President Trump late Thursday ordered Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi to hunt the discharge of grand jury testimony associated to Jeffrey Epstein — as his administration faces strain to reveal extra particulars on the late intercourse offender.
“Based mostly on the ridiculous quantity of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I’ve requested Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi to provide any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, topic to Courtroom approval,” Mr. Trump wrote in a publish on Reality Social. “This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, ought to finish, proper now!”
Bondi wrote in a publish on X minutes later, “we’re prepared to maneuver the court docket tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
A decide might want to make the ultimate choice on whether or not materials might be launched, which might take a while and is unlikely to be quick.
It is unclear what materials the Trump administration will ask to be launched. It isn’t clear how a lot of the Epstein-related materials within the authorities’s possession is grand jury testimony.
Epstein was investigated by federal authorities in Florida within the 2000s, which led to a non-prosecution settlement and a responsible plea on state prostitution costs, and he was later charged with youngster intercourse trafficking in Manhattan in 2019. The federal government additionally secured a conviction towards Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. It investigated the circumstances of Epstein’s loss of life in federal custody, which was deemed a suicide.
The order from Mr. Trump comes after the Justice Division and FBI launched a memo stating that Epstein didn’t have an incriminating “consumer checklist,” didn’t attempt to blackmail any outstanding figures, and died by suicide. The memo drew backlash from throughout the political spectrum, together with from some fervent Trump backers, partly as a result of Bondi and different administration figures had promised to launch info on Epstein.
The federal government is usually required to maintain grand jury supplies secret, and it’s normal for not all materials that’s proven to a grand jury — which meets earlier than an individual is criminally indicted — to emerge throughout a felony case.
A request of this type by the federal government is uncommon, says Mitchell Epner, a associate on the New York legislation agency Kudman Trachten Aloe Posner, and a former federal prosecutor.
“I have been in and round federal felony circumstances for over 30 years. I’ve by no means heard of this earlier than,” he instructed CBS Information.
Whereas the scope of the federal government’s request continues to be unknown, Epner says it might embody an “huge amount of information.” Mr. Trump mentioned the federal government would search the discharge of grand jury testimony, which Epner famous might embrace reveals that witnesses testified about earlier than a grand jury.
“I might not guess towards there being something, from probably the most attention-grabbing factor on the earth to the least attention-grabbing factor on the earth, in that materials,” mentioned Epner, who instructed CBS Information he believes requires extra info to be disclosed within the Epstein case are warranted.
Epner joked: “If we have been to seek out out the placement of the corpse of Jimmy Hoffa, I might not be stunned.”
Materials doubtless won’t be launched instantly, in accordance with Epner, who mentioned, “weeks can be shifting in a short time, months is probably going.” Underneath court docket guidelines, grand jury materials is often solely launched below sure circumstances, typically when it is wanted for another investigation. The federal government’s grounds for launch on this case aren’t clear.
On this case, each associates and alleged victims of Epstein’s might oppose some disclosures.
“I might not be stunned if quite a lot of folks got here ahead below pseudonyms to object to the discharge of grand jury materials associated to them,” Epner mentioned. “I additionally wouldn’t be stunned if among the victims…got here ahead and mentioned, ‘Sure, we do need issues to be revealed.'”
Trump administration faces Epstein fallout
Final week’s memo on Epstein reignited years of questions — and conspiracy theories — on the disgraced financier, together with hypothesis concerning the circumstances of Epstein’s loss of life in custody, and about whether or not the federal authorities was concealing info to protect a few of Epstein’s well-known pals.
Bondi had pledged to launch information associated to Epstein, and prompt in a Fox Information interview in February a “consumer checklist” was “sitting on my desk proper now to assessment.” (She later mentioned she meant usually that materials on Epstein was sitting on her desk.)
In late February, the Justice Division distributed binders to over a dozen right-wing social media influencers labeled “The Epstein Recordsdata: Part 1,” although the influencers later mentioned lots of the supplies have been already within the public area.
Some Republicans and vocal Trump supporters have been dissatisfied with final week’s memo, in some circumstances calling for extra disclosures or the appointment of a particular prosecutor to look into the Epstein case — which White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the president doesn’t help.
Mr. Trump, for his half, has scolded some Republicans for getting into what he referred to as the “the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax,” calling them “silly folks” and “weaklings” who’re “do[ing] the Democrats work.”
Shortly earlier than pushing for the discharge of grand jury testimony, the president on Thursday denied a Wall Road Journal report on what the newspaper described as a “bawdy” birthday letter to Epstein — that includes a drawing of a nude girl — that the paper claimed was signed by Mr. Trump within the early 2000s. Mr. Trump and Epstein had crossed paths for years, although Mr. Trump says that they had a “falling out.”
Mr. Trump referred to as the letter a “FAKE” and threatened to sue the Journal, in addition to its mother or father firm Information Corp and chief Rupert Murdoch.
“These aren’t my phrases, not the best way I speak. Additionally, I do not draw footage,” he mentioned.
CBS Information has not independently verified or seen the letter. Dow Jones — the Information Corp division that features the Journal — declined to touch upon Mr. Trump’s threats.
