Durbin says FBI was pressured to flag Epstein records mentioning Trump

FBI was pressured to flag Epstein records mentioning Trump, Durbin says

We're learning about a big accusation related to President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, and it's coming from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

CHICAGO - We're learning about a big accusation related to President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, and it's coming from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin.

What we know:

Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, says his office has received concerning information from the FBI. He claims his office was told that the FBI was pressured to scrub through volumes of Epstein-related documents and to "flag" any mentions of Trump.

In a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, Durbin states U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi pressured the FBI to find 1,000 people to scroll through 100,000 records.

"My office was told that these personnel were instructed to ‘flag’ any records in which President Trump was mentioned," Durbin said.

This comes as Trump posted on social media that he has asked Bondi to produce pertinent grand jury testimony, subject to court approval. Legal experts say the focus on "testimony" would limit the scope of what gets produced, as it would exclude any other related evidence.

On Friday, Durbin says Congress and the Trump administration could simply order all the records released, but they haven't.

"I think there should be a full disclosure of the materials on Epstein. Statements by the attorney general that she had all the issues and reviews on her desk for her to take a look at were kind of a promise to the American people that something was coming, and nothing's come out of it," Durbin said.

Johnson's take:

Republicans have been split over Trump's messaging on the Epstein affair. Close ally, House Speaker Mike Johnson, says he believes the president wants to be transparent.

"He's been very clear he wants all credible information turned over to the people so the people can decide," Johnson said.

But Durbin says administration officials like Bondi and Patel have fallen short of the level of transparency they promised, as members of Trump’s circle of media influencers have spread unsubstantiated rumors.

"I think some of the things that have been said are overblown and are part of conspiracy theories, but let's decide once we see all the materials," Durbin said.

FBI's response:

We asked an FBI spokesperson for comment on Durbin's claims and received a message back saying, "The FBI has no comment."