WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel was in the middle of a two-hour interview on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast Thursday when Elon Musk boldly claimed that President Trump’s presence in the Jeffrey Epstein files is why Attorney General Pam Bondi has yet to release them in full.
“I’m not participating in any of that conversation between Elon and Trump,” a surprised Patel said after learning of the shocking statement by the world’s richest man.
“Time to drop the really big bomb,” Musk,53, tweeted in the middle of a multi-hour rant against the president.
“[Donald Trump] is in the Epstein files. That’s the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT.”
“Jesus Christ,” Rogan said after reading out the message. “That’s a crazy thing to say. How does he know? Does he know that Donald Trump is in the Epstein files? Or does he have access to the Epstein files?”
Patel responded that he didn’t “know how he would” know anything about the contents of the Epstein files, but declined to speak further about the feud.
“I’m just staying out of the Trump-Elon thing; that’s way outside my lane,” he said. “I know my lane, and that ain’t it.”
Earlier in the interview, Patel had discussed the pending release of surveillance video taken of Epstein’s Manhattan jail cell that proves the convicted child sex trafficker killed himself in August 2019.
Conspiracy theories have circulated since Epstein’s death, claiming that he was killed by someone afraid he would expose sex crimes of prominent figures in politics and finance whose friendship he had cultivated over several decades.
“I’m not saying every single camera in the place was working,” Patel told Rogan. “I’m saying we’ve got footage and you’re getting it, and then you can make up your own mind.”
Democrats have since seized on Musk’s claim, sending Bondi and Patel a letter on Thursday requesting the complete unsealing of the investigative file into Epstein.
“We write with profound alarm at allegations that files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have not been declassified and released to the American public because they personally implicate President Trump,” Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) wrote in their letter.
“We ask that you immediately clarify whether this allegation is true and respond to this letter with the requested information and documentation.”
In February, the Justice Department released roughly 200 pages of documents related to Epstein, including his contact list, flight logs and a list of evidence the government amassed against him.
Most, if not all of the names — including the likes of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, actor Alec Baldwin, Ethel Kennedy, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, supermodel Naomi Campbell and rocker Courtney Love — had been previously reported in the years of lawsuits and document leaks in the case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has since claimed that the FBI Field Office in New York has thousands of pages worth of outstanding documents and demanded the bureau fork over that material so that she can disclose it to the public.
