Vice President JD Vance Says Trump Administration Mishandled Epstein Files Release

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration 'mishandled' last year's release of the Epstein files during an appearance on 'The Joe Rogan Experience'. Vance's comments are among the clearest public acknowledgments yet from the Trump administration that the Epstein files release became a major political liability.

Many noted at the time that the Epstein files release came with clumsy messaging and puzzling redactions — fueling sustained political pressure on President Trump and his administration. Vance told Rogan, 'If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty. We did mishandle it — especially the communications of it.'

Vance said then-Attorney General Pam Bondi's claim about having binders of documents on her desk made 'people mistrust the entire effort.' He added that 'she overstated what we had and what we didn't have.' The vice president said the U.S. should have released the documents as quickly as possible, acknowledging that redactions to victims would require time. Vance also stated that investigators 'collected 6 million documents' — with about 3 million having 'something to do with the Epstein estate.'