Vance ‘legitimately worried’ Situation Room tapes given to New York Times

Administration Vance ‘legitimately worried’ Situation Room tapes given to New York Times Comments: by Ashleigh Fields - 06/18/26 11:23 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ashleigh Fields - 06/18/26 11:23 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Vice President Vance on Wednesday said he was “legitimately worried” about audio tapes of conversations from the Situation Room being leaked to journalists at The New York Times.

His comments come after a recent report alleged that Vance led the administration’s response to fallout from the release of files tied to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. A separate report from the Times detailed President Trump’s discussions in a series of meetings inside the Situation Room pertaining to U.S. strategy throughout the Iran war.

“There’s always an element of truth. There’s always an element of nontruth, but there were certain things in there that legitimately made me worried that people were like taping … which by the way is like a felony,” Vance said during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show,” where he discussed how the reporting could influence a potential presidential run.

An excerpt from the upcoming book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump” by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reports that Vance told Cabinet officials to release all of the files tied to Epstein, including unsubstantiated allegations against Trump.

The report includes direct quotes from Vance, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and White House communications director Steven Cheung, among others, as they reportedly worked to develop a plan to lighten the blow of the Epstein scandal.

The reporting alleges Blanche, Trump’s former personal attorney, strategized on potentially using the courts and judges to block the release of the Epstein files and how to handle Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s girlfriend and co-conspirator who remains imprisoned.

Department of Justice officials are not barred from discussing political strategy, but they cannot participate in activities that violate Hatch Act restrictions or that attempt to obstruct justice or politicize criminal investigations.

Administration officials have not denied specific details raised in the reporting but have raised concerns over reporters’ access to sensitive conversations in the Situation Room.

“We’re afraid some of our most sensitive conversations were being recorded,” one administration source told Axios. “And we have no idea which ones.”

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) is already planning to launch an investigation based on the Times’s reporting and has said he will move to subpoena Vance regarding his role in any Epstein “cover-up” facilitated by the administration.