Trump’s White House has taken over the Justice Department’s PR strategy
CNN
Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on Fox News last week to tease a major event: The Justice Department would release long-awaited documents related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared on Fox News last week to tease a major event: The Justice Department would release long-awaited documents related to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. But as reporters waited inside the department and members of public watched for the tranche of documents to be released Thursday, a surprising video emerged online of several right-wing social media personalities streaming out of the White House waving small binders that read, “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” The intent of the unannounced event was clear – get the message out from favorable figures online to drum up support for President Donald Trump’s message of transparency. The episode encapsulated the Trump Justice Department’s unconventional approach to public relations. The strategy is in part led by White House adviser Stephen Miller and designed to keep Trump’s agenda at the forefront, sources told CNN. Miller regularly works with a team of younger aides inside the department’s Office of Public Affairs to shape the messaging strategy, the sources said. But the files inside the binder were already in the public domain. Allies of the president were disappointed, and the strategy backfired. “I hate to say it, but the American people can’t trust the validity of the Epstein files released today,” far-right activist Laura Loomer said in a post on X after the reveal. “It was released in an unprofessional manner with paid, partisan social media influencers to curate their binders for us. I can’t trust anything in the binder. Neither should you.”
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