'Mentioned More Than Anyone Else': Congressman Alleges Bondi Warned Trump He Appears in Epstein Files Thousands of Times

A Democratic congressman who sits on the House Oversight Committee alleged on CNN the night before Pam Bondi's deposition that Donald Trump's name runs throughout the Epstein investigative files, and that Bondi privately told the president he appears in them tens of thousands of times.

Rep. Wesley Bell of Missouri, a former prosecutor, made the allegation during a CNN News Central interview with anchor Kate Bolduan on 28 May 2026, less than 24 hours before former Attorney General Pam Bondi was due to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for a transcribed deposition into the Justice Department's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The deposition will not be under oath.

Bell also stated that the Trump administration had 'corrupted' an investigation that was not inherently complex, telling Bolduan: 'Things aren't complicated. Now they get corrupted is what we're seeing by this administration.'

Bell on CNN: 'A Full, Detailed and Thorough Investigation'

Bell opened the interview by describing what he said survivors of Epstein's abuse are owed from the process. 'What they are owed is a full, detailed and thorough investigation,' he said. 'That's how we get to that concept of justice. And the survivors and victims deserve nothing less.'

Bell, who served as St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney from 2019 to 2025 before winning Missouri's 1st Congressional District seat, said his prosecutorial background shaped how he approaches the inquiry. 'I've led investigations like these as a prosecutor,' he told Bolduan. 'And we follow that investigation wherever those facts and evidence take us.'

In the same interview, Bell also alleged that Bondi had warned Trump that his name appears throughout the files, characterising the alleged scale of those mentions as tens of thousands of times. That specific claim has not been independently corroborated by a published transcript or official document as of time of writing, and the White House has repeatedly denied the framing. What is confirmed is that Bondi did brief Trump in May 2025 that his name appeared in the files multiple times.

Bell also raised the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation that mandated full disclosure, arguing that without every document, it is impossible to reach the bottom of what he called 'likely the largest sex trafficking operation in this country and possibly in the world.'

Also featured in the CNN segment was Marina Lerta, a survivor of Epstein's abuse, who outlined what she wants answered at the deposition. 'We want to understand what happened inside the DOJ with the redactions,' Lerta said. 'Why are names and photos, information of victims revealed while names of those who exploited are redacted? We have so many names. Why aren't we taking a step forward?'

The Private White House Briefing Trump Publicly Denied

Bell's allegation about the scale of Trump's presence in the files sits atop a documented factual record. The Wall Street Journal reported on 23 July 2025 that Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche briefed Trump at the White House in May 2025 that his name appeared multiple times across a 'truckload' of DOJ-reviewed documents.

Officials described those mentions as 'unverified hearsay' and raw investigative material containing no evidence of criminal conduct. CNN independently confirmed the meeting, reporting that the references to Trump in the files were characterised by investigators as unsubstantiated.

When ABC News pressed Trump on 15 July 2025 about whether Bondi told him his name was in the files, he replied: 'No, no — she's given us just a very quick briefing', before suggesting the files were a fabrication by political rivals. The White House communications director Steven Cheung called the Journal's report 'fake news.'

The watchdog organisation American Oversight published a briefing on 26 May 2026 confirming that Trump's name appeared more than 1,000 times in the files released to the public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. If Bell's 'tens of thousands' figure is accurate, it would reflect the vast volume of material the DOJ has yet to publicly release.

FBI Flagging Orders, Withheld Files, and a Firing 12 Days Before Testimony

The allegation that Trump's name was deliberately shielded within the DOJ's own review process has a documented basis. Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Dick Durbin published a letter in late July 2025 alleging that FBI agents were instructed to flag Trump's name during their document review. When Bondi appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on 7 October 2025, she refused to say who gave that order. The New York Times reported in March 2026 that released DOJ documents confirmed the flagging instructions existed.

On the files themselves: Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025 and Trump signed it into law, setting a 19 December 2025 deadline for full disclosure. The DOJ missed it, releasing files in batches. NBC News reported that the DOJ withheld more than 50 pages of FBI interview records connected to a woman who alleged Trump sexually assaulted her as a minor. The White House categorically denies that allegation. A CBS News analysis found that tens of thousands of files were pulled offline after initial release, with 47,635 confirmed offline for 'further review' as of early March 2026.

The House Oversight Committee voted 24-19 on 4 March 2026 to subpoena Bondi, with five Republicans joining Democrats: Reps. Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, Tim Burchett, Michael Cloud, and Scott Perry. Trump fired Bondi as Attorney General on 2 April 2026 — 12 days before her then-scheduled deposition. The DOJ said she would not appear since she was 'no longer attorney general.' Following contempt threats, Bondi's personal counsel agreed to the 29 May 2026 appearance. Ranking Member Robert Garcia, in a formal press release, said Bondi had 'led a White House cover-up that has concealed the full Epstein files.'

The committee estimates the DOJ has publicly released only around half of the six million pages in its possession.