Trump Won't Name Epstein Special Prosecutor

President Trump is not going to name a special prosecutor to investigate his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, says White House press chief Karoline Leavitt. "The president would not recommend [a] special prosecutor in the Epstein case," she told reporters on Thursday, reports Politico. "That's how he feels." The idea had been in circulation as one way Trump might defuse MAGA infighting over the matter.

• Leavitt also defended the administration's moves, saying "some of the most trusted voices in the Republican Party movement" reviewed the files before opting not to make them public, per the Washington Post. She reiterated that Trump has asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to release all "credible" files, and she criticized the media for covering the controversy "like it's the biggest story the American people care about."

• Still, many on the right disagree with the White House. Rep. Lauren Boebert has called for a special counsel, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene supports a move to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files, notes the Hill.
• Also on Thursday, Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Dick Durbin wrote a letter to Bondi demanding that she release the files immediately. "From the lenient plea deal he received in Florida in 2008 to the end of his case with his death in prison in 2019, survivors of his abuse have been denied the full accounting of his crimes and the justice they deserve," they wrote.