Five unanswered questions around Trump and the Epstein saga

The controversy over Jeffrey Epstein rumbles on, despite President Trump’s efforts to put it behind him.

It’s been almost three weeks since a joint, unsigned memo from the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) insisted “no incriminating ‘client list’” had been found among material related to Epstein. The memo also contended that there had been “no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”

The statement caused a firestorm – including among many Trump supporters, who had been primed to expect big revelations about Epstein, the sexual predator and disgraced financier who died, apparently of suicide, in 2019.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had said in a February Fox News interview that an Epstein client list was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

In previous years, people very close to Trump, including his eldest son Don Jr. and Vice President Vance, had suggested there was a nefarious motive behind the failure to disclose more material about Epstein.

But even as the controversy moves on, there are many unanswered questions.

Here are five of the biggest.

What happens with Ghislaine Maxwell?

Developments around Maxwell, the British socialite and Epstein associate, have been among the most intriguing new developments.

Todd Blanche, the second highest ranking figure in the DOJ, met with Maxwell in Tallahassee, Fla., on Thursday and Friday.

Maxwell received a 20-year prison sentence in 2022 for conspiring with Epstein in his abuse.

The unusual move by Blanche, who served as one of Trump’s personal attorneys before ascending to his current role at the DOJ, has become a partisan flashpoint.

Democrats and other Trump critics are warning of the prospect of some kind of quid-pro-quo deal, in which Maxwell would be offered a pardon, or at least some level of clemency, in return for exculpatory words on Trump.

“The conflict of interest just stares you in the face,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a speech on Thursday.

Blanche has defended the meetings as a straightforward pursuit of more information.

In a statement on Tuesday, he said, “President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.”

There are reasons to be skeptical about whether lenient treatment of Maxwell would quel the controversy. It might just as easily ratchet it up.

But on Friday, before leaving for a trip to Scotland, Trump notably did not rule out a pardon or clemency of Maxwell.

“I’m allowed to do it but it’s something I have not thought about,” he told reporters at the White House.

How does Trump’s case against the Wall Street Journal go?

The Epstein matter has seen Trump go into full legal battle against the Wall Street Journal, its parent company News Corporation and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Trump says he was defamed by a Journal story that alleged a letter bearing his name and a drawing was included in an album put together by Maxwell to mark Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. The president is seeking $10 billion in damages.

The Journal has stood by its story and has continued to report vigorously on Trump and Epstein. On Wednesday, days after Trump filed his suit, the Journal reported that Trump had been told by the DOJ back in May that his name was mentioned in the Epstein files – though the news organization noted that such a mention is not, in itself, evidence of wrongdoing.

The fact that neither Trump nor Murdoch are inclined to back down sets up a striking clash, not least because of the Murdoch family’s role at Fox News.

Is Pam Bondi in trouble?

Some Republicans and other Trump allies plainly blame Bondi for at least part of the political mess in which they find themselves.

They contend that the attorney general’s comments in the February Fox interview were the spark that ignited the flame of controversy that is now burning the president.

A former attorney for Trump and Epstein told the BBC this week that the DOJ had “jumped the gun a bit” in overhyping the information that they had.

“They were in favor, for good reasons, of disclosing and full transparency, but they didn’t know what they had yet,” David Schoen told the BBC’s “Newsnight.”

Meanwhile, Politico reported this week on GOP disquiet over Bondi’s role, quoting one unnamed senior House GOP aide saying, “I think she, from pillar to post, handled this thing so badly and bizarrely.”

But voices close to Trump, including White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, have publicly defended Bondi, stressing her work to advance Trump’s broader agenda.

The New York Times also reported on Thursday that Bondi “felt blindsided and annoyed” by demands from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that the DOJ should probe actions taken by the Obama administration in relation to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Will Republicans rally around Trump?

The Epstein controversy has been unusually damaging to Trump because it has cracked the unity of the GOP and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) base.

A Wall Street Journal poll released on Thursday evening, found that 69 percent of all registered voters – and a striking 54 percent of Republicans – had either little or no confidence that the DOJ had fully investigated the Epstein matter.

Elected Republicans have also made a stand, at least in some cases.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is leading an effort to force the DOJ to release as much documentation as possible on Epstein. In a separate, closely-watched vote on a House panel this week, three Republicans – Reps. Nancy Mace (S.C.), Brian Jack (Ga.) and Scott Perry (Pa.) – voted with Democrats to subpoena the DOJ for Epstein documents.

Republicans are also expected to receive plenty of hostile questioning on the Epstein matter from their constituents while the House is on its summer recess.

All of that being said, Trump’s overall grip on the GOP is tight. He may well be able to bring his party into firmer line.

How long does the story keep making headlines?

The new lease of life for the Epstein story shows no real signs of dying down – much to Trump’s displeasure.

Indeed, actions that he or his allies have taken have injected new fuel into the furor. Trump’s case against the Journal and Blanche’s meetings with Ghislaine Maxwell both fall into that category.

Critics allege that some other actions taken by the Trump administration, including the rash of loud allegations against the Obama administration over the 2016 election, are intended as a distraction from the Epstein matter. If that’s the case, they haven’t really worked.

It’s always possible that some major domestic or world event could intervene and banish Epstein from the headlines.

But Massie, the maverick Kentucky Republican leading the fight for more disclosure, told reporters this week that he expected public demands on the issue to grow stronger over the summer.

If that proves true, it’s very bad news for Trump.