'How in the hell': Ex-AG Bill Barr recounts Trump reaction when he told him Jeffrey Epstein was dead

Ex-Attorney General Bill Barr opened up in a new interview about having to inform President Donald Trump about "a real f—k up" when Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in federal custody in 2019. 

In an appearance on the "Ruthless" podcast posted Friday, Barr recounted informing President Donald Trump immediately following the shocking news that Epstein was found after his apparent suicide. Barr headed the Department of Justice under Trump from 2019 to 2020.

"I called him as soon as I heard about it. I was sitting in my library at home and my chief of staff called and said, ‘Hey Bill, there’s been a real f--- up,’" Barr said through laughter. 

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"He said, ‘It appears he committed suicide,’ and he was an important prisoner… Jesus Christ, what the hell’s going on here?  And we went through what he knew, which wasn’t much," Barr continued. "So I called the president. The FBI was already looking at it, I called the inspector general and said, ‘Get all over this, investigate it.' The Bureau of Prisons was investigating but, of course, it was their own system."

Barr said he informed Trump and said, "You won’t believe this, but Epstein committed suicide, he said, ‘Whaaaat?’"

Co-host Josh Holmes assumed Trump was "outraged" on some level upon hearing the news. 

"Yeah, he was outraged. I mean, he [said], ‘How in the hell did that happen?’ But he had been president long enough to know that the government is capable of these kinds of things," Barr said while laughing at the bizarre ordeal. 

"See, that’s the thing for the conspiracy theorists," Holmes said. "Anytime you think there is more sophistication than there is." 

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Barr said that a mentor early in his career always said, "Don’t ascribe malice where stupidity is a sufficient explanation." 

Epstein's death has prompted a storm of conspiracy theories. Critics have rejected the idea that he killed himself, citing an independent observation of his autopsy by Dr. Michael Baden and a range of other factors in the case, including a lack of security footage and a pending push for bail, as well as powerful people having a reason to want the disgraced, well-connected financier dead.

The FBI and Justice Department, in a joint memo released in July, announced that a review of Epstein's case files had been completed. Authorities said there was "no incriminating 'client list,'" that no additional files connected to the investigation could be released and that his death was indeed a suicide, as previous federal investigations found.

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The Trump Department of Justice is releasing a trove of "Epstein files" on Friday that could shed more light on the investigation that has riveted the media and the public. 

Democrats have long sought to tie Trump to Epstein's criminal behavior as the two men once were friends. Trump has never been accused of any wrongdoing and has denied any knowledge of Epstein's rampant sexual abuse.

Barr discussed the broader case on "Ruthless," saying if any investigators in New York or the Biden Department of Justice had found anything on Trump regarding Epstein, he would have certainly heard about it.

"Let's get serious," Barr said. "This is not the thing that is going to show Trump did anything wrong."

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.