(NewsNation) — Television commentator Bill O’Reilly said Wednesday that he spoke directly with President Donald Trump about the Jeffrey Epstein case, with Trump expressing concern about protecting people who had innocent connections to the disgraced financier.
During a conversation with NewsNation’s “CUOMO,” O’Reilly said he discussed the Epstein files with Trump “man-to-man, eye-to-eye on St. Patrick’s Day,” along with files related to the Kennedy and King assassinations.
“He said, and I agree, there are a lot of names associated with Epstein that had nothing to do with Epstein’s conduct,” O’Reilly said. “They maybe had lunch with him, or maybe had some correspondence for one thing or another. If that name gets out, those people are destroyed, because it’s not going to be any context.”
His comments come as the Trump administration faces criticism from its own supporters over its handling of the Epstein case. The administration has backtracked on promises to release comprehensive files about the case, with officials concluding Epstein died by suicide and did not maintain a “client list.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi initially suggested documents were “sitting on my desk” for review but later clarified she was referring to various files related to multiple cases, not specifically an Epstein “client list.”
The administration’s approach has frustrated conspiracy theorists and Trump supporters who had expected major revelations. Conservative commentator Alex Jones criticized the handling as discrediting the FBI, while Tucker Carlson accused the Department of Justice of covering up crimes.
O’Reilly said the administration could address the controversy by having Bondi hold a press conference to explain what investigators learned about the case in a “methodical way” while protecting innocent people’s names.
“You can’t destroy human beings by putting out the files, whatever they may be, but you certainly can have Attorney General Bondi say, this is what we know, and you know we’re going to protect the innocent,” O’Reilly said.
The commentator also said that former Attorney General Merrick Garland, under President Joe Biden, should do the presser with Bondi and criticized him for not being more proactive about addressing the Epstein case.
NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.
