Trump seeks release of Epstein grand jury documents, blasts birthday letter story

US President Donald Trump authorised the Justice Department to seek the release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, bowing to mounting pressure from his supporters for more transparency about the late, disgraced financier. Trump’s move on Thursday came after the Wall Street Journal published a story alleging that he once sent a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein. The president said the letter was “FAKE” in a social media post. He threatened to sue the paper, its parent company News Corp and owner Rupert Murdoch, calling the story “false, malicious, and defamatory”. The paper declined to comment on the president’s litigation threat. Murdoch, who controls the NewsCorp global media company, was in Trump’s suite Sunday at MetLife Stadium outside New York City for the Fifa Club World Cup final. The media mogul also owns conservative Americans’ preferred TV news channel, Fox News. In a subsequent post, Trump said that Attorney General Pam Bondi should “produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval”. Bondi posted that “we are ready to move the court” on Friday “to unseal the grand jury transcripts”. The president cited “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein” for his decision, which stops short of the disclosure demanded by some Republican lawmakers and outside allies. It was also unclear if a federal court would grant the administration’s request to make public grand jury deliberations, which are typically kept secret. The episode marked the latest turn in a saga that has created a rift among Trump’s conservative base. Some of his allies have been demanding the administration release more records related to the Epstein sex trafficking investigation after Trump vowed to do so during the 2024 presidential campaign. The president has lashed out in response, accusing them of falling for what he now calls a “hoax” surrounding Epstein that was engineered by Democrats. “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!” Trump posted Thursday. The split centres on the administration’s handling of files related to Epstein, who was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019 before facing trial on charges that he trafficked underage girls. Authorities said that Epstein committed suicide. The intra-Republican dispute played out in the halls of Congress on Thursday, with House Republican lawmakers rushing to offer a non-binding resolution calling for the release of credible information related to Epstein. Republicans agonised over the measure for hours, even delaying a vote on a Trump-backed spending-cut bill, as they huddled with the White House on the precise language. Democrats immediately decried the measure as meaningless and riddled with loopholes. They made similar criticisms of Trump’s grand jury manoeuvre. The Justice Department and FBI last week said that Epstein did not keep a client list and that no more files related to the case would be made public, despite prior pledges by Bondi that excited conservative influencers and other members of Trump’s base. On Thursday, US media reported that a federal prosecutor who handled Epstein’s case, who is the daughter of a prominent Trump critic, was abruptly fired. Maurene Comey, whose father is former FBI director James Comey, was dismissed Wednesday from her position as an assistant US attorney in Manhattan, the reports said. Comey also prosecuted Ghislaine Maxwell, the only former Epstein associate who has been criminally charged in connection with his activities. Trump’s ties to Epstein have been well documented, though the president has not been accused of misconduct in connection with their social relationship. Video footage unearthed by NBC News following Epstein’s federal indictment in 2019 showed the two chatting at a party at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 1992. The video, recorded at a time when Trump was newly divorced, shows him surrounded by young women, whom NBC identified as cheerleaders for the Buffalo Bills. It also depicts the two men standing and gesturing at the women on the dance floor. “I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him,” Trump said when the video emerged. “He was a fixture in Palm Beach. I had a falling-out with him a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve spoken to him for 15 years.” Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.

Trump seeks release of Epstein grand jury documents, blasts birthday letter story

US president asks for release of documents, and threatens to sue over story about an alleged 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein