'How the hell did that happen?': Bill Barr reveals Trump's reaction to learning about Epstein's death [View all]

Source: The Independent

Wednesday 17 September 2025 16:40 EDT


President Donald Trump was baffled when he learned that Jeffrey Epstein died while in federal custody in 2019, former Attorney General Bill Barr recounted in his recent deposition to the House Oversight Committee. Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general for less than two years during his first administration, said he informed the president that Epstein died by suicide at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York after being arrested on child sex-trafficking charges.

“I called him up and said, ‘You better brace for this,’ and I told him words to that effect and I told him about it, and told him we were going to be investigating it very vigorously,” Barr testified in a deposition to members of the House Oversight Committee in August, and his testimony was released this week.

“He had the same reaction I did, which was ‘How the hell did that happen? He’s in federal custody,’” Barr said, describing the essence of the conversation.

The revelation is part of Barr’s recently released deposition to the committee. Barr, alongside others, including former president Bill Clinton, has been subpoenaed for testimony related to Epstein after public interest in the government’s investigation surged over the past few months. Much of it stemmed from Trump’s campaign promise to release the full extent Epstein Files, which he has since walked back. That decision sparked massive backlash on both sides of the political aisle.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/bill-barr-trump-epstein-death-b2828590.html