From belief to betrayal: Maga base erupts as Trump team junks ‘Epstein Files’

In February, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘client list’ was on her desk.

That same month, the Donald Trump administration invited far-right influencers to the White House and delivered them binders containing ‘Epstein Files’.

Last week, however, the Trump administration junked conspiracy theories the far-right had peddled for years, including Trump and his top aides and supporters, and concluded that there was no ‘client list’ of Epstein, no evidence that Epstein blackmailed high-profile people, and no evidence that he was murdered.

The sudden reversal of the yearslong positions that Trump and his associates had taken in the Epstein case has outraged several leading figures in the far-right ‘Make America Great Again’ (Maga) movement.

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Summing up the collective Maga rage, far-right Republican lawmaker Anna Paulina Luna said in all-caps, “THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!”

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For years, the American far-right was obsessed with Epstein, the financier who pleaded guilty for pushing a minor into prostitution and soliciting prostitution and was further indicted for sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy of sex trafficking.

The far-right commentators claimed that ‘Epstein Files’ —a collection of Epstein-related documents, such as flight logs, contact lists, victims’ accounts, communications, and names of his associates— contained a list of clients to whom Epstein supplied girls for sex, material he used to blackmail high-profile people, and evidence of the cover-up of his death.

Now, all of these far-right figures, that include Vice President JD Vance and FBI Director Kash Patel, have egg on their face as the administration has junked years of conspiracy theories. Vance had personally referred to the purported client list for years and Patel had sown doubts about Epstein’s death.

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However, there are also doubts whether the Trump administration’s so-called revelation about Epstein Files itself is a cover-up. The fact that billionaire Elon Musk had claimed that Trump’s name was there in the Epstein files has added fuel to speculation that the administration could be covering up the information to protect either the president or those close to him. For the record, Trump and Epstein were acquainted and Epstein had hailed their friendship before his death.

However, instead of Trump, the anger of the far-right lot is directed at Attorney General Bondi.

Far-right commentator Laura Loomer said, “Blondi lied. She was always lying."

Conservative commentator Robby Starbuck said that Bondi’s claims are “unacceptable” and that people deserved answers.

“Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was on her desk to review for release to the public just a few months ago. Now the DOJ she leads claims that there’s no Epstein client list. Sorry but this is unacceptable. Was she lying then or is she lying now? We deserve answers,” said Starbuck.

Similarly, Turning Point USA commentator Savanah Hernandez said that Bondi “should step down as Attorney General for lying to the American public”.

Far-right podcaster Alex Jones said, “Next the DOJ will say, ‘Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed.’ This is over the top sickening.”

Even Fox News, which is friendly with Trump, called out the inconsistencies in remarks by Trump’s orbits and the public disclosure last week.

“Epstein had hundreds of high-profile people spend time at his homes. Nothing bad happened? Was that another glitch? One of Epstein’s accusers says the cameras saw everything,” said Fox host Jesse Watters.