According to reports, US President Donald Trump has directed the Justice Department to provide more information pertaining to sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,” Trump wrote on social media.
Although such an action would normally require a court’s consent, it is unclear whether Trump is authorizing the public publication of these records or when that may occur.
Following days of constant pressure from some of Trump’s most ardent supporters calling for additional disclosures in the Epstein case, the development occurred.
Minutes after the president’s address, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote: “We are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
A grand jury is a panel of persons appointed by a prosecutor to decide whether charges should be brought. Legally speaking, it establishes if there is sufficient evidence to suspect that a crime has been committed.
For a defendant to be found guilty of a crime, grand jury verdicts still need to be tested in front of a regular jury in court.
It’s unclear if the president’s post was in response to the federal charges filed in 2019 or grand jury testimony from the initial round of proceedings involving Epstein in the early 2000s. The White House has been contacted by the BBC.
A few grand jury documents pertaining to the 2006 Florida case in which he was charged with soliciting a prostitute have already been made public. The absence of significant charges and the seriousness of the victims’ testimony—which included several minors—led to harsh criticism of the case.
Trump pledged to make the information pertaining to the embattled financier public during his campaign last year.
Bondi did, however, declare last week that despite conspiracy theories surrounding his death, Epstein committed suicide and that the US Justice Department did not think he had a “client list” that could incriminate his acquaintances.
It happened after Bondi had hinted that she would be revealing significant details about the case, such as “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs”—a reference to people who allegedly visited the financer’s private islands, where many of his alleged crimes were allegedly committed.
Many of Trump’s most fervent fans were incensed by her reversal and demanded that Bondi step down after she was unable to produce the list, which Trump officials had earlier claimed to possess.
Trump’s action was applauded by conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, who had recently criticized the administration’s handling of the materials.
“This is massive, this is something that we’ve been talking about for quite some time, and really a power to the grassroots,” he stated.
While awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019, Epstein passed away in a jail cell in New York. His conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was classified as a sex offender, occurred more than ten years prior to his death while incarcerated.
The order was issued shortly after Trump threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal for publishing a story claiming that, in 2003, before the late financier was accused of sex crimes, Epstein received a “bawdy” birthday greeting with Trump’s name on it.
Trump has called the letter a “fake” and said it was sent on Epstein’s 50th birthday, according to the newspaper.
Rupert Murdoch and the newspaper “were warned directly” that they would face legal action if they published the report, which Trump called “false, malicious, and defamatory” in a post.
The Wall Street Journal said that a letter with Trump’s name on it “contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker.”
“Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person,” according to the newspaper.
The Wall Street Journal claims that the letter concludes, “A friend is a wonderful thing.” Wishing you a happy birthday and many more amazing secrets each day.
These are not my words or my speech pattern. Additionally, Trump responded to the news on social media by saying, “I don’t draw pictures.”
The publication said the letter was part of a collection of birthday wishes compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein associate. In 2021, Maxwell was found guilty of assisting Epstein in the sex trafficking of children and received a 20-year prison sentence.
