JD Vance agreed with criticism that the Trump administration botched the handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, telling podcast host Joe Rogan that “we absolutely screwed up the comms”.

The Department of Justice’s repeated moves to delay the release of documents related to the convicted sex offender drew bipartisan disapproval last year. The files have been one of the most significant political liabilities to Donald Trump since his second term began.

In a lengthy interview released on Wednesday, the US vice-president told Rogan that the administration should have released all the documents from the beginning. He pointed to comments from Pam Bondi, the former attorney general, that the convicted sex offender’s alleged “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now”.

“I know Pam. I like Pam. I don’t think there was anything malicious going on,” Vance told Rogan. “I think Pam was trying to respond to the political moment. I think she overstated what we had and what we didn’t have.”

Bondi had also offered conservative commentators and influencers binders called “The Epstein files: Phase 1” and “Declassified”, which largely featured documents that were already publicly available.

Because of Bondi’s comments, she was “roasted” publicly, Vance told Rogan, which ultimately fueled mistrust in the administration’s transparency efforts.

“We absolutely screwed up the comms of the Epstein files. Like, we just did,” Vance said. “But do I think the reason we screwed up the comms is because we were trying to hide something? No.”

After months of persistent controversy, lawmakers passed a measure that compelled the government to release a large trove of documents related to federal investigations of Epstein.

In December, the justice department began releasing heavily redacted files, including photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts.

But the redactions and the DoJ’s failure to meet a deadline to release the full files drew criticism from lawmakers and the public.

Associated Press contributed reporting