Out MSNBC host Rachel Maddow skewered the Trump administration for backing away from claims it would release the alleged client list of the late child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, as many famous names have been rumored to have been involved in his sex crimes.Conspiracy theories regarding the existence of this client list have circulated for years. After taking office, the Trump administration fueled those rumors and even promised to release the list, along with other files from the Epstein investigation. Related Trumps One Big Beautiful Bill shows the GOP doesnt care about the nation or its own future Its a gift to the rich, a slam on the poor, and creates a new private army for Trump. Trump who was found liable for sexual abuse by a jury in the past has also been accused of sexually abusing girls brought to him by Epstein. Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Last year, a woman said Trump sexually assaulted her in 1993 after Epstein brought her to his apartment in New York City. She also said it was clear that the two were really, really good friends and spent a lot of time together. Another woman who accused Epstein of sexually exploiting her said last year that Trump had sex with many girls supplied to him by Epstein.Most recently, Elon Musk, who has fallen out of favor with the president, posted on X alleging that Trump is named in the Epstein files and saying thats why the administration is withholding them from the public. He provided no evidence, and the post has since been deleted.There really is a Jeffrey Epstein/Donald Trump subplot in our lives now, Maddow told viewers, in which this footage exists and in which the Trump Justice Department put out a statement today saying, Never mind! All the things we ever said and hyped and screamed about the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, turns out its all nothing, and people should stop asking us about it.'The footage she was referring to is a widely circulated video of Trump and Epstein socializing at a Mar-a-Lago party in 1992. Maddow slammed the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a newly released memo stating that following an exhaustive review, there was no incriminating client list' and that no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.The memo also concluded that Epstein took his own life, attempting to shut down another widely circulated conspiracy theory that he was murdered in his cell to keep him quiet about his clients.After reading the DOJs message, Maddow then played a clip of Attorney General Pam Bondi telling Fox News viewers that an Epstein client list was sitting on my desk to review.She mocked the administration for essentially now saying, You should stop talking about this now that Donald Trump is the head of the U.S. federal government, were just no. And Maddow is far from alone in pointing out the contradictions coming from the administration. Trumps own supporters are not happy that MAGA leaders have long been pushing conspiracy theories about the client list and Epsteins death and are now suddenly shutting both down.Rightwing activist Robby Starbuck called the flip-flop unacceptable. Was she lying then or is she lying now? he wrote on X. We deserve answers. Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was on her desk to review for release to the public just a few months ago. Now the DOJ she leads claims that theres no Epstein client list.Sorry but this is unacceptable.Was she lying then or is she lying now?We deserve answers. pic.twitter.com/VcBSLsCLtl Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 7, 2025Conservative commentator Rogan OHandley said the DOJ memo symbolizes a shameful chapter. Assuming this leaked Epstein Files memo is true, then we all know this is a shameful cover-up to protect the most heinous elites, he wrote on X. We were told multiple times the files would be released, and now it looks like backroom deals have been made to keep them hidden.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spun the flip-flop to reporters on Monday, claiming that when Bondi said the client list was on her desk, she was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epsteins crimes. As Team MAGA continues to express their feelings of betrayal by the Trump administration, Maddow blogger Steve Benen pointed out that the detail to remember is that this is a fiasco of Team Trumps own making.Bondi said the client list was on her desk, he wrote. Kash Patel and Don Bongino, before they became the FBIs leaders, insisted that conspiracy theories related to Epstein were real and worth taking seriously.Benen also reminded readers that four years before he became vice president, JD Vance railed against effortsto keep the alleged client list secret.If members of Team Trump want to know who to blame for this debacle, Benen concluded, they need only look in a mirror.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.