Trump bows to Epstein critics clamoring for more records. Will it calm MAGA's fury?
For a president known for punching back at critics, his move to release more Epstein records is a notable instance of bowing to their demands.
Facing a growing backlash to his administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, President Donald Trump offered a concession to critics who want him to disclose more documents.
Trump on July 17 asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury testimony from Epstein’s legal proceedings.
For a president who is known for relentlessly punching back at critics, it was a notable instance of bowing to their demands.
Whether it calms the furor around the case remains to be seen. Some Trump allies who have been calling for more Epstein records were quick to share the president’s announcement online, but it didn’t satisfy others on the right and left who have pushed for the full release of documents.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican who filed legislation to release all the government’s Epstein records, wrote in social media post that Trump’s move indicates the pressure campaign is “working.”
“But we want all the files,” Massie added.
The Epstein controversy has consumed Trump’s presidency in recent days.
The administration's attempt to close the book on Epstein - a wealthy convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges - has enflamed parts of the MAGA base, who have speculated about a potential Epstein "client list" that the government is shielding from public view.
The Justice Department released a memo July 7 stating that a "systematic review" of documents "revealed no incriminating 'client list,'" and "no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted."
The DOJ memo led to a wave of MAGA backlash, as Trump allies called for the release of more documents.
Trump initially responded angrily, slamming his own supporters in a social media post as “weaklings” who had bought into what he described as the “Jeffrey Epstein hoax.”
The president finally budged on July 17 after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump wrote a lewd letter to Epstein, who was a social acquaintance of Trump's in the 1990s and early 2000s, for a leather-bound 50th birthday book. The Journal reported that the book was among the materials reviewed by Justice Department officials investigating Epstein.
Trump denied writing the letter in a social media post that was followed shortly afterward by a post announcing he’d seek to release more records.
“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,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s announcement also came as bipartisan pressure builds in Congress to compel the release of more records. Massie’s bill, filed with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, has four Democratic and 10 GOP co-sponsors, including progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, and MAGA firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia.
Ro Khanna: Courts will deny Trump's request
Khanna responded to Trump’s move to release grand jury testimony during a floor speech July 17. He said the testimony is largely about Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, an Epstein associate found guilty of aiding his abuse.
The testimony is “not about all the rich and powerful men who abused, assaulted and abandoned young women, those people are still being protected,” Khanna said, adding that “the courts usually don’t release grand jury testimony.”
It could take time for the courts to release any records, and the grand jury documents are just a portion of the unreleased files.
“What about videos, photographs and other recordings?” Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman, a former prosecutor, wrote on social media in response to Bondi saying she’d seek the release of grand jury testimony. “What about FBI… (witness interviews)? What about texts and emails?”
Meanwhile, Congress also is considering another, non-binding, resolution calling for the release of Epstein records. The House Rules Committee advanced the resolution July 17 on a party-line vote. Democrats opposed the measure because it is non-binding.