – your possession – detail at least 20 men,” Massie told Patel, naming a former banking chief executive who has admitted having sex with a member of Epstein’s staff.

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie probed FBI director Kash Patel over Epstein documents possessed by the agency.

Massie continued: “That list also includes at least 19 other individuals; one Hollywood producer, one royal prince, one high-profile individual in the music industry, one very prominent banker, one high-profile government official, one high-profile former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician, at least six billionaires including a billionaire from Canada.

“We know these people exist in the FBI files, the files that you control.”

Patel said he had not personally read those interview summaries, known as FD-302 documents, but the FBI had. “Multiple authorities have looked at the entirety of what we have,” he said, and concluded there was no further credible documentation to release.

The day before, he told a Senate hearing there was no credible evidence that Epstein had trafficked girls to anybody else. Patel also confirmed Trump was never an FBI informant.

Four people were arrested after images of Donald Trump alongside sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected on to Windsor Castle.

The continued focus of lawmakers on the Epstein case comes despite Trump trying to shut the matter down, telling NBC News last week that it was a “dead issue”.

Neither has Trump been able to escape the topic while on a state visit to the UK, where activists projected old photographs of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle. Four people were arrested on “suspicion of malicious communications”, police said.

Massie and Democratic representative Ro Khanna are trying to force a vote in the House of Representatives to compel the release of the files via a mechanism known as a discharge petition that requires 218 signatures. It would also have to pass the Senate, however.

The House Oversight Committee has already released more than 30,000 documents obtained by subpoena from the Justice Department, with more expected.

It is also in negotiations to compel Epstein’s former girlfriend and associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, to testify before Congress. Epstein died in jail in 2019, awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Maxwell is serving a 20-year jail sentence for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls.