Bill O’Reilly, a former Fox News host, said he spoke privately with Donald Trump earlier this year about the Jeffrey Epstein files. According to O’Reilly, Trump told him that releasing those files could “destroy” innocent people.
O’Reilly appeared on NewsNation’s Cuomo show and said they spoke “man to man” on St. Patrick’s Day. O’Reilly explained that Trump believes many names linked to Epstein had no real connection to his crimes. Some people might have only had lunch with Epstein or exchanged a few emails for unrelated reasons. But if their names were made public without proper explanation, their reputations could be ruined.
The White House has not commented on this yet.
The issue matters because Trump’s own supporters are frustrated. During his election campaign, Trump had hinted that he would reveal details about the Epstein case. But the Justice Department recently said Epstein didn’t keep a “client list” and had died by suicide. They also announced no more files would be made public after reviewing all the evidence they had. This has upset many of Trump’s MAGA supporters, who feel let down.
O’Reilly suggested that Attorney General Pam Bondi should hold a press conference to explain what investigators know — but without naming anyone who’s innocent. He said the government should be transparent and share a clear summary of what they found, while protecting people who were not involved in Epstein’s crimes.
O’Reilly also mentioned that former Attorney General Merrick Garland should appear at the press conference alongside Bondi to give the public confidence.
Earlier this year, Bondi had said on Fox News that she had the Epstein files on her desk, but she later clarified that she wasn’t talking about a “client list” — she was referring to the broader set of documents related to Epstein.
There’s also been outside pressure. Billionaire Elon Musk, who recently launched his own political party, claimed on social media (without evidence) that Trump might be holding back the Epstein files because his name appears in them. Trump, however, has denied this, saying he had “nothing to do with it.”
On his website, O’Reilly wrote that this ongoing controversy is damaging the reputation of both the Justice Department and President Trump. He said Americans deserve to know what the government has found, but names should be redacted to avoid harming innocent people.
When a reporter recently asked Trump about Epstein at a Cabinet meeting, Trump grew irritated, saying: “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This has been going on for years.” He also said it was inappropriate to bring it up at a time when the country was facing both success and tragedy, referring to a recent disaster in Texas.
At that same meeting, Bondi clarified her earlier comments, explaining that when she said the files were on her desk, she meant the general case files, not a secret client list. She also mentioned that much of the video evidence collected had turned out to be child exploitation material, which would never be released to the public.
The Justice Department and FBI said in their memo that one of their main goals is to fight child exploitation and support victims, and spreading conspiracy theories about Epstein does not help that mission. They concluded that no further release of information was appropriate.
As of now, it’s unclear how the Trump administration will handle the rising criticism or whether any more details from the Epstein case will be revealed in the future.
