About this episode
Newly released emails show that the White House was directly involved in preparing the July 2025 DOJ-FBI memorandum that declared there was no evidence to justify investigations of additional uncharged individuals connected to Jeffrey Epstein and that no further disclosure of Epstein material was warranted. The correspondence emerged through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the Democracy Defenders Fund and shows that Taylor Budowich, then a White House deputy chief of staff, asked FBI Director Kash Patel for a copy of the developing memorandum that he could edit. Patel sent him the draft, and Budowich subsequently circulated proposed changes to Patel and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, although the substance of those suggested edits remains redacted. Budowich also told officials that he had shared the document with the White House communications team. The exchanges occurred only weeks after Trump had reportedly been briefed that his own name appeared in the Epstein files, making the White House’s participation in shaping the document particularly significant. The emails also show the White House taking an active role in how the memorandum would be presented publicly. After Blanche sent Budowich what he described as a final version without official letterhead, Budowich insisted that the document carry DOJ and FBI identification, writing that “someone needs to own this” before it was provided to reporters. Blanche’s counsel subsequently supplied the requested version. The correspondence does not reveal whether the White House successfully changed the memo’s substantive conclusions because the proposed edits were redacted, but it establishes that White House officials were not merely passive recipients of an independent law-enforcement announcement. They were reviewing the document, suggesting changes, circulating it through the communications operation and directing how it would be packaged for public release, even though the memorandum effectively announced that the government saw no basis for additional Epstein-related investigations or disclosures. to contact me: [email protected] source: Secret email puts White House fingerprints on Epstein memo: 'Someone needs to own this' - Raw Story
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