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 aCNN 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 opened the interview by describing what he saidsurvivors of Epstein's abuseare 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.'
MAJOR BREAKING: A congressman on CNN just claimed Pam Bondi privately warned Trump that his name appears throughout the Epstein files tens of thousands of times across thousands of documents.The pressure for full file release is about to intensify dramatically.pic.twitter.com/zAEBcEiPrH
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?'
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 2025that 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.
Source: International Business Times UK
