"The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said July 17.

Some Republicans have called for the appointment of a special counsel, as MAGA allies have raged over the handling of the Epstein investigation.

“The calls for a special counsel are odd more generally because the special counsel regulations require an investigation into a criminal matter,” he said. “Epstein is dead and Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted. There’s no indication that there is any active DOJ criminal investigation here.”