'Floored!' White House caught off guard as Epstein dinner plans leak

It was reported on Wednesday that Vice President JD Vance would host a strategy meeting to help determine the White House's response to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and how to handle the information they have about him and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

"But now, after significant news coverage of this scheduled meeting, sources say it may be moved, rescheduled, or canceled entirely," said CNN host Kasie Hunt.

Speaking to senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes, Hunt noted that it was a little shocking to hear news that such a meeting would happen.

What we learned is that the White House was also kind of floored that this information got out there from a number of sources, to my colleague Alayna Treene and me, and a number of our White House team members, that there was going to be a dinner at all," said Holmes as Hunt laughed.

The goal, Holmes said, is for the staff to sit down with some Cabinet members "to really realign."

"One of the things to note is the last time we talked about a meeting involving Susie Wiles, Kash Patel, and Pam Bondi, it didn't end well. In fact, it ended with FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino saying that he wasn't leaking stories about Bondi and storming out of the meeting," recalled Holmes.

There has been a lot of tension between the FBI and Bondi over the Epstein matter. Both Patel and Bongino spent years advocating for the release of the Epstein documents, stating that if they were in charge, the documents would be released. Now, however, things have changed.

"So, this [meeting] would be putting all of these key power players and the people who are really responsible for the messaging around Epstein together at a table in an intimate setting. As you said, we now don't know if this is actually happening, given the intense coverage here," Holmes continued.

She also noted that the White House is unhappy that the details were leaked, as they're discussing the Epstein scandal at all.

"But one of the things to keep in mind here, they are doing a lot right now to prepare their strategy on responding to the Epstein scandal, to the ongoing situation. Because remember, one thing, they have spent a number of weeks really on the defensive. They are trying to take back the narrative, and they believe they all need to be on the same page in order to do that," Holmes closed.

See the update below or at the link here.

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