The Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has divided officials at the Justice Department and FBI, with top leaders pointing fingers at one another as they try to explain to US President Donald Trump’s furious base why they are not revealing new information from the high-profile probe, people familiar with the matter said.

The Epstein case has long been a fixation for right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists, who accused the Biden administration, without evidence, of covering up key details of the investigation, purportedly to protect powerful people who may have participated in Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking crimes.

The latest chapter in the saga unfolded earlier this week, when the Justice Department released a memo stating that files related to the sex-trafficking case did not contain a rumoured “client list” and that officials would not be releasing any further investigatory files.

That memo contradicted promises made in recent months by Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump appointee who has publicly said she would be releasing “truckloads” of new information in the Epstein case.

Online pundits and influencers who had promoted the conspiracy theories about Epstein responded by accusing the Attorney General of lying to the American people and calling for her resignation. They also directed their ire at FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino – both of whom are also Trump appointees. Each built their reputation, in part, by hyping unsubstantiated theories about the case and criticising the FBI for allegedly hiding the truth.

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a ceremonial swearing-in of Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick for director of the FBI. Photo / The Washington Post

Top leaders at the FBI and the Justice Department were in agreement about the memo’s findings and release when it went out, said one person familiar with the rift who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal conversations. But since the backlash began, Bongino has tried to distance himself from the Justice Department’s response, this person said.

Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer and Bongino ally who has called for Bondi to be fired over her handling of the Epstein matter, posted on social media that Bongino is considering resigning from his post because he believes the Attorney General is not being transparent about the investigation. Bongino did not show up to work on Friday, though a senior White House official said the deputy director took the day off to go home for the weekend.

“That does not mean he has resigned, and I don’t know if he is considering it. He’s still in the job as recent as 10 minutes ago,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said on Friday afternoon. “Dan Bongino was appointed by the President for a reason, and the President wants him on the team.”

Deputy Attorney-General Todd Blanche – Trump’s former criminal defence attorney and now the second-most-powerful person at the Justice Department (DoJ) – also took to social media, defending the department’s handling of the matter.

Blanche said on X, formerly Twitter, that he worked closely with Bongino and Patel to draft the Epstein memo and that all three men had signed off on it. The memo also stated that Epstein killed himself in 2019 inside a federal prison while awaiting trial – confirming a conclusion that investigators reached years ago, but that Trump and some of his allies have publicly questioned.

“The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DoJ leadership on this memo’s composition and release is patently false,” Blanche posted.

Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein appear to be friendly an old photo. Photo / Supplied

The Justice Department declined to comment. Neither Bongino nor the FBI responded to requests for comment.

Before their appointments to their current roles, Patel and Bongino spent years stoking conspiracy-minded questions about Epstein.

Patel, a former federal prosecutor and assistant public defender, made his name in conservative media as a bombastic and frequent podcast guest and repeatedly called for the FBI to release its full file on Epstein. During a 2023 interview with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, Patel suggested Congress was blocking the release of Epstein’s purported client list “because of who’s on that list”.

“Put on your big-boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are,” he said.

Patel selected Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and popular conservative pundit, as his No 2 – a break with long-standing convention that had seen that job traditionally go to an agent who had risen up through the FBI’s ranks.

Bongino, on his own podcast, had repeatedly questioned the handling of the Epstein investigation. “What the hell are they hiding with Jeffrey Epstein?” he asked in 2023.

In recent months, however, both men have sought to manage expectations about what their much-promised review of the Epstein files would reveal.

“He killed himself,” Bongino said during a joint interview with Patel and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in May, dismissing conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s 2019 jail cell suicide. “I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself.”

Christopher O’Leary, a former FBI senior executive who has been critical of the bureau’s current leadership, blamed the two FBI leaders for the firestorm that has erupted over the Epstein investigation.

“These are ramifications of creating a subculture based on mis- and disinformation and actively and intentionally pushing that information out and creating conspiracies and creating a culture of people who follow these things,” O’Leary said. “They intentionally created this and eroded the American people’s trust in the FBI and DoJ – institutions that were highly trusted before – and now they lack the trust and support of [a] significant part of the Maga base.”

Bondi has attracted the brunt of the backlash since the memo was released. Conservative influencers seized on a February interview on Fox News in which she said she had Epstein’s client list “sitting on my desk right now to review” – a list that the Justice Department now says did not exist.

Speaking at a Cabinet meeting this week, Bondi said she’d actually been referring to the FBI’s broader file on the Epstein investigation during the Fox News interview. Trump leaped to her defence, cutting off a reporter who was asking about her earlier statements.

“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” he asked. “This guy’s been talked about for years ... Are you still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.”