Are Donald Trump and his team trying to shift public focus away from the fact that the Epstein files remain only partially released? Joe Rogan suggested exactly that during the Thursday, January 22, episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring comedian Ehsan Ahmad.
“It’s gonna go on for a long time, I suspect,” Rogan said about the ongoing public rollout of Epstein-related records. “I mean they said they released them, but what did they release?”
Ahmad argued that the public conversation has been overwhelmed by other headlines. “With the Somalians and the ICE shooting, it feels like that’s completely drowned out, anything about it,” he said.
Rogan responded bluntly: “I think some of that’s on purpose.”
Ahmad agreed. “Oh, 100 percent.”
Millions of Epstein-Related Documents Remain Unreleased
According to Rogan, any expectation of a complete disclosure may be unrealistic in the near term. He predicted the Epstein records won’t be made fully public for “a long time.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released thousands of documents connected to its investigation into the late s– offender in December 2025. However, a full public release has not yet occurred.
In a recent court filing, DOJ officials stated that 12,285 documents have been published since the December 19, 2025 deadline under the Epstein Files Transparency Act established by Congress. The filing also said that “more than 2 million documents” remain in “various phases of review.”
Minnesota Controversies Dominate the News Cycle
As the Epstein records issue continues, the Trump administration has drawn attention to an alleged welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota.
Federal officers were deployed after a right-wing influencer made an unfounded claim that daycare centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had embezzled more than $100 million.
At the same time, Minnesota has been consumed by outrage following the death of Renee Good, a Minneapolis woman shot and killed by an ICE agent on January 7. Protests in Minnesota and elsewhere have surged since the 37-year-old mother’s death, turning the incident into a national flashpoint.
Rogan suggested that the intensity of these headlines has helped pull attention away from questions about Trump’s ties to Epstein and the broader release of Epstein-related documents.
Rogan Condemns the ICE Shooting: “It Looked Horrific”
Rogan’s comments also follow his earlier criticism of the ICE shooting. On the January 13 edition of his show, he condemned the incident in stark terms.
“It’s very ugly to watch someone shoot a U.S. citizen, especially a woman, in the face,” he said.
Calling it a “terrible tragedy,” he added: “I’m not that guy. I don’t know what he [the ICE agent] thought. And again, this is a guy who had almost been run over, but it just looked horrific to me.”
Rogan also pushed back on claims that the shooting was justified. “When people say it’s justifiable because the car hit him? It seemed like she was turning the car away,” he said.
“Are We Really Gonna Be the Gestapo?”
Rogan warned about the broader implications of aggressive enforcement tactics in public spaces.
“You don’t want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people,” he said, arguing that some of those stopped later turn out to be U.S. citizens who simply don’t have their paperwork on them.
“Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, ‘Where’s your papers?’” he asked. “Is that what we’ve come to?”
