JD Vance Admits President Trump’s Administration ‘Absolutely Screwed Up’ Epstein Files Rollout

Vice President JD Vance is owning up to a major misstep.

Speaking on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast released Wednesday, July 15, Vance addressed the fallout over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, telling host Joe Rogan the rollout created unnecessary confusion.

“I say this with all candor, like we absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files,” Vance, 41, said. “But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.”

The comments follow criticism directed at the Trump administration over how it has handled records tied to Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. Lawmakers, Epstein’s victims and their advocates have pressed for years for greater transparency.

CBS News reported that the Justice Department has said roughly half of the 6 million pages of records collected during its investigation would be released, arguing much of the remainder is duplicative, unrelated to Epstein or protected by legal privilege, with redactions necessary to protect victims’ identities.

Vance said public expectations had been raised before any documents were released, pointing to comments from former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had suggested more material was coming, as well as the distribution of binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to conservative influencers.

“I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment,” Vance said on the podcast. “I think she overstated what we had and what we didn’t have.” He added he did not believe Bondi, 60, acted with malicious intent.

Asked what he’d have done differently, the vice president said the administration should have moved faster. “I think that we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning,” he told Rogan. “Obviously it takes a little time to review the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth, but we should have just done it as quickly as possible.”

Epstein, who was 66 when he died by suicide in 2019, was arrested that July on federal sex trafficking charges. His longtime associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, was later convicted of sex trafficking and related offenses. Maxwell, 64, is serving a 20-year prison sentence and continues to appeal the case.

Vance also told Rogan that he believes there “probably was” a broader conspiracy tied to Epstein that went uninvestigated and claimed — without offering evidence — that Epstein had ties to U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies. No U.S. law enforcement agency has publicly concluded that Epstein worked for or on behalf of any intelligence service.

Still, Vance acknowledged the administration mishandled its messaging. “If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty,” he said. “We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it.”