‘It’s About Accountability’: CNN’s David Urban Lays Out Why MAGA Won’t Drop Epstein Demands

CNN’s David Urban explained Sunday on “State of the Union” that Republican calls for more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein files are more “about accountability for people who may or may not” have been involved in Epstein’s activities than they are about Epstein himself.

Public demands for the remaining documents tied to Epstein have ramped up in the week since the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memo on July 6 concluding the FBI found no “client list” and no foul play in Epstein’s 2019 death. While discussing Republican frustration, CNN host Dana Bash asked Urban if he “ever thought” the issue would “be a thing that would sort of break apart MAGA.”

“No, I mean, I don’t think, and at the end of the day, I don’t know if it’s gonna break apart MAGA,” Urban said. “But the issue is bigger. Steve Bannon, I think, nails it here directly. It’s really not about Jeffrey Epstein, it’s about accountability. I think the base, you heard Trump talk about this for a long time, there’s a two-tier system of justice in America, and the elites get protected, and the FBI protects them, and the deep state protects them.”

Since February, Attorney General Pam Bondi had promised the public that files on Jeffrey Epstein would be released, fulfilling President Donald Trump’s pledge of full transparency on the case, and others like the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. On Feb. 26 the attorney general told Fox’s Jesse Watters that the public would be seeing “a lot of flight logs, a lot of names [and] a lot, a lot of information.”

On Feb. 27, a group of conservative influencers were seen leaving the White House with binders labeled “Epstein Files: Phase One.” As they began releasing what they had been given by the DOJ, there appeared to be little — if any — new information in the files. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Urges Public To Pose Questions About Epstein ‘No One Has Ever Tried’ To Ask)

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Bondi later appeared on Fox News’ Hannity in March, explaining that the DOJ had not received all of the documents. The attorney general told host Sean Hannity that a “source” informed her after the incident that additional “evidence” had been “sitting” in the Southern District of New York.

Vowing to release the remaining files with redactions, Bondi added that she had ordered FBI Director Kash Patel to provide “a detailed report as to why all these documents and evidence had been withheld.”

“I think that’s what the base is looking at here, the MAGA base is looking at, they want accountability for people who may or may not be on this list, who may be rich and powerful and famous and that somehow the government, writ large, is looking the other way,” Urban added. “They see large investigations on January 6th, on Russiagate, on the president, on these huge investigations that take years, and they think, ‘Why aren’t we putting the same sort of resources in here when there is child sex abuse involved and very powerful people?’”

“So that lends itself to not just the kind of fringe element saying this, but a lot of rational, reasonable people are asking, ‘Why aren’t we looking at this more deeply?’” Urban said.

Despite the DOJ’s conclusion that Jeffrey Epstein did not have a “client list” and its release of over 10 hours of full “raw and enhanced” footage from outside Epstein’s cell at the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center, the public has continued to press for answers.

Epstein’s death in 2019 came just weeks after he had been arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors in July 2019.

While officials stated that Epstein was found dead in his cell after committing suicide, some — like his brother, Mark Epstein — have questioned the cause of death. At the time of the incident, Mark hired forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who told Fox News that Epstein’s autopsy appeared more consistent with homicidal strangulation than suicidal hanging.

Questions about Epstein’s death have continued, as a reporter asked Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday about the missing minute in the footage. Bondi responded that it was due to the correctional center’s cameras resetting every night. Additionally, Wired released its review of the video’s metadata on Friday, reporting that the “raw” footage was likely edited.

President Donald Trump released a statement Saturday defending the attorney general and criticizing the questions.

“We’re on one Team, MAGA, and I don’t like what’s happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and “selfish people” are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it’s Epstein, over and over again,” Trump wrote. “Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 “Intelligence” Agents, “THE LAPTOP FROM HELL,” and more?”

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