Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for Trump to release Epstein files: 'Let people see'
DeSantis’ remarks come as a range of critics, including progressive Democrats and conservative firebrands, have accused the Justice Department of botching a review of files on the disgraced financier.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called on the Trump administration to release all the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that Epstein and his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell didn’t act alone.
DeSantis’ remarks come as a range of critics, including progressive Democrats and conservative firebrands, have accused the Justice Department of botching a review of files on the disgraced financier.
The calls for openness follow the news last week from The Wall Street Journal that Trump sent a lewd letter to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003. Trump has denied the report and sued the Journal over it.
For years, President Donald Trump and top Republican officials have called for transparency about Epstein's alleged "client list" and said that Epstein didn’t die by suicide in 2019. Many of the same people are upset that the Justice Department report indicated there was no such list and that he took his own life.
“What I would say is just release it, let people see. But I do think there’s a desire for justice because Jeffrey Epstein and (Ghislaine) Maxwell didn’t just do this amongst themselves. I mean, there were obviously other people involved, and yet no one’s been brought to justice,” DeSantis told Fox News on July 20.
Last year, DeSantis signed legislation that would authorize “the public release of grand jury documents,” including those related to a 2006 Florida investigation into Epstein’s abuse of underage girls.
In July 2006, Epstein was indicted by a grand jury on a felony charge of soliciting prostitution. He was arrested and spent one night in the Palm Beach County jail. He was released the following day on $3,000 bond.
He pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of a minor for prostitution in Florida. He served a 13-month stint in county jail and was regularly allowed to leave as part of a generous work release program. He died in a New York federal detention center in 2019 before he could be tried on sex trafficking charges.
Amid public clamor over the Justice Department's report, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi on July 17 to produce grand jury testimony from Epstein's sex-trafficking case, assuming a court will allow it.
Contributing: Kinsey Crowley and Holly Baltz, Paste BN Network