CNN anchor Erin Burnett threw President Donald Trump's words back at him Wednesday evening, showing him denying that he was told he appeared in the Justice Department's trove of Jeffrey Epstein files.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the DOJ's files related to Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender. That information was conveyed in a White House meeting and included the detail that Trump’s name was among "many other high-profile figures" mentioned in the extensive Epstein investigation records.
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung denied the report, telling media outlets in a statement, "This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media."
The Justice Department also denied the report, with spokesperson Gates McGavick writing on X, "This is a collection of falsehoods and innuendo designed to push a bulls--- narrative and drive clicks."
Speaking on her show, Burnett noted that merely being mentioned in the files isn't an indication of "specific legal wrongdoing." However, she flagged what's "important" about the report — the timing.
"Now, this is important because this conversation, according to sources to the Journal, took place in May. All right. May is not now. Now is July. But last week, in July, Trump was asked if he'd spoken to Bondi about the files. And I want to play the exchange," she said.
She played a clip of a reporter asking Trump specifically whether the attorney general briefed him on the Justice Department and FBI's findings of their Epstein file review.
"A very, very quick briefing," Trump replied, clearly struggling to hear the reporter.
"What did she tell you about the review? And specifically, did she tell you at all that your name appeared in the files?" the reporter pressed.
"No, no. She's given us just a very quick briefing. And in terms of the credibility of the different things that they've seen. And I would say that, you know, these files were made up by Comey. They were made up by Obama," he ranted.
That was July 15, noted Burnett — two months after the reported briefing from Bondi. She smacked down his "no, no," response.
"All right. Well, that would be a lie, if he's saying that he was not told his name specifically appeared in the files," she said, calling it a "significant development."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
