Trump was told his name was in Jeffrey Epstein files before DOJ withheld documents: WSJ

President Donald Trump was told successful May by Attorney General Pam Bondi that his sanction appeared aggregate times successful Department of Justice documents astir enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Trump's gathering with Bondi and her lawman Todd Blanche astatine the White House occurred weeks earlier the DOJ, which Bondi leads, said connected July 7 that it would not merchandise the Epstein files contempt earlier promises by the lawyer wide and others successful the president's orbit that the worldly would beryllium disclosed to the public.

The president was besides told astatine the gathering that "many different high-profile figures were besides named" successful the Epstein files, and that the "files contained what officials felt was unverified hearsay astir galore people, including Trump, who had socialized with Epstein successful the past," the Journal reported.

Being mentioned successful the Epstein records is not a motion of wrongdoing, the Journal noted.

The DOJ's determination not to merchandise the Epstein files sparked backlash from Trump's MAGA supporters, who person obsessed implicit conspiracies related to the Epstein lawsuit for years.

In the look of that disapproval from his governmental base, Trump past week directed Bondi to question the unsealing of transcripts for expansive assemblage proceedings related to national probes of Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Trump had been friends with Epstein for years, but the 2 men fell retired agelong earlier Epstein killed himself successful jailhouse successful August 2019, weeks aft being arrested connected national kid enactment trafficking charges. Epstein besides had galore different wealthy, high-profile friends, including Britain's Prince Andrew.

Reached for remark connected the Journal's caller reporting, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told CNBC, "The information is that The President kicked [Epstein] retired of his [Mar-a-Lago] nine for being a creep."

"This is thing much than a continuation of the fake quality stories concocted by the Democrats and the wide media, conscionable similar the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was close about," Cheung said.

In a associated connection Wednesday connected the Journal's reporting, Bondi and Blanche said, "The DOJ and FBI reviewed the Epstein Files and reached the decision acceptable retired successful the July 6 memo. Nothing successful the files warranted further probe oregon prosecution, and we person filed a question successful tribunal to unseal the underlying expansive assemblage transcripts."

"As portion of our regular briefing, we made the President alert of the findings," Blanche and Bondi said.

Trump was asked past week by an ABC News writer if Bondi had told him "your sanction appeared successful the files."

"No, no," Trump replied. "She's fixed america conscionable a precise speedy briefing, and successful presumption of the credibility of the antithetic things that they've seen."

Trump went connected to accidental helium believed that "these files were made up by" erstwhile FBI manager James Comey, and by the administrations of erstwhile Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The DOJ past week fired Manhattan national authoritative Maurene Comey, the girl of James Comey, whose past cases had included the national prosecutions of Epstein and Maxwell.

The Journal past week published an nonfiction reporting that Trump successful 2003 sent Epstein a "bawdy" letter to people his 50th birthday, astatine Maxwell's request.

The missive "contains respective lines of typewritten substance framed by the outline of a bare woman, which appears to beryllium hand-drawn with a dense marker," the Journal reported.

"A brace of tiny arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the aboriginal president's signature is simply a squiggly 'Donald' beneath her waist, mimicking pubic hair," according to the newspaper.

"The missive concludes: 'Happy Birthday — and whitethorn each time beryllium different fantastic secret,'" the Journal wrote.

Trump has angrily denied penning the letter.

"This is not me. This is simply a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story," helium said connected Thursday "I ne'er wrote a representation successful my life. I don't gully pictures of women," helium said. "It's not my language. It's not my words."

On Friday, the president filed a defamation suit related to the communicative against media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the institution his household controls, News Corp and its CEO Robert Thomson, the Journal's publisher, Dow Jones & Co., and the 2 reporters who wrote the article, which was published Thursday evening. News Corp owns the Journal.

Trump's suit seeks astatine slightest $10 cardinal successful damages.

A Dow Jones spokesperson told CNBC: "We person afloat assurance successful the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and volition vigorously support against immoderate lawsuit."

CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed reporting.