In May, Attorney General Pam Bondi informed former President Donald Trump that his name appeared in documents related to the Justice Department’s review of the Jeffrey Epstein case, according to sources familiar with the meeting who spoke to CNN.

 

The discussion, which also involved Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was described by two White House officials as a standard update outlining the department’s findings. They emphasized that Trump’s name being in the documents was not the main focus of the meeting.

 

Bondi also noted that the documents referenced several other prominent individuals, the officials said. She reportedly told Trump that investigators found no evidence of a so-called “client list,” nor did they uncover anything contradicting the official conclusion that Epstein died by suicide.

 

The sources familiar with the department’s review said the files appeared to include several unsubstantiated claims that the Justice Department found not to be credible, including those relating to Trump.

 

It wasn’t clear in what context Trump’s name appeared in the files. Like many high-powered people in 1990s New York, Trump was an associate of Epstein’s, who worked to cultivate celebrities to burnish his business. The revelation that his name appears in the documents does little to advance previous knowledge about his ties to the late sex offender.

 

“The White House is not surprised by this – Trump’s name was present in the binders that Bondi produced and handed out,” one of the White House officials said, adding that many of the materials already released by the Justice Department had included mention of the president’s name.

 

“The White House does not view this as groundbreaking or new or surprising at all,” the official said, adding that there is no evidence that Trump was involved in any wrongdoing.

 

“The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep,” White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement to CNN, referring to Epstein. “This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about.”

 

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Bondi informed Trump in May about his name appearing in the documents.