Although he asked the Department of Justice to release all grand jury testimony in convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case, President Donald Trump said on Saturday, July 19 that people will still demand more information. Trump and his administration have been criticized, including by their supporters, for their handling of the investigation.
“…Even if the Court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It will always be more, more, more.”
Trump on Thursday, July 17 said he asked U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval.” On Friday, July 18, the Department of Justice formally requested that federal judges make public the grand jury transcripts of Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Epstein died in a Manhattan prison in 2019. Maxwell was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping the disgraced financier recruit and abuse underage girls. She is now appealing her conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In July, the DOJ and FBI put out a memo stating that it “conducted an exhaustive review of investigative holdings relating to Jeffrey Epstein.” The memo caused a rift among Trump supporters, as it said the DOJ review did not find a “client list” that those in the “Make America Great Again” movement believed would reveal the names of powerful people who allegedly used Epstein’s trafficking network.
Trump sues WSJ over Epstein story
Amid the growing pressure for more disclosures about the Epstein case, Trump on Friday, July 18, sued the Wall Street Journal over an article the outlet published about a letter the president allegedly sent Epstein for a 2003 birthday album. Included as defendants in the lawsuit, which was obtained by the New York Times and other outlets, are the WSJ’s publisher, Dow Jones; its parent company, News Corp; Rupert Murdoch, News Corp’s founder; News Corp CEO Robert Thomson and the two reporters who wrote the article.
The lawsuit asked for damages awarded “not to be less than $10 billion.”
“I look forward to getting Rupert Murdoch to testify in my lawsuit against him and his ‘pile of garbage’ newspaper, the WSJ. That will be an interesting experience!!!” Trump said on Truth Social.
According to the WSJ article, the letter, which had Trump’s name on it, included “several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman,” which was apparently hand-drawn. The letter ended with “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the WSJ reported.
Trump denied writing the letter and drawing the picture in an interview with the Journal, saying “This is not me. This is a fake thing.”
Trump’s lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, states that the Wall Street Journal “falsely claimed” that he “authored, drew and signed the card.” He accused Dow Jones and News Corp of “glaring failures in journalistic ethics and standards of accurate reporting,” and alleged the reporters wrote “false, defamatory, and malignant statements” in the article.
A Dow Jones spokesperson said in a statement to Straight Arrow News that it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
Trump has taken legal action against news outlets before. While some litigation targeting CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post over stories tying his 2016 campaign to Russia was thrown own out, Trump reached settlement agreements with ABC News and Paramount after his re-election to a second term.
