Dealing with uproar in his MAGA base over the Jeffrey Epstein recordsdata, President Donald Trump has referred to as for Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi “to provide any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, topic to Court docket approval” associated to the case.
Bondi responded on social media Thursday night, saying, “We’re prepared to maneuver the court docket tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
It isn’t instantly clear the extent of the administration’s request to unseal the transcripts, which might be topic to the approval of a federal decide within the Southern District of New York, the place Epstein was charged earlier than he died by suicide in 2019.
This transformation after all comes after the Justice Division and the FBI released a memo earlier this month stating no proof was discovered that Epstein stored a “consumer record” of associates or that he blackmailed any outstanding people. The memo concluded no investigation into uncharged third social gathering was warranted.
The temporary memo put out by the DOJ and FBI final week stoked furor amongst Trump’s diehard supporters after years of prominent right-wing figures pushing accusations about Epstein and the “deep state” that is defending elites.
Trump’s since sought numerous methods to place out the political firestorm, coming to Bondi’s protection whereas additionally saying she ought to launch what she deems “credible.”
In Trump’s name for Bondi to provide the grand jury testimony, he mentioned it was a “SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats,” and that it “ought to finish, proper now!”
Shifting from his earlier assertion of calling the Epstein recordsdata a “hoax” and people Republican supporters who’re questioning his administration’s dealing with of it as “silly” and “silly.”
Trump, in a telephone interview with “Simply the Information” on Actual America’s Voice on Wednesday night time, alleged with out offering proof that Democrats and former officers doctored recordsdata regarding the disgraced financier and convicted intercourse offender.
The feedback got here when Trump was requested if he needed one prosecutor to look into the broad topic of political prosecution.
“Effectively, I believe it is within the case of Epstein, they’ve already checked out it, and they’re taking a look at it, and I believe all they must do is put out something credible,” Trump mentioned.
“However you understand, that was run by the Biden administration for 4 years. I can think about what they put into recordsdata, similar to they did with the others,” Trump continued. “I imply, the Steele file was a complete pretend, proper? It took two years to determine that out for the individuals, and the entire issues that you simply talked about have been pretend.”
“So I’d think about in the event that they have been run by Chris Wray and so they have been run by Comey, and since it was really even earlier than that administration, they have been operating these recordsdata, and a lot of the issues that we discovered have been pretend with me,” Trump mentioned.
President Donald Trump is seen leaving after signing the “Halt All Deadly Trafficking of Fentanyl Act,” throughout a ceremony within the East Room of the White Home, July 16, 2025, in Washington.
Andrew Caballero-reynolds/AFP through Getty Photographs
Regardless of Trump’s claims that Democrats “put” issues within the recordsdata, many paperwork regarding Epstein, together with people who point out Trump and several other outstanding Democrats, have been public for years.
And the White Home on Thursday shut down the concept of appointing a particular prosecutor within the Epstein case.
“The thought was floated from somebody within the media to the president. The president wouldn’t suggest a particular prosecutor within the Epstein case. That is how he feels,” White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters on the briefing.
Requested to make clear what a part of the Epstein saga is a “hoax” as Trump claimed, Leavitt solely continued to criticize Democrats.
“The president is referring to the truth that Democrats have now seized on this as in the event that they ever needed transparency in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, which is an asinine suggestion for any Democrat to make,” she mentioned. “The Democrats had management of this constructing, the White Home, for 4 years, and so they did not do a dang factor when it got here to transparency with reference to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous crimes.”
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters within the James Brady Press Briefing Room on the White Home, July 17, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and died in jail by suicide whereas awaiting trial on sex-trafficking fees whereas Trump was president.
“A number of the naive Republicans fall proper into line, like they at all times do,” the president mentioned on “Simply the Information.”
Requires transparency on Epstein got here from a number of Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. And Trump’s personal former vice chairman, Mike Pence, referred to as for the administration to “launch the entire recordsdata” concerning the Epstein investigation.
Leavitt on Thursday defended the administration’s dealing with of the Epstein recordsdata and tried to distance Trump from additional decision-making on the case.
Leavitt mentioned it could be as much as the Justice Division and Bondi to launch some other “credible” proof.
“When it comes to redactions or grand jury seals, these are questions for the Division of Justice. These are additionally questions for the judges who’ve that data beneath a seal. And that must be requested and decide must approve it. That is out of the president’s management,” she mentioned when requested why they wouldn’t launch the recordsdata, with delicate data redacted, to be able to present extra transparency.
