Trump Attempt to Hide Dark Past Revealed in Shock New FBI Emails

Summary

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Legal AF by MeidasTouch

Episode Title: Trump Attempt to Hide Dark Past Revealed in Shock New FBI Emails
Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Michael Popok (with remarks from Ben Meiselas and others)

Episode Overview

This episode is a deep-dive into the recent bombshell revelations about the Trump administration's effort to suppress the release of explosive FBI files on Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Utilizing newly uncovered internal FBI emails (obtained via FOIA by Bloomberg), Michael Popok connects how former President Donald Trump—with help from Pam Bondi and Kash Patel—personally intervened to halt the production of files loaded with sensitive evidence. The episode scrutinizes redaction procedures, discusses the looming December 19th release deadline, and questions the legal mechanisms available should the files not be released.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Order to Halt the Epstein File Release

• Michael Popok opens with the breaking news: New reporting shows that “Donald Trump and Pam Bondi, the Attorney General all along, gave the order to kill off the review of the Epstein files when they were about ready to be produced...according to new reporting by Bloomberg and a Freedom of Information act response.” (02:32)
• The FBI, led by Kash Patel, put in “3,000 hours of overtime pay, 12 hour shifts in Virginia” to process the Epstein files, but the redaction work was directed primarily to protect not victims, but implicated figures—including Trump.
• Popok emphasizes, “We’ve now got the revelation that they were about 73% complete in the phase two production of the FBI Epstein files when Donald Trump put a kibosh on it and killed it off.” (03:48)

2. Political and Legal Implications of the Withholding

• There is a statutorily-mandated release date: “December 19th—that’s the date, by order, by Bill, by law, that the Epstein files...are supposed to be released.” (04:28)
• Popok speculates that if Kash Patel is fired before the 19th, it could delay the release. If Trump fails to comply, it would result in a need for civil lawsuits under the Freedom of Information Act, since the DOJ itself is unlikely to act.

3. Evidence of Trump’s Direct Concern

• Popok references insider reporting: “Pam Bondi did a full briefing of Donald Trump; she told him that his name was all over the files... MAGA representatives, including Marjorie Taylor Greene...were told that they are worse for Donald Trump than first reported.” (03:18)
• Popok underscores Trump’s hypocrisy by recalling prior campaign trail promises to declassify such files, then playing an audio clip:

  Trump (on releasing Epstein files): “Yeah, yeah, I would. All right. I guess I would. I think that less so because, you know, you don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world.” (07:12)

4. Redaction—Transparency vs. Obscuration

• The episode scrutinizes the rationale for redaction, asserting: “It was obviously also to protect Donald Trump and to get his name out of it.” (03:08)
• Large portions of time, staff, and process notes are documented in new FBI emails revealing “round the clock, morning, noon and night, 12 hour shifts...more than 3,000 hours of people power spent.” (05:37)
• Popok details the exhaustive exhibit list that the DOJ possesses—including photographs, tapes, digital evidence, and logs—which he promises to make public via the Legal AF Substack.

5. Historical Context and Potential Cover-up

• The episode revisits the role of Maureen Comey (James Comey’s daughter), mentioning: “She was prepared to go to trial against Epstein until he killed himself...then fired by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi.” (12:25)
• Popok adds that Maureen Comey is now suing for wrongful termination, suggesting a retaliatory motive tied to the administration's cover-up attempts.

6. Firsthand Accounts: Michael Wolff’s Testimony

• Popok recounts Michael Wolff’s personal testimony about seeing photos of Trump with underage girls in Epstein’s house, playing a compelling excerpt:

  Wolff: “Once we were there at his dining room table and he brought out these snapshots...of Donald Trump and Donald Trump with a variety of the girls who frequented Epstein’s house in Palm Beach. Two of Trump, of topless girls sitting on Trump’s lap, one with Trump a stain on the front of his pants.” (15:49)

7. Congressional Hearings & FBI Obfuscation

• The podcast plays and analyzes an exchange in Congress, where Ted Lieu grills Kash Patel about the files and whether the FBI has subpoenaed everything, showing Patel’s evasive and deflective answers (17:27–19:18).

  Lieu: “Has FBI subpoenaed the tapes that Michael Wolf has conducted of Jeffrey Epstein?” Patel: “I don’t know.” Lieu: “You’re the frickin’ FBI. You can subpoena information from this estate and you better do that.” (19:17)
  The exchange highlights parliamentary frustration at deliberate FBI stonewalling.

