The rumor spread amid backlash over the Trump administration's announcement that its review of the Epstein files found no "incriminating client list."

The Justice Department and FBI's investigation finding no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein was murdered – or kept a "client list" – caused infighting among parts of President Trump's administration and his supporters.

Republican strategist Karl Rove said in a new opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, “there’s hell to pay” surrounding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the saga around the

Interest in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation has exploded over the past month even as President Donald Trump urged the public and media to move on from a saga he sees as “pretty boring.

President Donald Trump was pressed Friday morning on the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before departing for Scotland. When asked by reporters about Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, President Trump redirected the focus.

Trump has repeatedly denied prior knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and claimed he cut off their relationship long ago. For a president skilled at manipulating the media and controlling the Republican Party, it has been the most challenging test of his ability to shift the conversation in his second term.

In 2007, while Bush was president, federal investigators at the FBI and U.S. attorney's office prepared to indict Epstein, but negotiations between Epstein’s lawyers and the U.S. attorney's office in Florida’s Southern District led by Alexander Acosta resulted in a secret deal that let Epstein avoid federal charges.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Attorney General Pam Bondi argued over the criticism they have received over the decision not to release any more material from the FBI’s investigation.

One of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers twice urged the FBI to look at Donald Trump following an alleged incident with him.