WASHINGTON — United States Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The disclosure about Trump's appearance in the Justice Department's records threatened to deepen a political crisis that has engulfed his administration for weeks. Some Trump supporters have for years fanned conspiracy theories about Epstein's clients and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison.

The White House sent mixed signals following the story. It released an initial statement characterizing it as "fake news", but a White House official later told Reuters the administration was not denying that Trump's name appears in some files, noting that Trump was already included in a tranche of materials Bondi assembled in February for conservative influencers.

The newspaper reported that Bondi and her deputy told Trump at a White House meeting that his name, as well as those of "many other high-profile figures", appeared in the files.

Under political pressure last week, Trump directed the Justice Department to seek the release of sealed grand jury transcripts related to Epstein.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg denied one of those requests, finding that it did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret.

Last week, the Journal reported that Trump had sent Epstein a bawdy birthday note in 2003 that ended, "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Trump has sued the Journal and its owners, asserting that the birthday note was fake.

In a sign of how the issue has bedeviled Trump and divided his fellow Republicans, House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday abruptly said he would send lawmakers home for the summer a day early to avoid a floor fight over a vote on the Epstein files.

Trump has sought to divert attention to other topics, including unfounded accusations that former president Barack Obama undermined Trump's successful 2016 presidential campaign. Obama's office denounced the allegations as "ridiculous".

Agencies via Xinhua