8. Looking Ahead: Countdown to Compliance

• With the release date looming, Popok lays out the legal forecast: if Trump and the DOJ don’t comply, new FOIA litigation is inevitable. He stresses the need for independent tracking tools (using the detailed exhibit list) to ensure the eventual release is “the complete file.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Popok on the nature of the redaction process:

  “Which is a fancy way of saying blackout information that would be identifying not just for the survivors and the victims. Oh no, it was obviously also to protect Donald Trump and to get his name out of it.” (02:38)

• Popok on Trump’s change of narrative:

  “Donald Trump never had any intention of releasing the rest of the files after the debacle that happened...He was not going to go back through that after she told him how bad the files were for him.” (03:53)

• Popok on the role of public vigilance:

  “Nobody wants to see nude photos of girls that Jeffrey Epstein raped. But if in that photo there’s a person, a man, regardless of who it is, that needs to be investigated and prosecuted, okay, that’s fair game....especially if it’s one Donald Trump.” (13:55)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [02:30] – Opening of Epstein cover-up discussion; details on Trump, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel’s roles
• [04:28] – Statutory deadline for Epstein file release outlined
• [06:58] – Audio: Trump’s campaign promises on file declassification
• [08:24] – Audio: Pam Bondi on the files “sitting on my desk”
• [12:25] – The exhibit list and Maureen Comey’s firing
• [15:45] – Michael Wolff recounts seeing incriminating Trump photos
• [17:27-19:18] – Congressional grilling of Kash Patel on FBI inaction

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Conclusion & Call to Action

Michael Popok ends the episode flagging the urgent need for legal and citizen oversight in ensuring full and prompt release of the Epstein materials—especially in the face of mounting evidence of organized suppression at the highest levels.

“With the new FBI emails, the exhibit list, and the tick tock of counting down the days...we’re going to have to continue to follow it all right here at the intersection of law and politics.” (19:24)

Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the Legal AF Podcast and their Substack for continued updates and behind-the-scenes documentation.

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For listeners new to the story: This episode is a primer on how high-profile, politically sensitive investigations can be stalled or manipulated—and why vigilant legal journalism (with documentation) matters.

Transcript

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[C]

Well, we've got the new reporting we were looking for. It was Donald Trump and Pam Bondi, the Attorney general all along, who gave the order to kill off the review of the Epstein files when they were about ready to be produced to the American people back in April or May of this year, according to new reporting by Bloomberg and a Freedom of Information act response. Where they got their hands on the emails and now we've seen them. The FBI at the direction of beleaguered, embattled FBI Director Kash Patel. I'm sure soon to be shown the door. But they were working overtime under Cash Patel's direction, including 3,000 hours of overtime pay, 12 hour shifts in Virginia at a warehouse in Winchester, Virginia comprised of FBI agents from Washington, New York and other places trying to quote, unquote, redact the files, which is a fancy way of say, saying blackout information that would be identifying not just for the survivors and the victims. Oh no, it was obviously also to protect Donald Trump and to get his name out of it. How do we know that? Because there's other reporting that come May, when Pam Bondi did a full briefing of Donald Trump, she told him that his name was all over the files. And we also have recent reporting in the last week or two from David Schuster that MAGA representatives, including Marjorie Taylor Greene who were briefed about the files and what they contain, were told that they are worse for Donald Trump than was first reported. Now we've got our hands not only on the emails between the FBI and the redaction process, but we've now got the revelation that they were about 75% were a 73% complete in the phase two production of the FBI Epstein files when Donald Trump put a kibosh on it and killed it off. See, Donald Trump never had any intention of releasing the rest of the files after the debacle that happened. Blew up in his face with the release of phase one through Pam Bondi. You remember the client list and everything else is sitting on my desk. He was not going to go back through that after she told him how bad the files were for him. And so now we've got the fingerprints leading directly back to Donald Trump in the COVID up of the COVID up. You're here on Midas Touch Network and on Legal af. I am traveling. It is my birthday. But it is important that we stay up to date on these types of things without blowing truth or sunshine. Big red letter date on the calendar, of course, December 19th that's the date, by order, by Bill, by law, that the Epstein files in the hands of the Department of Justice and FBI, the executive branch, are supposed to be released to the American people. We know that Pam Bondi, who gave the kill order on the FBI to, to release the files and has got the ax out to get rid of Cash Patel. I don't know which is going to happen first, the release of the files on 19 December or the firing of Cash Patel. But if they fire him, it'll delay, you'll see. It'll be your delay on the release. And then what happens if he violates the December 19th order that he signed? Who's going to take him to court? You know, what would be the next step? If he doesn't, he doesn't comply. We know he'll. He'll either give himself an extension, you know, or something like he did with the sale of TikTok. So it has no real teeth in it. It was done for political purposes to give him some sort of COVID Now we've got new FBI emails that were obtained through a Freedom of Information act request by way of Bloomberg that showed the redaction process in full swing. The training that went into the redaction process and then how many hours were spent in that process. We had already reported it was round the clock, morning, noon and night, 12 hour shifts. But now we know more than 3,000 hours of people power were spent doing that process. At the time that Pam Bondi told the world that the files were on her desk ready to be produced. They were about ready to be produced. Based on this new information we got on the FBI emails. Let's play as a reminder the email of first Donald Trump saying on the campaign trail that he would release the files. Let's play that clip first.

