The Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation has divided officials at the Justice Department and FBI, with top leaders pointing fingers at one another as they try to explain to President Donald Trump’s furious base why they are not revealing new information from the high-profile probe, people familiar with the matter said.

The Epstein case has long been a fixation for right-wing pundits and conspiracy theorists, who accused the Biden administration without evidence of covering up key details of the investigation, purportedly to protect powerful people who may have participated in Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking crimes.

The latest chapter in the saga unfolded earlier this week, when the Justice Department released a memo stating that files related to the sex trafficking case did not contain a rumored “client list” and that officials would not be releasing any further investigatory files.

That memo contradicted promises made in recent months by Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Trump appointee who has publicly said she would be releasing “truck loads” of new information in the Epstein case.

Online pundits and influencers who had promoted the conspiracy theories about Epstein responded by accusing the attorney general of lying to the American people and calling for her resignation. They also directed ire at FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino — both of whom are also Trump appointees. Each built their reputation, in part, by hyping unsubstantiated theories about the case and criticizing the FBI for allegedly hiding the truth.

Top leaders at the FBI and Justice Department were in agreement about the memo’s findings and release when it went out, said one person familiar with the rift, who like others interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal conversations. But since the backlash began, Bongino has tried to distance himself from the Justice Department’s response, this person said.

Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer and Bongino ally who has a reputation for spreading conspiracy theories, posted on social media Friday that Bongino is considering resigning from his post because he believes Bondi is not being transparent about the investigation. Bongino did not show up to work on Friday, though a senior White House official said the deputy director took the day off to go home for the weekend.

“That does not mean he has resigned, and I don’t know if he is considering it. He’s still in the job as recent as ten minutes ago,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said Friday afternoon. “Dan Bongino was appointed by the president for a reason, and the president wants him on the team.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche — the second most powerful person at Justice — also took to social media Friday, defending the department’s handling of the matter.

Blanche said on X that he worked closely with Bongino and Patel to draft the Epstein memo and that all three men had signed off on it. The memo also stated that Epstein killed himself in 2019 inside a federal prison while awaiting trial — confirming a conclusion that investigators reached years ago, but that Trump and some of his allies have publicly questioned.

“The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and DOJ leadership on this memo’s composition and release is patently false,” Blanche posted on X.

The Justice Department declined to comment. The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.

Before their appointments to their current roles, Patel and Bongino spent years stoking conspiracy-minded questions about Epstein.

During a 2023 interview with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, for instance, Patel suggested Congress was blocking the release of Epstein’s purported client list “because of who’s on that list.” Bongino, on his own popular podcast, repeatedly questioned the handling of the Epstein investigation.

“What the hell are they hiding with Jeffrey Epstein?” the former Secret Service agent asked in 2023.

In recent months, however, both men have sought to manage expectations about what their much-promised review of the Epstein files would reveal.

“He killed himself,” Bongino said during a joint interview with Patel and Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo in May, dismissing conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein’s 2019 jail cell suicide. “I’ve seen the whole file. He killed himself.”

Bondi has attracted the brunt of the backlash since the memo was released. Conservative influencers seized on a February interview on Fox News where she said she had Epstein’s client list “sitting on my desk right now to review” — a list that the Justice Department now says did not exist.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting this week, Bondi said she’d actually been referring to the FBI’s broader file on the Epstein investigation during the Fox interview. Trump leapt to her defense, cutting off a reporter who was asking about her earlier statements.

“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?” he asked. “This guy’s been talked about for years. … Are you still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.”

This is a developing story. It will be updated.