On the latest episode of his show, Mediaite founder and owner Dan Abrams tackled the ongoing saga with the “Epstein Files” and the Department of Justice’s foot-dragging on releasing them, despite repeated promises to do so.

Epstein was convicted of procuring a child for prostitution in 2008, and served only 13 months in jail under a controversial plea deal that granted him broad work release freedoms. He was arrested again in 2019 for allegedly sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York and was found dead in his cell a little more than a month later; the medical examiner ruled his cause of death was suicide by hanging. Epstein’s prosecution ended with his demise, but his longtime confidante, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted and sentenced for her part in Epstein’s schemes in 2021 and is currently in prison.

The horrific stories about Epstein’s sex trafficking schemes, ongoing suspicions about his death, and his long-running associations with many other rich and powerful men have spawned countless conspiracy theories, especially in light of reports that he kept extensive video, photo, and document files as “blackmail” to wield over his famous pals.

Trump was among those Epstein friends for years until they had what Trump described as a “falling out,” generating a trove of photos and video clips frequently used by the president’s critics to openly speculate if Trump had been involved in the sex trafficking and abuse of underage girls. During a podcast last September, Trump did say that he’d have “no problem” with releasing the Epstein files.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had declared on February 21 during a Fox News appearance that she had Jeffrey Epstein’s client list “on my desk right now to review,” but the binders she passed out to a group of MAGA influencers a week later contained no new information of note. Bondi has continued to promise the files would be released soon, but thus far it has not happened.

Abrams kicked off the episode by pointing out that he’s skeptical that anything substantive would be revealed if the files were released, but it was interesting that many Trump allies in the media were “clamoring” for them to be released, and the administration had “moved quickly” to declassify and release other files regarding Martin Luther King, Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy.

“So what is the holdup on the Epstein files?” Abrams asked at the beginning of the latest episode. “Could it be because Donald Trump and RFK Jr. were both very friendly with Jeffrey Epstein? I don’t know that, but I wonder about it.”

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino’s recent comments saying the Epstein files were being delayed to redact victim information made sense on their face, Abrams noted, but there was a sharp contrast with what he had said just a month prior — and FBI Director Kash Patel had gone even further in an interview last year, when he declared Trump should release the documents “on day one” if he were re-elected.

Bondi overpromising what she would release and then releasing “almost nothing” engendered “a lot of backlash,” said Abrams.

On Feb. 21, Bondi said she had the client list on her desk, and then six days later, she said the FBI withheld documents from her. “Hmm. Why?” Abrams pondered. And then in late March, Bondi went on Fox News again and said they were still working around the clock, redacting victim information from the files.

“I don’t know that that means anything,” said Abrams. “We may get the release tomorrow” because they just needed time, but he was skeptical two months was necessary.

“What we do know,” he said, “is there are numerous photos and videos of Trump with Epstein and Maxwell, as well as the flight logs that were released in 2021 — showing Trump flew on the plane seven times, despite denying that he ever had. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had flown on Epstein’s plane at least twice.

“Are they trying to figure out how to release certain material, without potentially embarrassing either the president or some of his allies?” said Abrams. “I don’t know.”

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The Dan Abrams Show is on SiriusXM’s POTUS Channel.

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