[B]

If you were president, would you declassify. You can answer yes or no to this. Would you declassify the 911 files?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Would you declassify JFK files?

[C]

Yeah, I did a lot of it.

[B]

Would you declassify the Epstein files?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, I would. All right. I guess I would. I think that less so because, you know, you don't know it. You don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world.

[D]

But I think I would.

[B]

Or at least do you think that would restore trust? Help restore trust?

[C]

Yeah. I don't know about Epstein so much as I do the others. Nine, 11. Yeah, JFK. I'm with you, Jeffrey Epstein. Yeah, well, huh. Why would Donald Trump be so circumspect about exposing the secrets of Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire child sex trafficker who died in prison without revealing which of his well connected elite friends knew about and possibly even participated in his revolting and illegal activities? And now let's remind everybody what Pam Bondi told the world before they tried to get the American people to buy in February or March, a closeout memo. Nothing to see here, folks. There's nothing to see here in the criminal investigation related to Jeffrey Epstein. Let's play Pam Bondi in words I'm sure she'd like to take back about the files being on her desk ready to be produced. Let's play that clip. The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?

[B]

It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump. I'm reviewing that. I'm reviewing JFK files, MLK files. That's all in the process of being reviewed because that was done at the directive of the president from all of these agencies.

[C]

So a month or two after that statement, two page closeout memo, undated, unsigned, nobody wanted to take credit for that from the FBI and the Department of Justice. And of course it blew up in everybody's face. So now we move into how do we know? I want, you know, I want to address first what happens if the date comes and goes and Donald Trump doesn't comply. Who in the Department of Justice is going to bring this forward? It's going to have to be a lawsuit that's brought civilly by a group to gain compliance under the Freedom, Freedom of Information Act. Again of the Epstein files. Now the documents related to the exchange communications between the FBI and the Department of Justice, that's already the subject of a lawsuit presided over by Judge Chutkin in D.C. she ruled about eight days ago that those documents about the basically the COVID up, that the conversation and the discussion needed to be produced to the American people. Now that was eight days ago and we haven't seen them yet. She also ordered that communications between Donald Trump and the Epstein, those communications be released. Again, we haven't seen them yet. Now if the 19th of December comes and goes, it's going to have to be another Freedom of Information act request demand that's made and pursued in court. Congress isn't going to do a darn thing about it. Donald Trump's going to try to give himself a unilateral extension and there we are now there is a checklist that we reported on early on, but I want to make sure people understand there is an exhibit list that was used in the court prosecution, in the prosecution of Epstein about files that they were going to bring in against him before he hanged himself and died in that jail in New York. And we have our hands on that already. That would be a very good checklist against the documents that the Trump administration is going to try to convince us is the complete file. So, for instance, and I'm going to put this up on Legal AF substack. We've got things like large folders containing taped cartridges and digital evidence which is not identified. We've got something listed as the girl picks nude book form for a CD ROM. We have VHS tapes, cassette tapes, microcassette tapes, CDs, other nude and semi nude images and video images. We've got the massage tables, we've got the frame photos, a number of frame photos. We've got the vessel ship logs going to the island. We've got hard drives, numerous hard drives. We've had an iPhone, an Apple desktop computer, an iPad I, a number of iPads, a number of video recording devices, a number of large hard drives which have yet to be identified to the public that that is at least what the Department of Justice and therefore the executive branch has had in its possession since the prosecution. Now, you may not have remembered, but Maureen Comey, James Comey's daughter, was the lead prosecutor against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She got the conviction, five count conviction against Ghislaine Maxwell for child sex trafficking. That's where she's serving her almost 20 year prison sentence. And she was prepared to go to trial against Epstein until he killed himself after the case had already been brought. That was Maureen Comey then fired by Donald Trump and Pam Bondi. She now has a suit she's brought for improper wrongful termination. They fired her for another reason when they went and interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell for her pardon request and gave her immunity. Todd Blanche, the number two in the Department of Justice and Donald Trump's buddy, didn't want to have Maureen Comey whispering in his ear that she's lying, Ghislaine Maxwell's lying. There's an email, there's a document, there's a, there's testimony that counters what. 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Redact out the girl to protect her innocence and protect her identity, but not the guy. And so, and especially if it's one Donald Trump. Now, if you think I'm kidding around about it, remember Michael Wolff in his testimony said that he saw, you know, this is Michael Wolff, the journalist who was very close to Jeffrey Epstein. He came on our show, came on Legal af, and he said he saw photos that were given to him by Jeffrey Epstein of girls, young women sitting half naked, semi nude on Donald Trump's lap. Let's play the clip.

