Several Trump administration officials were flagged by a community fact-checking service after openly violating the law in their handling of the release of files about Jeffrey Epstein, and one rebel Republican is reveling in the public backlash and growing scrutiny facing the administration.
“Government lies are getting clobbered by community notes and I’m here for it,” wrote Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) Saturday in a social media post on X. He is the very lawmaker who introduced the legislation that forced the DOJ to release its files on Epstein.
The DOJ was compelled by law to release all of its files on Epstein by Friday, Dec. 19. However, the agency admitted it withheld hundreds of thousands of files, and has made redactions to the material it did release Friday that were in blatant violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Massie introduced alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).
Nevertheless, a number of Trump administration officials took to social media Friday to champion the administration’s “transparency” in releasing the files, comments that were quickly hit with X’s crowd-source community fact checking service known as “community notes.”
Blanche wrote Friday that the DOJ would continue to produce material on Epstein “consistent with the law,” a remark that was immediately rebuked by a community note that bluntly stated that “the actions of the DOJ aren’t ‘consistent with the law.’”
Similarly, Bondi took to X on Friday to proclaim that President Donald Trump was “leading the most transparent administration in American history,” a remark that again was rebuked by a brutally harsh community note.
“Contrary to the claim, instead of transparency the administration runs defense for pedophiles and rapists,” the community note reads.
The official X account of the DOJ fired back at claims that it was redacting the identity of politicians, which would be illegal under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which only allows for redactions to protect the identity of victims and minors.
Again, a community note flagged the DOJ’s remarks as a lie.
“The Department of Justice's ‘extensive redaction’ of the currently released Epstein files does not comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which makes it against the law,” the community note reads.
Government lies are getting clobbered by community notes and I’m here for it. pic.twitter.com/1DxNLrhQ0G
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 21, 2025