Elon Musk swooped in to defend Attorney General Pam Bondi amid MAGA backlash over the heavily criticized release of documents tied to the investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday evening.
After Bondi hyped the release earlier in the week, the document dump turned out to contain scant new information and no major revelations. That in turn triggered an immediate backlash, with some prominent MAGA fans calling for Bondi to resign.
Bondi said the FBI’s office in New York has withheld 200 pages of the Epstein files from her. In response, she issued a strongly worded letter to FBI Director Kash Patel demanding “the full and complete Epstein files” be turned over by Friday morning.
Posting on X, Musk argued that Bondi likely faces challenges from within the Department of Justice—because assuming a high-level position doesn’t immediately grant an official authority or control.
“People don’t understand that you don’t get instant power here,” Musk said, reposting an X post by user Wall Street Mav that said that the attorney general “is fighting a leftist culture within the DoJ and FBI” and asked her critics to “give her a chance.”
Musk likened Bondi’s position to being thrown on a ship with a potentially uncooperative crew. Without the opportunity to appoint new team members and understand the existing dynamics, effectively steering the organization is “literally impossible,” he said.
“Imagine if you were suddenly appointed AG or head of the FBI. You were just thrown on a ship with a hostile crew. Until you appoint some new crew members and figure out the ropes, you can’t steer the ship effectively. It’s literally impossible,” added Musk in another post on X.
A fresh divide emerged within MAGA on Thursday as the White House chose to distribute the Epstein files to conservative influencers rather than making them publicly available.
The Trump administration faced criticism from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), a staunch Donald Trump ally leading a task force to declassify all Epstein-related files, as well as from influencer and former Trump confidante Laura Loomer.
The DOJ said in a statement that the distribution of the documents on Thursday was the “first phase” of Epstein releases.
