In 2007, while Bush was president, federal investigators at the FBI and U.S. attorney's office prepared to indict Epstein, but negotiations between Epstein’s lawyers and the U.S. attorney's office in Florida’s Southern District led by Alexander Acosta resulted in a secret deal that let Epstein avoid federal charges.

Maurene Comey, a federal prosecutor and the daughter of former FBI director James Comey, told her former colleagues in an email that her sudden firing should “fuel the fire” of their work fighting abuses of power.

Trump continues to face backlash from his MAGA supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He's called on Attorney General Pam Bondi to release "whatever she thinks is credible," while saying he doesn't understand the interest in the case, calling it "sordid" but "boring."