The Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi took steps on Friday to get the grand jury testimony against Jeffrey Epstein unsealed as "a matter of public interest."
In the filing signed by Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, it said that the DOJ and FBI "continue to adhere to the conclusions reached in the Memorandum, transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration."
MORE: New: Trump Blasts WSJ Epstein 'Scoop,' Lawsuit Incoming
Given the public interest in the investigative work conducted by the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation into Epstein, the Department of Justice moves the Court to unseal the underlying grand jury transcripts in United States v. Epstein, subject to appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information. 2 The Department will work with the United States Attorney's Office for Southern District of New York to make appropriate redactions of victim-related information and other personal identifying information prior to releasing the transcripts. Transparency in this process will not be at the expense of our obligation under the law to protect victims.
The filing noted that despite the DOJ and FBI's conclusion in their review of Epstein's death and crimes, public interest has remained.
Given this longstanding and legitimate interest, the government now moves to unseal grand jury transcripts associated with Epstein … Public officials, lawmakers, pundits, and ordinary citizens remain deeply interested and concerned about the Epstein matter. Indeed, other jurists have released grand jury transcripts after concluding that Epstein's case qualifies as a matter of public concern."
It went on:
The time for the public to guess what they should end. Notably, the privacy interests at stake on the other side of the balance are substantially diminished due to Epstein's death. Of course, as noted above, the Department of Justice will work with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to redact all victim-identifying information prior to any release.
A similar motion was filed in Ghislaine Maxwell's case.
The filing concluded:
For these reasons, this Court should conclude that the Epstein and Maxwell cases qualify as a matter of public interest, release the associated grand jury transcripts, and lift any preexisting protective orders. See In re Craig, 131 F.3d at 105 ("It is … entirely conceivable that in some situations historical or public interest alone could justify the release of grand jury information.").
CNN reported that the decision about releasing the Grand Jury documents now lies with Federal Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan, who oversaw Epstein's criminal case before he died in 2019.
The filing came after the Wall Street Journal's "exclusive" report on Thursday involving Trump and Epstein. As my colleague Joe Cunningham reported, the "scoop" involved a "bawdy" birthday card allegedly sent by Trump to Epstein back in 2003 for his 50th birthday.
READ: Spoiler Alert: The Wall Street Journal's Damning Trump-Epstein Scoop Is... a Birthday Letter
Melania Appears to Send a Message to Haters Amid WSJ Trump-Epstein Drama
Trump hit back right away, calling the WSJ report fake news and vowing to sue.
In another Truth Social post on Thursday, he called on Bondi to get the grand jury testimony unsealed.
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!
And as promised, Friday evening, Trump followed through on his threat and filed the lawsuit, as RedState's Susie Moore reported:
READ MORE: Trump Follows Through, Files Suit Against Murdoch and WSJ Over Epstein Birthday Card Report
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