U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a multilateral luncheon with African leaders successful the State Dining Room of the White House July 9, 2025 successful Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump, facing increasing unit to publically merchandise Justice Department files related to Jeffrey Epstein, said connected Thursday nighttime that helium had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to question the unsealing of expansive assemblage grounds related to the criminal prosecution of the notorious pedophile.
Bondi replied successful a social media post, writing, "President Trump — we are acceptable to determination the tribunal time to unseal the expansive assemblage transcripts."
Trump's announcement came hours aft The Wall Street Journal reported that a "bawdy" missive bearing Trump's signature was included successful an medium of letters Epstein received for his 50th day successful 2003.
The missive was among the documents "examined by Justice Department officials who investigated Epstein" and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, "years ago," the paper reported.
"Based connected the ridiculous magnitude of publicity fixed to Jeffrey Epstein, I person asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to nutrient immoderate and each pertinent Grand Jury testimony, taxable to Court approval," Trump wrote successful a Truth Social post.
"This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, close now!" the president added.
From left, Donald Trump and his woman (and aboriginal wife), erstwhile exemplary Melania Knauss, financier (and aboriginal convicted enactment offender) Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell airs unneurotic astatine the Mar-a-Lago nine successful Palm Beach, Florida connected Feb. 12, 2000.
Davidoff Studios Photography | Archive Photos | Getty Images
It is not wide that the Justice Department volition beryllium capable to person a national justice successful New York, wherever Epstein was investigated, to merchandise the transcripts that indicted him successful 2019 connected kid enactment trafficking charges.
Grand assemblage transcripts are, arsenic a rule, kept concealed nether national transgression process rules, which supply limited, constrictive exceptions.
It is besides not wide that if the transcripts are released that they volition fulfill critics of Bond's caller determination not to merchandise immoderate much documents oregon grounds related to Epstein The transcripts would correspond conscionable a fraction of the grounds assembled by prosecutors and the FBI.
"Nice effort @AGPamBondi," Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y. wrote successful a tweet connected Thursday night.
"What astir videos, photographs and different recordings? What astir FBI 302's (witness interviews)? What astir texts and emails?" Goldman wrote. "That's wherever the grounds astir Trump and others volition be. Grand assemblage grounds volition lone subordinate to Epstein and Maxwell."
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, successful a tweet called Bondi's announcement "HUGE," but besides added, "I anticipation and expect this volition beryllium the archetypal of respective steps to fto the nationalist cognize what happened."
Epstein's lawsuit has spawned conspiracy theories among Trump's MAGA basal of supporters.
Those supporters person questioned the authoritative uncovering that Epstein killed himself portion successful custody successful a Manhattan jailhouse successful August 2019, a period aft being arrested connected the charges filed successful the Southern District Court of New York.
They person besides called for the merchandise of what they judge is simply a "client list" maintained by Epstein, perchance for usage to blackmail affluent and almighty radical successful his orbit. And they person argued that different radical should beryllium brought to justness for his crimes.
Trump was for years a person of Epstein, earlier the 2 fell out, and the secretive wealth manager besides counted people, including President Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew, successful his societal orbit.
Trump has blamed Democrats for the demands for the Epstein files to beryllium released. But a increasing fig of Republicans, including his erstwhile vice president, Mike Pence, and GOP members of Congress, person said Bondi should merchandise further material.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier Thursday said Trump "would not urge a peculiar prosecutor" beryllium appointed to reappraisal the handling of the transgression lawsuit against Epstein, contempt calls from immoderate of his starring supporters for that idea.
The FBI, successful a memo released by the Justice Department this month, said that a "systematic review" of the Epstein lawsuit files revealed nary incriminating 'client list.' "
"There was besides nary credible grounds recovered that Epstein blackmailed salient individuals arsenic portion of his actions," the memo said. "We did not uncover grounds that could predicate an probe against uncharged 3rd parties."
The memo besides supported the erstwhile authoritative ruling that Epstein had killed himself, and included a video with footage confirming that "from the clip Epstein was locked successful his compartment astatine astir 10:40 p.m. connected August 9, 2019, until astir 6:30 americium the adjacent morning, cipher entered immoderate of the tiers successful the" peculiar lodging portion of the Manhattan jail.
But Wired magazine earlier this week reported that "newly uncovered metadata reveals that astir 3 minutes of footage were chopped from what the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation described arsenic 'full raw' surveillance video from the lone functioning camera adjacent Jeffrey Epstein's situation compartment the nighttime earlier helium was recovered dead."
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