The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, outlet which has published several exclusives related to President Donald Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, published an op-ed titled "How to End the Epstein Follies."
After outlining a timeline of the issue since the beginning of the Trump administration, including criticism to Democrats for "trolling Mr. Trump for fun and political profit" despite not acting on them while former President Joe Biden was in office, the board recommends FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi to call a news conference to address the controversy.
"If Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel are now telling the truth about the contents of the Epstein files, then what's needed are officials who will take the responsibility—and then take the heat—for declining to publish documents that could hurt victims and ruin reputations without a criminal case," reads a passage of the article.
However, the board then laments Trump "didn't pick an Attorney General in the mold of Bill Barr, an experienced hand who could offer that kind of straight talk without worrying about the conspiracy-minded podcast attacks."
It says nonetheless that Bondi and Patel could call a news conference, "provide context on the mentions of Mr. Trump, and explain why releasing raw files could do more harm than good."
"Bring FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, if he'll show up. Then they and Mr. Trump could tell the public that the files didn't live up to the hype, including theirs before they took office, the case is closed, and that's that," the piece concludes.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal detailed that Bondi informed Trump in May that his name appeared in the Epstein files.
The outlet added that Justice Department officials saw Trump's name several times while reviewing what Bondi has described as a "truckload" of documents related to the disgraced financier and sex trafficker. She added that many other high-profile figures were also named, and the outlet noted that being mentioned is not a sign of wrongdoing.
Trump is reportedly worried about the backlash from his ties to Epstein nonetheless, with Politico detailing on Thursday that the president was overheard saying that he had nothing to do with Epstein's crimes, but that he would be accused of "some funny business." "They're going to f--k me anyways," he added.
Officials said the files had unverified hearsay about many people who had socialized with Epstein in the past, including Trump. They added that they were not planning on releasing additional files because they contained child pornography and victims' personal information.
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