A disagreement between US government officials over the decision to withhold records from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation has spilled into the open.
The suggestion a list of Epstein's clients never actually existed sparked disbelief from some members of the public, causing tensions that had been boiling for months between Attorney-General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino to boil over.
Mr Bongino, who for years accused the FBI of concealing secrets about Epstein, took the day off work on Friday, fuelling rumours he was considering resigning over his shattered relations with Ms Bondi.
Here's a timeline of how the internal disagreement erupted.
February: Bondi appears to claim client list is on her desk
Mr Bongino claims a series of comments by Ms Bondi earlier this year were responsible for amping up expectations over what a review of evidence in the Epstein files would turn up.
When asked whether a list of Epstein's clients would be released, the attorney-general told Fox News on February 21: "It's sitting on my desk right now to review."
"That's been a directive by President [Donald] Trump," she said.
"I'm reviewing that, I'm reviewing JFK files, MLK files. That's all in the process of being reviewed, because that was done at the directive of the president from all of these agencies."
Ms Bondi said she had "not yet" been shocked by any details from the Epstein files.
On February 27, conservative influencers were invited to the White House and provided with binders marked, "The Epstein Files: Phase 1" and "Declassified" to spruik the administration's release of declassified documents.
But the binders contained information that had largely already been in the public domain.
Afterward, Ms Bondi said an FBI "source" had informed her of the existence of thousands of pages of previously undisclosed documents and ordered the bureau to provide the "full and complete Epstein files".
She later said officials were poring over a "truckload" of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI.
Then-White House counsellor Alina Habba added to Ms Bondi's commentary on February 27, telling broadcaster Piers Morgan the government had flight logs, information and names that would be released.
"I don't see how it's not shocking that there were so many individuals that were hidden and kept secret, and [have] not been held accountable," she said.
July 7: DOJ says client list does not exist
The US Department of Justice said on Monday Epstein did not maintain a "client list", dashing expectations such a document would be released.
The department also released more than 10 hours of video from the common area of the Metropolitcan Correctional Center's Special Housing Unit where Epstein was held at the time of his death, meant to prove definitively that the wealthy financier killed himself.
It said in a memo that no further evidence collected as part of the sex trafficking investigation against Epstein would be released.
"Sensitive information relating to these victims is intertwined throughout the materials. This includes specific details such as victim names and likenesses, physical descriptions, places of birth, associates, and employment history," the memo said.
"To that end, while we have labored to provide the public with maximum information regarding Epstein and ensured examination of any evidence in the government's possession, it is the determination of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."
The memo also confirmed prior findings by the FBI which concluded that Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell while awaiting trial, and not as a result of a criminal act such murder — a conspiracy theory the Trump administration had previously helped promote.
It added that "perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein" would not serve to combat child exploitation or bring justice to victims.
July 7: MAGA base in disbelief
Soon after, social media was awash with questions about the integrity of the Trump administration.
Prominent MAGA figures and supporters speculated over what had caused FBI director Kash Patel and Mr Bongino to contradict their previous belief of conspiracy theories around Epstein.
A missing minute of footage from the prison footage, which many commentators suggested showed the video had been doctored, and Ms Bondi's comments in February, were key sticking points in online discourse.
"Now we get: there's no client list, there's no evidence that he blackmailed anybody, and there's nobody else who's going to be charged, and no additional information that's going to be released," conservative news commentator Megyn Kelly said.
"I'm sorry, but I fully understand why people are extremely doubtful and frustrated with what's being released right now by the administration, and what's been told to them."
Many among the MAGA faithful have long contended that so-called "deep state" actors were hiding information on Epstein's elite associates.
Conspiracy theorists Alex Jones and Laura Loomer, along with billionaire Elon Musk weighed in, illustrating the growing frustrations within Mr Trump's support base.
"How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?" Mr Musk wrote in one post.
The Tesla CEO had previously suggested documents relating to the Epstein case had not been released because Mr Trump's name appeared in them.
Far-right influencer Loomer called for Mr Trump to fire Ms Bondi over the issue, labelling her "an embarrassment".
July 8: White House scrambles to defend about-face
The White House made efforts to stamp out the uproar on Tuesday, with Mr Trump chiding a reporter who asked Ms Bondi about the Epstein files during a cabinet meeting.
"Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?" Mr Trump, who was visibly exasperated, asked.
"This guy's been talked about for years. You're asking … We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things … and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? This is unbelievable."
Ms Bondi said she had meant the entire Epstein file was on her desk, not a client list, when she spoke with Fox News in February
"That's what I meant by that," she said, adding that many of the videos in the Epstein file "turned out to be child porn".
This material, she added, is "never going to be released, never going to see the light of day".
Ms Bondi also gave an explanation for the missing minute of CCTV footage, insisting it was part of a routine reset that takes place every night at the prison facility.
"We learned from the Bureau of Prisons that every night they redo that video," she said.
"So, every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing."
She said the Justice Department is looking to publish additional footage that would support this reasoning.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is committed to "truth and to transparency".
"That is why the attorney-general and the FBI director pledged, at the president's direction, to do an exhaustive review of all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes and his death," she told reporters.
"They committed to an exhaustive investigation, that's what they did, and they provided the results of that. That's transparency."
July 9: A tense exchange
After days of online backlash, Ms Bondi and Mr Bongino clashed in a face-to-face conversation in the White House on Wednesday.
Mr Bongino reportedly blamed Ms Bondi for building expectations that a review of the Epstein case would reveal a client list, while she claimed he leaked information to the media.
Axios reports the dispute also covered the missing minute of surveillance footage — an oversight for which Mr Bongino has internally been blamed.
"Bondi, [Deputy Attorney General] Todd Blanche, Patel and Bongino were on the same page on this all along, until the criticism started to come in," NBC cited a source familiar with the officials as saying. "Bongino couldn't take it."
News outlets reported Mr Patel was also furious with Ms Bondi for over hyping what would come from the review.
July 11: Deputy attorney-general weighs in
Mr Blanche took to social media early Friday morning in an attempt to shut down rumours FBI leadership had not approved the justice department memo released on Monday.
"I worked closely with @FBIDirectorKash and @FBIDDBongino on the joint FBI and DOJ memo regarding the Epstein files," he wrote in a post on X.
"All of us signed off on the contents of the memo and the conclusions stated in the memo. 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."
July 11: A day off and resignation rumours
It was confirmed on Friday that Mr Bongino had taken the day off work as Ms Loomer and Ms Kelly circulated rumours he was considering resigning if Ms Bondi remains in her role.
July 12: Trump suggests Epstein files were a hoax
Mr Trump urged his political base to stop attacking his administration in a lengthy post to Truth Social on Saturday.
"What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening," he wrote.
"We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and 'selfish people' are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein."
The president suggested the files were a hoax orchestrated by the Democractic Party.
"They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called 'friends' are playing right into their hands," he continued.
"Why didn't these Radical Left Lunatics release the Epstein Files? If there was ANYTHING in there that could have hurt the MAGA Movement, why didn't they use it?"
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