UPDATE
Jul 18, 2025 5:15 PM CDT
The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal judge in Manhattan to unseal grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, after demands from President Trump's supporters to release documents about the case threatened to overshadow the administration's agenda. The department requested a similar release in the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is imprisoned after being convicted of aiding Epstein's sex trafficking, the New York Times reports. Such records rarely are released publicly because of grand jury secrecy laws intended to protect witnesses and crime victims.
Jul 18, 2025 12:40 AM CDT
As President Trump asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to release grand jury testimony related to Jeffrey Epstein, House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration's handling of records in the sex trafficking case, ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency, the AP reports. The House resolution, which could potentially be voted on next week, will do practically nothing to force the Justice Department to release more records in the case. Still, it showed how backlash from the Republican base is putting pressure on the Trump administration and roiling GOP lawmakers.
The House was held up for hours Thursday from final consideration of President Donald Trump's request for about $9 billion in government funding cuts because GOP leaders were trying to respond to demands from their own ranks that they weigh in on the Epstein files. In the late evening they settled on the resolution as an attempt to simultaneously placate calls from the far-right for greater transparency and satisfy Trump, who has called the issue a "hoax" that his supporters should forget about. Democrats vehemently decried the resolution's lack of force. They have advanced their own legislation, with support from nine Republicans, that would require the Justice Department to release more information on the case.
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Meanwhile, Trump posted on Truth Social late Thursday, "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!" Bondi quickly replied that she was ready to ask the court to unseal the transcripts Friday, NBC News reports. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said that process would likely only produce limited information, but added that it showed that "the president is hearing the American people."
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