Donald Trump's move: Will testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case become public?
"Due to the absurd publicity surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to present all relevant testimony to the Grand Jury, subject to confirmation by the Court. This Dem HOAX must end immediately!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
Shortly after Trump's announcement, Bondi wrote on the X platform that the Justice Department was prepared to ask the court to release the grand jury transcripts.
Trump also accused the Wall Street Journal of publishing a "fake" letter, which the newspaper claimed Trump wrote to Epstein for his 50th birthday. "Those are not my words, I don't speak like that. And I don't draw cartoons. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a hoax, that he shouldn't publish this fake story. But he did, and now I'm suing him and his third-rate newspaper," Trump said, announcing his intention to sue the newspaper's owner, Rupert Murdoch.
Earlier, Donald Trump announced that he had lost faith in some of his supporters, who, he said, had been "conned into the Democrats' hoax" regarding the Epstein case. He also said that the issue was not one the public should be concerned with.
Accusations of sexual abuse of underage girls and trafficking in women against Jeffrey Epstein surfaced in 2006, shortly after Epstein was arrested. He died in prison in 2019 after being rearrested and charged with conspiracy.
Last week, Attorney General Bondi announced that the investigation into Epstein had failed to establish the existence of the client list she promised to publish, and that Epstein himself was dead. The Justice Department announced that no new documents in the case would be released.
This sparked divisions within the Republican community and outrage within the pro-Trump MAGA movement. Right-wing bloggers, journalists, and influencers began calling for the removal of Pam Bondi and John Ratcliffe, the director of the CIA, and accused the government of concealing the truth about Epstein's death, which had previously been reported as having committed suicide in custody in 2019 .
Trump himself promised during the campaign that he would release further documents concerning the financier upon his return to the White House. For years, right-wing media outlets have suggested that the government is concealing information about Epstein, who, according to them, maintained a "client list" used to blackmail prominent figures. Bondi told Fox News in February that the "client list" was already on her desk, awaiting review.
As Reuters reported on Thursday, a majority of Americans believe the administration is concealing information about Epstein's case. Sixty-nine percent of Reuters/Ipsos survey participants said the federal government is concealing details about Epstein's clients. Six percent disagree, and a quarter have no opinion on the matter.
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