[A]

Everything was amusing to Epstein. And, and so once we were there at his dining room table and he brought out these snapshots, maybe a dozen of them, and they were of Donald Trump and Donald Trump with a variety of the girls who frequented Epstein's house in Palm Beach. And there are three that I specifically remember. Two of Trump, of topless girls sitting on Trump's lap, one with Trump a stain on the front of his pants. And the girls. And three or four girls, five girls pointing at this and laughing. And I assume Epstein kept those photographs in his safe, the same safe that was raided by and emptied by the FBI after Epstein's arrests in July 2019.

[C]

So you can imagine the things that were in the safe. Right, are part of the Epstein files. In fact, Ted Lieu, during his cross examination of Kash Patel, played the clip that I just showed you and then asked Kash Patel, where's the stuff from the Epstein files? Now, Kash Patel argues that he doesn't know what anybody's talking about, that he would release. He will release. Let's watch the double talk of Cash Patel, just to remind you what he said back in September when he was before Congress.

[E]

Photos showing Donald Trump with girls of an uncertain age.

[D]

No.

[E]

How do you know that?

[D]

Because that information would have been brought to light by multiple administrations and FBI investigators over the course of the last 20 years.

[E]

Well, you know what? That's just not true because no one knew about the creepy birthday message that Donald Trump wrote to Jeffrey Epstein until the Wall Street Journal disclosed it. And then all of a sudden, the Epstein estate provides it to Congress. Certainly you weren't there at the search. You don't know what Epstein may or may not have done with those photographs even prior to the search. Maybe someone has it. Maybe the Epstein estate has it.

[D]

You raise a great point.

[E]

So I'm going to ask you, have you asked to talk to Michael Wolf?

[D]

You raise a great point. I haven't personally asked to talk to myself, but the FBI. I'll get back to you. If the FBI ever.

[E]

About 100 hours of testimony of Jeffrey Epstein, would wouldn't it be good for the FBI to interview Michael Wolf?

[D]

I'm not saying they haven't. I just don't know.

[E]

Has FBI subpoenaed the tapes that Michael Wolf has conducted of Jeffrey Epstein?

[D]

I don't know.

[E]

All right. So if you could provide us an answer, that would be terrific. Well, let me ask you this question then. Have you looked at all the photos in Epstein files?

[D]

I have looked at all the information that the investigators who investigated this case have provided to run out credible leads.

[E]

And in the Epstein file, was there that creepy birthday message that Donald Trump had written? Debstein.

[D]

But that's what I was trying to tell you. You raise a great point. The estate of Jeffrey Epstein has a voluminous amount of information that they have not released before.

[E]

Okay, so that's great. So would it be great if FBI subpoena the state of Jeffrey Epstein for all that information?

[D]

The estate is under no obligation to to provide that material even pursuant to a subpoena. That's a great point.

[E]

Yeah, that's just. That's just false.

[D]

Okay, that just follows.

[E]

You're the frickin FBI. You can subpoena information from this state and you better do that.

[C]

So with the, with the new FBI emails, the exhibit list, and the tick tock of counting down the days until Donald Trump likely does not comply with the with the bill that he signed into law, the Transparency act, we're going to have to continue to follow it all right here at the at the intersection of law and politics. Thanks for being with me on Midas Touch. Thanks for coming over to Legal AF YouTube. Hit the free subscribe button there as well as we continue to grow our pro democracy channels together. Until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal af. Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court case filing or a oral argument, come over to the substack. You'll find the court filing in the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call. Wait for it Morning af. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AO are there as well. We got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes where Legal AF on substack come over now to free subscribe.

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