Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump emphatically denied reports that administration officials planned to convene a strategy session to address the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, amid mounting scrutiny over the government’s handling of related files and investigations.
Multiple news outlets reported on August 5 that Vance was expected to host a dinner meeting at his residence on Wednesday evening, August 6, with senior administration officials to discuss the administration’s response to ongoing Epstein-related controversies. The reported attendees included Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
William Martin, Vance’s communications director, rejected the reports, describing them as pure fiction. During a White House event on Wednesday afternoon, Vance told reporters, “It’s completely fake news, we’re not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation.”
Trump characterized the entire story as a hoax orchestrated by Democrats to distract from what he described as the most successful six months in the country’s history. He dismissed the reports as baseless and politically motivated, suggesting they were designed to divert attention from his administration’s accomplishments.
The controversy centers on the administration’s consideration of whether to release audio recordings and transcripts from Blanche’s nine-hour interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. The Justice Department conducted the interviews over two consecutive days in late July 2025.
According to sources familiar with Maxwell’s statements, she told Blanche that Trump had never engaged in concerning behavior in her presence and provided no information that would be harmful to the President. The administration has indicated it could release the interview materials as early as this week, though the decision remains under consideration.
Shortly after her interview with Blanche, Maxwell was transferred from a federal prison in Florida to a minimum-security facility in Bryan, Texas. Trump stated he had no knowledge of the transfer decision and learned about it through media reports, similar to how the public discovered the information.
Despite the denials from Vance and Trump, subsequent reporting indicated that administration officials did convene to discuss Epstein-related matters, though the meeting was reportedly relocated from Vance’s residence to the White House. Bondi and Patel were confirmed to have attended the discussions, though the full roster of participants remained unclear.
The administration has also reportedly considered having Blanche conduct a press conference or appear on popular podcaster Joe Rogan’s show to address the Epstein situation. Rogan, who endorsed Trump during the 2024 election after the President appeared on his podcast, has been highly critical of the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and previously called the government’s refusal to release more information a line in the sand.
Federal Judge Richard Berman has given the Trump administration until 12 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, August 8, to respond to filings made by Epstein victims and their families regarding the potential unsealing of grand jury testimony and exhibits. The judge requested the government’s position on how much information has already been made public and their stance on unsealing additional materials.
The family of Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who died by suicide earlier in 2025, issued a statement criticizing the reported meeting for excluding survivors of Epstein’s crimes. They emphasized that the voices of victims must be heard above all others in discussions about the case.
Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee issued nearly a dozen subpoenas to the Justice Department and high-profile Democratic and Republican figures for files and information related to Epstein. The committee’s actions represent significant congressional oversight of the administration’s handling of the case.
Maxwell has opposed efforts to unseal grand jury transcripts in her case, with her attorney arguing that the harm to her reputation would be severe and irrevocable. She is also attempting to appeal her sentence at the Supreme Court.
The ongoing controversy has intensified public interest in the Epstein case, with a recent YouGov poll showing that 50 percent of Americans now believe Epstein was murdered rather than died by suicide, representing a significant increase from 39 percent earlier in July 2025. This shift reflects growing skepticism about official explanations and distrust in government transparency regarding powerful individuals.
