Though President Donald Trump ordered the Justice Division to request the discharge of extra particulars within the probe of convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, he claimed Saturday that the transfer might do little to quell the outspoken criticism of his administration’s dealing with of the case.
The president reiterated on social media that he requested the DOJ “to launch all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, topic solely to Court docket Approval.” Trump, nevertheless, lashed out towards the loud voices who’ve known as for transparency for the reason that Justice Division and FBI issued their July 6 memo relating to their resolution to not launch any additional information from federal investigations into the late financier.
President Donald Trump departs after signing the GENIUS Act, a invoice that regulates stablecoins, a kind of cryptocurrency, within the East Room of the White Home, July 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
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“Even when the Court docket gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing shall be adequate for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It can at all times be extra, extra, extra,” Trump stated in his put up.
Trump has downplayed the considerations from a number of folks, together with outstanding Republicans and conservative pundits, that the federal government hasn’t finished sufficient to get to the reality behind the intercourse trafficking prices issued towards the financier six years in the past. The Justice Division and FBI confirmed Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail on Aug. 10, 2019.
Trump as soon as had a pleasant relationship with Epstein, socializing in New York and Palm Seashore. When Epstein was arrested in 2019, Trump stated they’d had a falling out and hadn’t spoken in 15 years
The president has by no means been accused of wrongdoing in reference to the Epstein case regardless of his name appearing several times on Epstein’s non-public jet flight logs.
The DOJ stated in its Friday filing that its request for grand jury testimony follows “in depth public curiosity.”
The submitting stated the DOJ plans to work with the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York “to make applicable redactions of victim-related data and different private figuring out data previous to releasing the transcripts.”
“Transparency on this course of won’t be on the expense of our obligation beneath the legislation to guard victims,” the submitting added.
The submitting, which was solely signed by Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi and Deputy Lawyer Normal Todd Blanche, requested the court docket “conclude that the Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell circumstances qualify as a matter of public curiosity, launch the related grand jury transcripts, and raise any preexisting protecting orders.”
Maxwell, an affiliate of Epstein, was convicted of intercourse trafficking and different prices and sentenced to twenty years in jail in 2022.
Commuters stroll previous a bus cease close to 9 Elms Station as activists put up a poster exhibiting President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein close to the US Embassy in London, July 17, 2025.
Thomas Krych/AP
A former federal prosecutor advised ABC Information that the Justice Division’s request won’t give any new particulars.
The transcript probably mentions a small fraction of the general testimony and proof gathered by the DOJ towards the disgraced financier, former assistant United States lawyer Sarah Krissoff advised ABC Information.
Whereas the president’s pledge to unseal the transcripts has been heralded by his supporters as proof of his dedication to transparency, Krissoff cautioned that grand jury testimony typically doesn’t shed a lot gentle in comparison with the case file or proof introduced at trial.
“The grand jury testimony goes to be very restricted in comparison with the whole case file,” she stated. “It is simply going to be an actual, high-level evaluation – a spotlight reel – of what the prosecutors suppose is essential within the case file, which could possibly be a whole lot of 1000’s, if not hundreds of thousands of paperwork.”
Krissoff spent greater than a decade as a prosecutor with the US Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York, which introduced felony circumstances towards each Epstein and Maxwell. Krissoff, now a accomplice at Cozen O’Connor, didn’t instantly work on both case.
She stated that SDNY prosecutors typically don’t current firsthand witnesses to the grand jury, as a substitute opting to make use of federal brokers who can summarize proof and the testimony of others.
“The usual follow, notably within the SDNY, is to maintain the grand jury presentation as slim as attainable,” Krissoff stated. “The objective of the prosecutor is actually to place in as little proof as they want with a purpose to get that indictment.”
President Donald Trump arrives for an occasion to signal the GENIUS Act, a invoice that regulates stablecoins, a kind of cryptocurrency, within the East Room of the White Home, July 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Alex Brandon/AP
Contemplating the proof made public by means of civil lawsuits and the felony trial of Maxwell, Krissoff argued that the transcripts are unlikely to vary the general public understanding of the case.
“I perceive that the president needs to appease some of us by disclosing the grand jury testimony, however I simply do not see that as actually shedding a lightweight on a lot right here,” she stated.
