Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics chief under Barack Obama and a longtime legal adversary of Donald Trump, has filed a sweeping Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request targeting government-held records tied to Jeffrey Epstein that may reference the president.
Eisen’s request, submitted through his watchdog organization, the Democracy Defenders Fund, demands that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation release all Epstein-related files reviewed or handled by key Trump-era officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino.
“The govt’s credibility is hanging by a thread—& now they’re pushing a lie the MAGA base isn’t even buying!” Eisen wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “We filed FOIAs to find the truth, because the Epstein files are real, & so is the Trump regime’s threat to democracy.”
In a detailed post on Substack, Eisen added, “The public needs to know what these files say about the most powerful man in the world—and what Trump’s appointees in government, such as Bove, Bondi, and FBI Director Kash Patel, knew and when they knew it.”
The move follows widespread skepticism from conspiracy-minded Trump supporters regarding a July 6 memo from the DOJ and FBI, which concluded that Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial and stated that no “client list” of wealthy associates was found. That official explanation has fueled backlash and demands for Attorney General Bondi’s resignation.
“Trump, of course, wants us to talk about anything but this,” Eisen remarked, suggesting an ongoing effort to divert attention. The FOIA request goes further by seeking any internal communications between Bondi and others discussing how to “approach or address references to Donald Trump or Mar-a-Lago,” along with any documents produced during meetings about the Epstein case.
Bondi reportedly informed Trump earlier this year that his name appears in the Epstein-related materials—a claim Trump has publicly denied. The Department of Justice has not confirmed or denied the interaction and has declined to comment on the FOIA request.
Eisen, a co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has pursued Trump through numerous legal channels. He filed one of the earliest emoluments lawsuits against Trump, served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment, and later authored A Case for the American People, detailing the proceedings. Neither the White House nor the DOJ has responded to requests for comment as of press time.