‘Pure Fiction’: JD Vance Flatly Denies CNN Story About ‘Epstein Strategy’ Meeting

CNN ran with a story on Wednesday morning about how top Trump officials planned to sit down and hash out a strategy regarding whether or not to go public with a transcript of the Justice Department’s recent interview with Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

According to that story, three anonymous sources had revealed that a dinner had been scheduled for Wednesday evening at Vice President JD Vance’s residence, and was expected to include the top officials involved in the investigation of Epstein’s case and the documents relating to it.

CNN’s report stated that the guest list consisted of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the last of whom conducted the interview with Maxwell.

NEW: White House chief Susie Wiles, JD Vance, AG Pam Bondi, FBI Dir Kash Patel & Deputy AG Todd Blanche are expected to meet Wed evening at Vance’s residence to discuss the Trump admin’s strategy relating to Epstein case

More w/ the team https://t.co/57j6A7uOpy

— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 6, 2025

The report also claimed that two unnamed “officials” had said the Trump administration was considering releasing the contents of Deputy AG Blanche’s interview with Maxwell — and that three anonymous sources “familiar with the discussions” had suggested that Blanche could potentially sit for a long-form interview with someone like podcast host Joe Rogan.

There was just one problem with the story: despite being co-authored by Alayna Treene, Josh Campbell, Paula Reid, Kristen Holmes, and Kaitlan Collins, Vice President JD Vance’s office denied that there was any such dinner planned.

“The CNN story is pure fiction. There was never a supposed meeting scheduled at the Vice President’s residence to discuss Epstein Strategy,” Vance’s communications director William Martin stated.

NEW: Vice President Vance’s office flatly denies this reporting.@VPCommsDir: “The CNN story is pure fiction. There was never a supposed meeting scheduled at the Vice President’s residence to discuss Epstein Strategy.” https://t.co/wQGEU1AoFx

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) August 6, 2025

President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he’d like to release as much information as possible about Epstein and any alleged accomplices, but he has also stated that he does not want to release any information that could potentially damage the victims.