It's pretty clear that the pressure of this story is getting to Trump, his lies are more disjointed and disconnected, and his attempts to pivot off the subject of Epstein are increasingly clumsy and incoherent. It is hard on him to keep lying, knowing he is implicated in a scandal he hopes to sweep under the rug.
The White House and Justice Department’s response has been driven by no clear strategy other than asking the country to move on, people close to the situation told The Post.
President Donald Trump is increasingly frustrated with his administration’s handling of the furor around the Jeffrey Epstein files, concerned the saga’s unabated domination of the news is overshadowing his agenda, said two people familiar with his thinking.
His exasperation follows weeks of missteps and no clear strategy among top officials who underestimated the outrage, especially from the president’s base, and hoped the country would forget about the unreleased Epstein files and move on, according to nearly a dozen people close to the situation, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose internal deliberations.
“This is a pretty substantial distraction,” said one person close to the situation. “While many are trying to keep the unity, in many ways, the DOJ and the FBI are breaking at the seams. Many are wondering how sustainable this is going to be for all the parties involved — be it the FBI director or attorney general.”
Despite his frustration, Trump has been hesitant to make personnel changes, according to another person close to the president. “He does not want to create a bigger spectacle by firing anyone,” this person said.
At the center of the storm is Attorney General Pam Bondi, who for months made releasing the FBI’s Epstein files one of her signature initiatives. Her pledge intensified the clamor among members of Trump’s right-wing base to release the files amid speculation that the undisclosed evidence could implicate the financier and sex offender’s rich and powerful friends.
“They completely miscalculated the fever pitch to which they built this up,” said Stephen A. Saltzburg, a former Justice Department official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations who teaches at George Washington University’s law school. “Now, they seem to be in full-bore panic mode, trying to change the subject and flailing in an effort to make sense of what makes no sense.”
WaPo
