Vice-president JD Vance has sparked fresh online outrage after attempting to deflect criticism over the Trump administration’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday, Vance accused Democrats of doing “absolutely nothing” about the scandal during Joe Biden’s presidency, despite Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction and sentencing occurring under the Biden administration.
Vance’s remarks come days after he reportedly convened a meeting with attorney general Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel to discuss a new communications strategy for handling the Epstein scandal. While Vance denied to Fox that the meeting covered Epstein, social media quickly erupted with renewed demands to “release the files!” after his interview aired.
During the interview, Vance repeated Trump’s previously debunked claim that Bill Clinton had visited Epstein’s private island dozens of times—a claim Clinton has denied. Vance also claimed that “leftwing politicians and leftwing billionaires” frequented the island, prompting swift rebuttals from prominent figures. Bill Kristol, a conservative critic of Trump, urged the release of all files with “no redactions”, while former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau challenged Vance to “release the names” of all involved, regardless of party affiliation.
The White House has faced a bind over the Epstein affair, which has fuelled conspiracy theories among Trump supporters. In July, the justice department announced there was no Epstein client list and that no further files would be released—a reversal from earlier statements by Bondi that a list was “sitting on my desk”. The decision triggered bipartisan uproar, with Vance himself having previously told podcaster Theo Von that “we need to release the Epstein list”.
Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail during Trump’s first presidency. The controversy continues to dog the administration, with calls for transparency crossing political lines.
