Several GOP senators spoke out Thursday, a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files that the Department of Justice and the FBI reviewed.

The White House has pushed back after reports that US President Donald Trump was told in May that he was among hundreds of names mentioned in justice department documents relating to late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Two years before Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in connection with a scandal that will not die, he and her defense attorney David O. Markus traded stories about surreal moments visiting clients behind bars.

For weeks, President Donald Trump has tried to appease his base around the Jeffrey Epstein case. Now, the Justice Department has pivoted to Ghislaine Maxwell.

As major newspapers continue to publish new reporting about Jeffrey Epstein and his connections, Donald Trump's administration has decided on a strategy of silence about the story. Meanwhile, Trump's Deputy Attorney General says he will interview Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell for a second straight day.