Bondi sent a letter to Patel about files that she now says don’t exist
Posts authentically showed a letter that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent to FBI Director Kash Patel about the Epstein files in February 2025.
Rating:
True
About this rating
Following a July 2025
memo from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI that said convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein did not keep a "client list" — contrary to a persistent rumor — some
social media users shared a screenshot of a purported letter that they suggested contradicted the official finding.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent the alleged letter dated Feb. 27, 2025, to FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the social media posts. In the letter, Bondi "acknowledged receiving the Epstein files containing" the convicted sex offender's "list of contacts and a list of victims' names," a Facebook user who
shared the purported letter claimed.
Snopes readers emailed us and searched our website to ask if the letter from Bondi to Patel was authentic.
Bondi did send this letter about the Epstein files to Patel, DOJ records show. Therefore, we've rated the claim true.
A copy of the
letter was attached to a
DOJ news release dated Feb. 27, 2025, in which the agency announced Bondi, in conjunction with the FBI, declassified and released files related to Epstein.
Snopes compared the version of the
letter shared on social media to the
letter shared on the DOJ website, and found that the text in both versions was identical.
The files released in February 2025 didn't include any new revelations about the Epstein case since they had long been publicly available
through court cases and media reports. The DOJ acknowledged this in its news release, saying the released Epstein files contained documents that were "previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity" by the federal government. They included an evidence list, flight logs, a redacted contact book and a redacted masseuse list.
Bondi received approximately 200 pages of documents in response to a request for all of the files related to Epstein, according to the release. However, she was "later informed of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment that were not previously disclosed," the release said.
In her
letter to Patel, Bondi addressed the alleged missing documents and asked the FBI to deliver "the full and complete Epstein files" to her office by 8 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2025. Bondi also tasked Patel with investigating why the FBI did not follow her order requesting the full set of Epstein files.
"You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days," Bondi wrote in the letter.
What Bondi's letter to Patel says about Epstein clients
The letter from Bondi to Patel never explicitly mentioned Epstein's "client list," though it did say she received "Epstein's list of contacts" in response to her request for the Epstein files. In the first paragraph of her letter, Bondi wrote (emphasis ours):
Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein's list of contacts, and a list of victims' names and phone numbers.
A r
edacted contact book was shared on the DOJ website.
Additionally, in her request for the FBI to deliver the "full and complete Epstein files" to her office, Bondi said such a delivery would include "all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and
materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained" (emphasis ours).
The full letter from Bondi to Patel is as follows:
Dear Director Patel,
Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein. In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein's list of contacts, and a list of victims' names and phone numbers.
I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents. Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein. Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files. When you and I spoke yesterday, you were just as surprised as I was to learn this new information.
By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained. There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access. The Department of Justice will ensure that any public disclosure of these files will be done in a manner to protect the privacy of victims and in accordance with law, as I have done my entire career as a prosecutor.
I am also directing you to conduct an immediate investigation into why my order to the FBI was not followed. You will deliver to me a comprehensive report of your findings and proposed personnel action within 14 days.
I appreciate our immediate attention to this important matter. I know that we are both committed to transparency for the American people and I look forward to continuing to work with you to serve our President and our country.
Sincerely,
Pamela Bondi
Attorney General
(U.S. Department of Justice)
Epstein didn't keep 'client list,' DOJ and FBI say in memo
Despite claims to the contrary, the DOJ and FBI said in a July 2025
memo that Epstein did not keep a "client list" and the agencies confirmed no additional files related to the investigation would be made public.
A review of "investigative holdings" related to Epstein "revealed no incriminating 'client list,'" the DOJ and FBI wrote in the memo. The agencies continued:
There was also no credible evidence found that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions. We did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.
According to the memo, the DOJ and FBI also determined that "no further disclosure" of information related to the Epstein investigation "would be appropriate or warranted."
With its assertion that Epstein did not have a "client list," the Trump administration backpedaled on a theory it had previously helped promote,
as The Associated Press reported. Attorney General Pam Bondi
told Fox News in February 2025 that the Epstein client list was "sitting on my desk right now to review," citing a "directive" from Trump.
Snopes reached out to the DOJ for comment about online users' suggestions that the Feb. 27 letter from Bondi to Patel proved the existence of a "client list" tied to Epstein, and we will update this story if we receive a response.
The Trump administration has
faced criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike over its handling of the Epstein files. In response, the president lashed out at his critics, including some of his supporters, in a lengthy
Truth Social post shared on July 16, 2025. He wrote, in part:
Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this "bull----," hook, line, and sinker. They haven't learned their lesson, and probably never will, even after being conned by the Lunatic Left for 8 long years. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country's history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore!
For further reading, Snopes
investigated if a photo showed Trump, Epstein and Bondi together, and whether Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Epstein,
offered to testify before Congress about the Epstein files.
