JD Vance admitted the Trump administration mishandled one of its most closely watched transparency efforts, acknowledging officials stumbled in their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The vice president insisted the controversy stemmed from poor communication rather than any attempt to conceal information, even as criticism mounted from both political opponents and members of the MAGA base.
His comments came during a lengthy podcast interview in which he reflected on the administration’s rollout of the files, defended President Donald Trump, and explained why he believed officials should have handled the release differently from the beginning.
Vance acknowledges communication failures while rejecting claims of a cover-up
Vance addressed the controversy during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, where he admitted, “I say this with all candor, like we absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files, like we just did.” He added, “But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.”
Vance said the confusion partly stemmed from former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s public comments. She suggested a client list was sitting on her desk. Binders were also distributed to conservative influencers, but they largely contained documents already available to the public. Vance said he did not believe Bondi acted maliciously. However, he felt she had “overstated what we had and what we didn’t have.”
RadarOnline reported that Vance later acknowledged the administration deserved criticism for its handling of the release. “If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty,” he said. “We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it.”
Vance also argued that officials should have released the documents much sooner. “I think we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning,” he said. However, he noted that investigators still needed time to review records and redact information identifying victims.
Vance described himself as “one of the OG Epstein conspiracy theorists.” He added that he had “gone down every single rabbit hole.” Vance said he believed there was “probably” a broader conspiracy surrounding Epstein. However, he acknowledged that he could not prove it based on the information currently available.
The vice president also defended Trump. He argued that the president ultimately supported releasing the files. Vance said Trump “could have killed” congressional efforts to make them public if he had wanted to. Despite defending the administration’s intentions, Vance acknowledged its biggest mistake. He said officials failed to communicate the process clearly from the start.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HANDLED THE EPSTEIN FILES THE RIGHT WAY, OR SHOULD THEY HAVE RELEASED EVERYTHING SOONER?
