JD Vance Breaks With the White House on the Epstein Files, Says Trump Administration ‘Mishandled’ Their Release

Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that the Trump administration mishandled the release of government records related to Jeffrey Epstein, delivering one of the White House's clearest admissions that its handling of the politically explosive files damaged public trust.

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience released Wednesday, Vance conceded that the administration failed to properly manage both the release and the public expectations surrounding it.

"If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty," Vance told Rogan. "We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it. "Vance was even more blunt later in the discussion. "We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did," he said.

However, the vice president rejected accusations that the confusing rollout was evidence that administration officials were deliberately trying to conceal information. "Do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is that we were trying to hide something? No," Vance said.

The controversy centered in part on former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who previously suggested that an alleged Epstein "client list" was "sitting on my desk right now." Her comments helped create expectations that the administration possessed a definitive list identifying prominent people involved in Epstein's crimes.

Vance defended Bondi personally while acknowledging that her public statements went too far. "I know Pam. I like Pam. I don't think there was anything malicious going on," Vance said.

"I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment." He added that Bondi "overstated what we had and what we didn't have," a mistake he said caused her to be publicly "roasted" and led Americans to "mistrust" the administration's broader transparency effort.

The Justice Department's initial rollout included binders labeled "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified," which were distributed to conservative commentators and online influencers. Much of the material was already publicly available, prompting frustration among some of President Donald Trump's supporters who had expected significant new disclosures.

The administration later faced bipartisan pressure to release more documents connected to Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Trump's association with Epstein has long been scrutinized, though no criminal charges have ever been brought against the president in connection with Epstein's crimes. The two men moved in some of the same Palm Beach and New York social circles during the 1990s and were photographed together at parties. In a 2002 interview with New York magazine, Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy" and said he had known him for 15 years, adding that Epstein "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

Congress eventually approved legislation compelling the release of a larger collection of records. The Justice Department began publishing material in late December, including photographs, call logs, interview transcripts, and grand jury testimony. However, many documents contained extensive redactions supposedly intended, in part, to protect victims.

Vance told Rogan that the administration should have released eligible documents more quickly from the beginning, while clearly explaining that officials needed time to remove identifying information connected to victims.

The vice president also described himself as "one of the O.G. Epstein conspiracy theorists," signaling that he still believes important questions remain about Epstein's relationships with powerful political, financial, and intelligence figures.

During the interview, Vance speculated that Epstein may have had connections to elements of U.S. or Israeli intelligence. However, publicly released records have not conclusively established that Epstein worked for the CIA, Mossad or another intelligence service.