President Donald Trump says he’s asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to release certain Jeffrey Epstein files and relevant grand jury testimony: “subject to court approval.”
The president’s directive follows weeks of uproar surrounding the handling of the so-called Epstein files and after Trump announced his plans to sue the Wall Street Journal after the paper published a bombshell report detailing a bawdy birthday card Trump allegedly gave to Jeffrey Epstein.
A schism in MAGA world broke open after the Justice Department said there was no evidence to support the existence of a “client list” of associates some claim Epstein blackmailed over their alleged involvement in his trafficking scheme.
Now, several prominent Republicans, including Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, have joined conservative influencers in calling for increased transparency around the case.
On Thursday, the president seems to be caving in to the demands.
Trump revealed he asked the attorney general to release more information into the highly scrutinized case in a Truth Social post Thursday evening.
He wrote: “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. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!”
Two minutes later, Bondi tweeted: “President Trump—we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
Trump posted his update within the hour of announcing his plans to sue the Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Rupert Murdoch “shortly” over the paper’s story detailing a bawdy birthday card that Trump allegedly gave to Epstein for his 50th birthday.
The president said he warned he would seek legal if the story was published.
“Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so,” he wrote. “The Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker, was told directly by Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE, but Emma Tucker didn’t want to hear that. Instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway.”
