Vance admits to Joe Rogan that the Trump administration ‘mishandled’ the release of the Epstein files

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Trump administration “mishandled” the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, Vice President JD Vance said on a podcast episode released on Wednesday.

“If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty,” Vance told podcaster Joe Rogan. “We did mishandle it, especially the communications of it.”

“I think we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning,” Vance added, when asked what the administration should’ve done differently. “Obviously, it takes a little time to review the stuff, to find the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth, but we should have just done it as quickly as possible.”

When asked for comment by The Independent, the White House declined to say if President Trump agrees with Vance’s assessment.

Critics accused the administration of failing to meet early promises to release the files, then slow-walking disclosures that were eventually required under a 2025 law.

Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration ‘mishandled’ the release of the Epstein files, echoing long-running criticisms that the White House failed to quickly and completely share the documents it was required to under law (AFP/Getty)

In February of 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi infamously said the late sex trafficker’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now,” the same month right-wing influencers were given binders of Epstein information at the White House.

In July of that year, federal officials changed course, saying there was no client list and announcing that no further disclosures related to Epstein were warranted.

The process set off a bipartisan revolt in the House of Representatives. The congressional campaign culminated in the passage of the 2025 Epstein Files Transparency Act, despite President Trump claiming Republicans were “stupid” to join in the push.

As of mid-January, the administration had still only published a few thousand of the more than 2 million documents it was required to before the law’s December 19 deadline, further angering critics.

The Trump administration said the delay due to privacy considerations for named victims and other sensitive matters.

Epstein victims, meanwhile, accused the Justice Department in a class-action suit of outing nearly 100 survivors by failing to protect their identities.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.