United States President Donald Trump's administration will seek more documents relating to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein as pressure, including from key allies, continues to mount over the issue.
"Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday AEST.
Bondi confirmed she would ask the court to "unseal the grand jury transcripts" — a process that is likely to take some time.
In the US, grand juries are a group of citizens set up by a prosecutor. They determine whether there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and whether criminal charges should be filed. If they are, the case can proceed to a regular trial jury.
It was unclear whether Trump's administration would seek documents from the time he was charged with child sex trafficking in 2019, or from early cases in the 2000s. It was also not explicitly said whether any documents obtained would be made public.
Grand jury materials are typically kept secret, although a Florida judge in 2024 released documents after a state law was passed creating an exemption for cases like Epstein's. These related to a 2006 case which ultimately resulted in a guilty plea deal for procuring an underage girl for prostitution. The heavily-criticised deal saw him escape more severe federal charges for state charges, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
While facing federal charges of sex trafficking minors, Epstein, a wealthy financier, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. He had pleaded not guilty, and the case was dropped after his death.
Trump's latest move comes after US Justice Department last week published a memo effectively denying a string of theories fanned by the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement — the US presiden'ts key support base.
The memo concluded that there was no "incriminating client list" or evidence that sex offender Epstein had blackmailed high-profile figures.
The department has also rejected claims that Epstein was murdered while in federal custody.
This conclusion has not satisfied many within the MAGA movement, who bought into Trump and his administration repeatedly using Epstein-related conspiracy theories to target their political opponents.
Trump has used these theories to attack former US president Bill Clinton multiple times. In August 2019, immediately after Epstein's death, he reposted a tweet saying Epstein "had information on Bill Clinton and now he’s dead".
Bondi said in May that the FBI was reviewing "tens of thousands of videos" of Epstein, "with children or child porn".
Billionaire Elon Musk was one of the first MAGA figures to publicly voice criticism over the 'Epstein files' not being released. In a now-deleted X post in June, he stated: "Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public."
He later apologised, saying he "went too far" about the US president.
With the release of the memo saying there is 'nothing to see', figures such as commentator Tucker Carlson, right-wing activist Laura Loomer, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, and popular US podcaster Joe Rogan have argued that the government’s response to the case demonstrates a lack of transparency.
Trump, however, has blamed Democrats for what he called "the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax", saying some of his past supporters "have bought into this bullshit".
It is known that Trump and Epstein socialised together. What do we know about the Trump-Epstein relationship?
'Known Jeff' for decades
Trump's past relationship with Epstein is no secret.
In February, documents released by the US Justice Department showed that Trump is named in flight logs of Jeffrey Epstein's private plane in the 1990s.
Videos published by the NBC archives also show the two partying at Trump's Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Washington Post has reported, according to friends and associates, that for 20 years, from the 1980s to the 2000s, the two swam in the same social pool, jetted to Palm Beach, Florida, together, and partied at Mar-a-Lago.
In 2002, in an interview with New York magazine, Trump said that he had known "Jeff for 15 years", calling him a "terrific guy".
"He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side," he said.
"No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
(Left to right) Donald Trump and his girlfriend (and future wife), Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed in 2022 over sex trafficking and other offences in connection to Epstein, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, on 12 February 2000. Source: Getty / Davidoff Studios Photography
"I said: 'Donald, this is supposed to be a party with VIPs. You’re telling me it’s you and Epstein?'" he said.
Separate photos from 1997 and 2000 show Epstein visiting Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach and posing in photos there with Trump.
However, in 2016, Trump Organisation attorney Alan Garten told Fox News that Trump had no relationship with Epstein.
"They were not friends and they did not socialise together," he said.
Banned from Trump property
It appears that in 2004, the Trump-Epstein relationship came to a head.
The two men competed to buy an oceanfront property in Palm Beach, with Trump outbidding Epstein that year — after that, there are few public records of their interaction.
About a year later, Florida police started an investigation into Epstein about sex trafficking.
Garten has said that in reaction to the charges, Trump "banned him [Epstein] from stepping foot on the property".
In a press conference in 2019, when asked if he had banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago, Trump said: "Yes. And I did have a falling out a long time ago. The reason doesn’t make any difference, frankly."
"But I haven’t spoken to him in probably 15 years or more. I wasn’t a big fan of Jeffrey Epstein, that I can tell you.
"It shows you one thing: that I have good taste. OK? Now, other people they went all over with him. They went to his island. They went all over the place."
Trump threatens legal action over alleged letter
The president on Thursday threatened to sue US newspaper The Wall Street Journal after it published a story about an alleged off-colour letter written by him by Epstein that featured a drawing of a naked woman.
The Journal story says the note to Epstein bearing Trump's signature was part of a collection of notes for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. The newspaper says it reviewed the letter but did not print an image.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump wrote White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and he himself had told the newspaper's editor "that the letter was a FAKE".
Trump wrote that he would sue The Wall Street Journal, its publisher News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch who controls the News Corp media empire, "shortly".
"The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don't even exist," Trump said.
The alleged letter — which Trump denies writing — is raunchy, as were others in the collection, the Journal reported. It contains several lines of typewritten text, contained in an outline of a naked woman drawn with a marker.
"The future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald' below her waist, mimicking pubic hair," the Journal reported.
"The letter concludes: 'Happy Birthday -- and may every day be another wonderful secret.'"
Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the figure, telling the Journal: "This is not me. This is a fake thing."
"I don't draw pictures of women," he said. "It's not my language. It's not my words."
With additional reporting by the Agence France-Presse and Reuters news agencies.
