President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the unsealing of grand jury testimony from the criminal case involving Jeffrey Epstein, the financier and convicted sex offender, amid increasing public pressure for transparency in the case.
“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 stated in a Truth Social post. He labeled the ongoing attention as a “SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats,” adding it “should end, right now!”
Attorney General Bondi quickly responded, confirming via social media, “President Trump — we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.” However, it remains uncertain whether a federal judge in New York, where Epstein was indicted on child sex trafficking charges in 2019, will grant the release, given that federal criminal procedure typically restricts disclosure of grand jury materials, reports NBC News.
The announcement follows revelations by the Wall Street Journal about a “bawdy” letter signed by Trump that was part of a collection Epstein received for his 50th birthday in 2003. The report indicated that Justice Department officials previously reviewed the documents while investigating Epstein and his convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) criticized the limited scope of Trump’s proposal, tweeting, “Nice try @AGPamBondi,” and questioning, “What about videos, photographs and other recordings? What about FBI 302′s (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails?” Goldman argued the grand jury testimony would exclusively focus on Epstein and Maxwell rather than other figures, including Trump.
Goldman did not explain why such damaging information was kept hidden by Presidents Obama and Biden, both of whom sincerely believe that Donald Trump is a “threat to democracy.” The congressman, who served as a prosecutor against Trump during his impeachment trial, previously claimed that Joe Biden was merely talking about the weather with Hunter Biden’s associates who were paying the then vice president’s son for access to his father.
Conversely, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) described Trump’s move as “HUGE” but hoped it would mark only “the first of several steps to let the public know what happened.” Epstein’s death in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 has spawned conspiracy theories among some Trump supporters, many of whom remain skeptical of the official suicide determination. Supporters have also pushed for disclosure of a rumored “client list” allegedly used by Epstein for blackmail. Yet, an FBI memo released this month concluded that a “systematic review” found “no incriminating ‘client list’” nor “credible evidence” of blackmail.
The FBI memo also stated clearly that “from the time Epstein was locked in his cell at around 10:40 pm on August 9, 2019, until around 6:30 am the next morning, nobody entered any of the tiers in the” special housing unit. Still, recent reporting from Wired magazine highlighted new concerns, indicating that “newly uncovered metadata reveals that nearly three minutes of footage were cut from what the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation described as ‘full raw’ surveillance video” near Epstein’s cell.
Trump, who had previously associated with Epstein before a later falling out, has faced bipartisan calls, including from former Vice President Mike Pence, to make more Epstein-related information public. However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that Trump “would not recommend a special prosecutor” to review the Epstein matter, despite some supporters advocating for one.
The request to release grand jury testimony is a significant step in the continuing controversy surrounding Epstein’s prosecution, though it remains unclear whether this move alone will satisfy demands for broader transparency.
