Vice President JD Vance offered up an unexpected scapegoat when asked about President Donald Trump’s refusal to release files related to his former friend, the late convicted sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
He blamed former President Joe Biden.
“We have to remember this entire thing happened, this entire story blew up, during the Biden administration,” Vance said during an interview with USA Today.
Epstein died in prison of an apparent suicide in 2019. Biden took office in January 2021.
Trump and many members of his inner circle ― including Vance ― had repeatedly promised to release files related to Epstein if elected, including a supposed client list.
Vance said the Biden administration had four years to release any such information and failed to do so.
However, the Trump administration has only released previously known details and, earlier this summer, stated that there was nothing else to release ― and no “client list.”
The move angered many on both sides of the aisle, including longtime supporters of Trump.
But Vance, in the new interview, insisted that Trump was delivering “full transparency” on the issue.
“I think the president has ordered the administration to be more transparent about this than any other issue,” he said.
Story continues after video.
Q: “Now that you’re in power, you say that there is no Epstein client list. Why do you think it is that so many of your own supporters don’t believe you?”
Vance: “We have to remember this entire story blew up during the Biden administration.” pic.twitter.com/rL1bIL8Yvc
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) August 28, 2025
Trump and Epstein were close friends until they had a falling out in 2004, reportedly over a real estate dispute. Epstein’s first arrest was in 2006, leading to his eventual conviction for sex crimes, but also a widely criticized deal with a prosecutor allowing him to avoid federal prosecution and a possible life sentence.
That prosecutor, Alex Acosta, would later serve in the Cabinet in the first Trump administration.
Epstein was arrested again in 2019 and died in custody of an apparent suicide while awaiting trial on allegations of trafficking underage girls and other charges.
Despite Vance’s claims, the arrest, death and outrage that followed took place during the first Trump administration — about 18 months before Biden took office.
Vance cited a recent jailhouse interview with longtime Epstein enabler Ghislaine Maxwell, in which she also insisted there was no “client list.”
Maxwell, who is in prison for sex trafficking, also vouched for Trump’s character.
“I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she said. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”
Shortly after the interview, Maxwell was moved to a minimum-security prison camp with fewer restrictions.