Washington, 18 July

President Donald Trump will not recommend a special counsel in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, a White House spokeswoman has said, turning aside calls for further action in an inquiry that has roiled the Justice Department and angered supporters who had been expecting a treasure trove of documents from the case.

The rejection of a special counsel is part of an effort by the White House to turn the page from continued outrage from corners of Trump's base over the Justice Department's refusal last week to release additional records from the investigation into Epstein, a well-connected and wealthy financier who killed himself in jail in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

Officials also said Epstein did not maintain a much-hyped "client list" and said the evidence was clear he had died by suicide despite conspiracy theories to the contrary.

Trump on Wednesday sought to clamp down on criticism from his own supporters about his administration's handling of the Epstein-related records, calling them "weaklings" who were being duped and characterising the investigation as a "hoax" — even though his hand-picked leaders at the FBI and Justice Department had long stoked public expectations that important information was being hidden.

The news organisation Just the News published excerpts Wednesday from a Trump interview in which Trump said he would be open to having a special counsel look into "anything credible" related to Epstein, as well as other long-standing grievances he and his supporters have long raised.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to close the door Thursday on a special counsel for the Epstein investigation, saying "the idea was floated from someone in the media to the president".

"The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case," she said.

Justice Department regulations allow for the attorney general to appoint and supervise an outside special counsel to investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing in instances when prosecutors might face a potential or perceived conflict of interest.

The department in recent years has appointed a succession of special counsels — sometimes, though not always, plucked from outside the agency — to lead investigations into politically sensitive matters, including into conduct by President Joe Biden and by Trump.

Last year, Trump's personal lawyers launched an aggressive and successful challenge to the appointment of Jack Smith, the special counsel assigned to investigate his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

A Trump-appointed judge agreed, ruling that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had exceeded his bounds by appointing a prosecutor without Senate approval and confirmation, and dismissed the case.

That legal team included Todd Blanche, who is now deputy attorney general, as well as Emil Bove, who is Blanche's top deputy but was recently nominated to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court.