Sunny Hostin Shifts Stance on Epstein Files: From Media Caution to “Release the List”

NEW YORK — In a noticeable shift from her previously cautious approach, The View co-host Sunny Hostin is now calling for more transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case — including a demand to release any potential client list tied to the convicted sex trafficker’s decades-long crimes.

On Monday's broadcast of The View, Hostin joined growing public pressure — much of it from former President Donald Trump’s own supporters — demanding clarity about the Justice Department’s claim that “no list exists.”

The shift places Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, in rare alignment with some of the right-wing voices she’s often opposed, as frustrations mount over the DOJ’s recent reversal on revealing names and logs tied to Epstein’s trafficking network.

“So now [Trump] is calling his supporters selfish, he’s trying to make this go away,” Hostin said, referencing the former president's recent public frustration with the attention his base continues to place on the case.

She didn’t stop there. Hostin pointed out that Trump himself once praised Epstein publicly — notably in a 2002 New York Magazine quote — and that the former president’s name appears at least seven times on the now-public flight logs of Epstein’s private jet.

“All of that information is out there. Why not just put it to rest and say, release the list?” Hostin added.

Her tone marks a dramatic departure from her comments just over a year ago, when she urged the public not to repeat or sensationalize names found in unsealed Epstein-related court documents. In January 2024, Hostin warned against dragging people through the mud simply because their names appeared in legal filings — cautioning that not every mention equates to guilt.

“Just because your name is on the documents doesn’t mean you’ve done anything criminally or civilly irresponsible,” she said at the time, emphasizing the risk of feeding “conspiracy theorists.”

Now, with bipartisan tensions boiling and Democrats pushing for public hearings on Epstein’s alleged network, Hostin is joining those demanding Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s longtime associate, now serving a 20-year sentence — testify under oath about whether a client list exists at all.

Adding to the intrigue: Trump-aligned officials like Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Dan Bongino previously championed the public release of Epstein-related files — yet now, under the Trump DOJ, the official line is that there is no list to release.

With mounting outrage and the political temperature rising, Hostin’s pivot is more than a talk show moment — it’s a sign that the Epstein scandal isn’t going away anytime soon.

📝 MainEvent.News | Editor's Take

Sunny Hostin’s about-face isn’t just personal evolution — it’s a reflection of where the Epstein saga now sits in America’s collective psyche. What was once whispered on fringe message boards is now being debated on morning TV, with both liberals and conservatives demanding the same thing: transparency. Whether there’s a “list” or not, the trust deficit in our institutions is widening — and public patience is running out.