Vice President Vance defended the Trump administration’s handling of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a press conference in Canton, Ohio, following an event promoting the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

“The president has been very clear. We’re not shielding anything,” Vance said in response to a question from a reporter earlier this week. “He’s been incredibly transparent about that stuff, but some of that stuff takes time.”

The Hill claimed in a report Wednesday that the uproar from the MAGA base over the Epstein case places Vance in a ‘politically delicate position,’ especially given his past remarks about the convicted sex offender. The release of a memo by the FBI and Department of Justice affirming that Epstein died by suicide only intensified the backlash.

Vance reportedly acted as a behind-the-scenes mediator between Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, after Bongino reportedly threatened to resign the week the memo was made public. Beyond that role, Vance remained largely silent as the administration worked to manage the fallout.

Now, several weeks later, the intensity of the controversy has begun to fade within the MAGA movement, even as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal published reports examining former President Trump’s past ties to Epstein, claims Trump has repeatedly and firmly denied.

Notably, the reports did not claim that Trump ever engaged in any wrongful behavior involving underage girls, and no one has come forth to claim as much, either. Rather, the reports seemed more designed to cast innuendo and insinuation on Trump, since his past association with Epstein has been well-documented.

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In Ohio, Vance noted that Democrats and the left-leaning media only now appear to be interested in the story because they believe it’s politically damaging for Trump — which has yet to be the case, based on recent polling.

“For four years, under Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, the media didn’t give a damn about the Epstein files or about the Epstein case,” he said. He also blamed the Bush and Obama administrations for not “fully” investigating the case.

“Donald J. Trump, I’m telling you, he’s got nothing to hide,” he added.

Regarding the president, a portion of a transcript containing testimony from the late Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, has resurfaced, contradicting the Democratic Party’s claim that Trump was involved in the late financier’s illicit behavior with minor females.

The transcript shows Giuffre, who died by suicide earlier this year, being questioned about Trump’s involvement with Epstein and whether or not he engaged in any illegal sexual activities with underage females.

In her testimony, Guiffre said she didn’t recall ever seeing Trump and Epstein together, that the future president never “flirted” with her or made any sexual advances, and that Trump never went to Epstein’s homes in New York, New Mexico, or to the infamous island where so much sexual abuse of minors reportedly took place.

The resurfaced testimony clearing Trump comes as the left-wing mainstream media and Democrats have been demanding the administration release information regarding Epstein and his alleged ‘client list,’ implying that the president may have been involved in bad behavior.

It should be noted that the same Democrats and media outlets expressed zero interest in the information or Epstein’s past alleged crimes during President Joe Biden’s four-year term.

The Trump administration on Tuesday pressed two more federal judges to unseal grand jury testimony from the cases that led to the indictments of the late financier and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges, amid ongoing public concern over the administration’s handling of the matter.