The U.S. government under President Donald Trump will ask a court to release the testimonies in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Critics, including Trump’s own supporters, suspect that details are being covered up.
“Given the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to submit all relevant grand jury testimonies, subject to court approval,” Trump writes on Truth Social. Bondi says on X that she will comply with Trump’s request.
Epstein took his own life in a New York prison in 2019 after being charged with sexual exploitation. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice reported in a memo last week that Epstein committed suicide and was not murdered. There is also said to be no evidence that the sex offender wanted to blackmail anyone or that he kept a list of other suspects.
That contradicts several conspiracy theories. Critics, including Trump’s supporters, believe that Epstein was eliminated to protect his powerful friends. The American government would be withholding details to protect other possible perpetrators and government agencies. No evidence has yet been provided for this.
Pressure was also increased from the Republican Party. For example, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and an ally of Trump, called for transparency. Trump therefore asked Bondi to make all “credible” information about Epstein public. It now appears that the testimonies are at least part of this.
Trump threatens to sue newspaper after writing about letter to Epstein
The case keeps Trump and his government busy. Supporters of the conspiracy theories believe that Trump is withholding information because it would also be incriminating for him. After all, he was friends with Epstein.
On Thursday, the president threatened on Truth Social that he would sue The Wall Street Journal because of an article that the newspaper published. The article is about a letter that Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein in 2003. The letter would also have contained a drawing of a naked woman.
“President Trump will soon sue The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp and Murdoch,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The press must learn to be honest and not rely on sources that probably don’t even exist.” News Corp is the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch is the owner of the media company.
The article in The Wall Street Journal reports that the letter to Epstein with Trump’s signature was part of a collection of letters for Epstein’s fiftieth birthday in 2003. The newspaper says it has read the letter, but did not publish an image of it.