PoliticsLeaked Email Claims White House Edited DOJ and FBI Memo on Jeffrey Epstein: 'Someone Needs to Own This,' Official Says
Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019.
Oct. 23 2026, Published 1:12 p.m. ET
A controversial 2025 memo from the DOJ and FBI claiming that there was "no evidence" to warrant pursuing further investigation into the connections of disgraced predator Jeffrey Epstein was edited by the White House, according to a new report.
Documents procured by the Democracy Defenders Fund show a trove of emails between the FBI, DOJ and White House in which the three coordinated on the infamous memo that suggested the Department of Justice would drop their investigation into the Epstein Files.
White House Aide Taylor Budowich Edited the Memo
Taylor Budowich (left) allegedly helped draft the memo.
The memo, released in July of 2025, found the DOJ claiming it found no “evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties,” and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
The memo infuriated Americans on both sides of the political aisle and sparked a wave of backlash against then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
But emails reveal that the White House was actively involved in crafting the memo, and then-Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich was the point person for the White House in coordinating the messaging.
Budowich Coordinated With Kash Patel and Todd blanche
Kash Patel was involved in making the memo.
Email records reveal that FBI Director Kash Patel passed a draft of the memo to Budowich to edit two weeks before its eventual release.
Budowich got back a week later with suggestions, though what he suggested were redacted by the FBI. The following day, he told Patel and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that the memo was reviewed by the White House Communications team.
Blanche tried to send the memo out without attaching the DOJ's name to it, but Budowich wouldn't have it.
“I need a version on letterhead,” Budowich told Blanche. “Someone needs to own this. I can’t give a doc to a reporter that could easily be confused with a [high school] term paper, so need to provide some validation of the doc.”
The memo was ultimately released on July 7, 2025.
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More Evidence Trump Tried to Squash Epstein Story
Emails show lengths White House went to squash Epstein.
"These records show that Kash Patel worked hand-in-hand with the former White House deputy chief of staff on the 2025 DOJ-FBI memo, which stated there would be no further investigation or release of the Epstein files," Chris Swartz, the non-profit's senior counsel and deputy director of ethics and anti-corruption, told RawStory.
"It's deeply concerning that the FBI coordinated with the White House on this memo, given President Trump's well-documented association with Jeffrey Epstein and Trump's frequent mention in the files," he added.
Heat Remains on the White House
Rep. Madeleine Dean called the revelation evidence of a cover up.
Budowich was previously reported to be involved in infamous Situation Room meetings about how to respond to the release of the Epstein Files, first reported by New York Times journalists Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman in Regime Change. He left the administration in September 2025.
“Once again, I am alarmed but not surprised by the reporting that the White House was directly involved in drafting the unsigned memo in July 2025 which made multiple bogus claims, including that there was no ‘client list,’ no co-conspirators, and no grounds for further disclosure,” Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean, a member of the House Oversight Committee, told RawStory.
“From the beginning it has been clear that Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche and the rest of President Trump’s team would and will do anything to cover up the president’s close relationship with Epstein and to protect their political allies,” she added. “Not a single person has been prosecuted by this Department of Justice, and they continue to withhold the files that they are legally required to release.”
