Epstein file dam bursts as Trump demands full dump of grand jury documents

The Justice Department has asked New York judges to release documents related to grand jury investigations into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Attorney General Pam Bondi referenced the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law by Donald Trump last week after an overwhelming vote by Congress requiring the documents be released within 30 days.

Epstein was indicted in Manhattan in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking girls; A month later, he was found hanged in his prison cell before he could be tried. Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 as part of the conspiracy, is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Earlier this year, Bondi’s requests to New York courts were rejected on grounds of grand jury secrecy.

But now the attorney general is arguing that the new bill, signed by Trump and fully supported by Congress, clears all existing legal hurdles.

“The law reveals congressional intent to override some foundations of grand jury secrecy,” Bondi wrote to Judge Richard Berman, who oversaw the Epstein case, and Paul Engelmayer, who presided over the Maxwell case.

The motion noted that the law allows corrections of anything that would ‘compromise an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution,’ but the filings did not mention the recently launched investigations of Bill Clinton, Larry Summers and Reid Hoffman at Trump’s direction.

GOP Representative Thomas Massie, one of the main architects of the Epstein bill, claimed that Trump’s sudden order for new investigations was a ‘smokescreen’ that prevented the release of the full files.

Trump has repeatedly said in recent months that the Epstein files were a “hoax” by Democrats, even though he campaigned on the promise that the documents would be released when he took office.

The president has bitterly clashed with Republican firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over her harsh criticism of the administration.

Epstein, a New York financier with a home in Palm Beach, was a longtime friend of Trump throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s.

The president expelled Epstein from the Mar-a-Lago Club around October 2006 amid accusations that he engaged in ‘creepy’ behavior towards young female staff.

In August, Judge Berman denied the Trump administration’s request to release the grand jury files.

The judge said a “significant and compelling reason” for denying release was that the 100,000 pages of Epstein files in the government’s possession were “overshadowed by the 70-odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials.”

Berman said the grand jury files “pale” in comparison to investigative materials available to the Justice Department and are “nothing more than hearsay regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct.”

He scolded the government for asking the court to engage in public outrage.

“The government’s complete repository of information would better inform the public about the Epstein case,” Berman wrote.

Two other judges also refused to publicly release material from investigations into Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse of young women and girls.

The Justice Department said the only witness to testify before the Epstein grand jury was an FBI agent who, the judge said, “had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.”

The representative testified on June 18, 2019 and July 2, 2019. The remainder of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slide show and call recording. The July 2 session ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein.

Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019. He was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal prison on August 10, 2019, which authorities ruled a suicide.