'We're not shielding anything,' Vance says of Epstein files
Speaking in Canton, Ohio, on Monday, Vice President JD Vance was asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files and took an opportunity to defend President Donald Trump and his handling of the ongoing saga, which has caused controversy among his base.
Vance went straight to Trump's defense, saying the president has been transparent about the situation.
"First of all, the president has been very clear. We're not shielding anything," Vance said. "The president has directed the attorney general to release all credible information and, frankly, to go and find additional credible information related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. He's been incredibly transparent about that stuff, but some of that stuff takes time."
Vance went on to say that Attorney General Pam Bondi is currently working on the request she received from Trump, asking her to release all credible information related to the case.
"The attorney general is hard at work on that issue right now," Vance said of Bondi, adding that the task takes time.
"You've got to assemble that stuff, you've got to compile that stuff, you've got to redact some victims names so that you protect the victims," he said.
Vance continued, claiming that the Justice Departments under former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush went "easy" on Epstein and that they didn't thoroughly investigate the case.
Vance has been a fierce defender of the president since the fallout of the Epstein files and attacked the Wall Street Journal for its reporting that Trump allegedly wrote a "bawdy" letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday as part of a book of messages, which the president has denied.
"Where is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump," Vance wrote on X in July.
Trump continues to navigate the fallout of the Epstein files. During his bilateral meeting Monday with British Prime Minister Kier Starmer in Scotland, Trump told reporters he has not been interested in anything related to the Epstein files, again, baselessly calling it "a hoax."
"Well, I haven't been overly interested in it. You know, it's something. It's a hoax that's been built up way beyond proportion," Trump said.
Trump continued, claiming without showing evidence that the Epstein files were handled by people who he said were his enemies.
"But think of it, those files were run by these people. They were run by my enemy. If there was anything in there, they would have used them for the election," Trump said.
Epstein was charged with sex trafficking and died by suicide in jail in 2019.
