NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Former Attorney General Bill Barr opened up in a new debate about informing President Donald Trump of the “real fk up” when Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in federal custody in 2019.
In an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast that aired Friday, Barr recounted informing President Donald Trump immediately following the shocking news that Epstein had been found after his suicide. Barr led the Justice Department under Trump from 2019 to 2020.
“I called him as soon as I heard about it. I was sitting in my library at home and my human resources manager called and said, ‘Hey Bill, there’s been a real f–k up,'” Barr said with a laugh.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN KILLED HIMSELF BUT ‘MAYBE’ HAD HELP, FORMER LAW CLAIM
Former Attorney General Bill Barr appeared in “Ruthless,” starring Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook. (FOX News Media)
“He said, ‘Looks like he killed himself,’ and he was an important prisoner… Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on here? And we went through what he knew, which wasn’t much,” Barr continued. “So I called the president. The FBI was already looking into it. I called the inspector general and said, ‘Get all this, investigate.’ The Bureau of Prisons was investigating but, of course, it was their plan.”
Barr said he informed Trump, “You’re not going to believe this, but Epstein killed himself, and he said, ‘Whaaaat?’
Host Josh Holmes thought Trump was “angry” to some degree when he heard the news.
“Yes, he was angry. I mean, him [said]’How the hell did it happen?’ But he’s been president long enough to know that the government can do these things,” Barr said while laughing wryly.
“You see, that’s the thing about conspiracists,” said Holmes. “Whenever you think there’s more art than there is.”
JEFFREY EPSTEIN’S BROTHER LAUGHES ‘HASTY’ FBI MEMO DEFENDING CONTROVERSIAL SUICIDE DECISION: REPORT
Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in federal custody in 2019. (New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP, File)
Barr said a mentor early in his career always said, “Don’t say evil when stupidity is a sufficient explanation.”
Epstein’s death has caused a storm of conspiracy theories. Critics have dismissed the idea that she committed suicide, citing independent observations of her autopsy by Dr. Michael Baden and a host of other factors in the case, including the lack of security statues and pending bail, and powerful people with reason to want the disgraced, well-connected financier dead.
The FBI and the Department of Justice, in a joint memo issued in July, announced that a review of Epstein’s case files had been completed. Authorities said “no ‘client list’ incriminating him, “no additional files connected to the investigation could be released and that his death was indeed a suicide, as previous investigations had found.
EPSTEIN’S VICTIMS NUMBERED TO OVER 1,000 – MORE THAN PREVIOUSLY CALLED, FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS SAY
Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan and John Ashbrook host the “Ruthless” podcast. (Fox News Media)
Trump’s Justice Department is releasing dozens of Epstein files on Friday that could shed more light on the investigation that has sent the media and public into a frenzy.
Democrats have long sought to impeach Trump in Epstein’s criminal conduct since the men were once friends. Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s rampant sexual abuse.
Barr discussed the broader issue of “Ruthless,” saying that if any of the New York investigators or Biden’s Justice Department had found anything from Trump about Epstein, he would have heard about it.
“Let’s take drastic measures,” said Barr. “This is not something that will prove that Trump has made a mistake.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.
