周五，司法部提交了法庭文件，试图启封大陪审团记录关于杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的纽约刑事案件，该案件因公开与这位名誉扫地的金融家有关的调查文件而引起轩然大波。
曼哈顿联邦法院的这份文件要求公布“与上述指控相关的大陪审团记录”，并表示爱泼斯坦的案件，以及他被定罪的同伙吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦尔的案件，“事关公共利益。”
此前，特朗普周四晚上要求司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)要求大陪审团提供与此案有关的任何“相关”证词。
任何秘密的大陪审团材料的发布都将经过法律程序，并得到纽约南区一名联邦法官的批准，爱泼斯坦在2019年自杀身亡前曾在纽约南区受到指控。
法官可能会考虑释放对受害者的影响，法院已经竭尽全力保护受害者，以及可能与案件有牵连并希望信息保密的任何当事人。
至关重要的是，2019年的案件涉及对爱泼斯坦及其涉嫌性犯罪的指控，而不是特朗普的许多支持者提出的更广泛的问题，即还有谁可能涉案。
尽管DOJ和美国联邦调查局在2月份发誓要“在审查和编辑后公布剩余文件，以保护爱泼斯坦受害者的身份”，但他们表示不会披露此案中的其他大量非机密记录
一;一个“证据清单”2月发布的提供了一些未发布记录的路线图，包括爱泼斯坦私人岛屿的游客记录以及麦克斯韦的窃听记录。
本月早些时候，DOJ和美国联邦调查局发布了一份备忘录声明不会公布此案的更多记录，称“许多材料都受到法院命令的密封”，这些机构“不会允许发布儿童色情制品”或与受害者有关的敏感细节。
这些机构没有发现任何证据表明爱泼斯坦保留了一份合伙人的“客户名单”，或者他勒索过任何知名人士，并得出结论认为，没有必要对未被指控的第三方进行调查。
DOJ和美国联邦调查局发布的这份简短备忘录在特朗普的铁杆支持者中激起了愤怒多年来杰出的右翼人物推动对爱泼斯坦和保护精英的“深层国家”的指控。
特朗普此后寻求各种方式来扑灭这场政治风暴，为邦迪辩护，同时也表示她应该公布她认为“可信”的信息。
从特朗普转移解释
特朗普呼吁邦迪提供大陪审团证词，他说这是一个“由民主党人延续的骗局”，而且“应该立即结束!”
这与他以前称爱泼斯坦的文件是“骗局”以及那些质疑他的政府处理它是“愚蠢”和“愚蠢”的共和党支持者的声明有所不同。
特朗普周三晚上在接受“真正的美国之声”的“新闻”电话采访时，声称民主党人和前官员篡改了与这位名誉扫地的金融家和被定罪的性侵犯者有关的文件，但没有提供证据。
当特朗普被问及他是否希望一名检察官调查政治起诉的广泛主题时，发表了上述评论。
“嗯，我认为这是在爱泼斯坦的情况下，他们已经看过了，他们正在看，我认为他们必须做的就是拿出任何可信的东西，”特朗普说。
“但是你知道，这是由拜登政府管理了四年。我可以想象他们放入文件的内容，就像他们对其他人做的那样，”特朗普继续说道。“我是说，斯蒂尔的档案完全是伪造的，对吗?人们花了两年时间才弄明白，你提到的所有东西都是假的。”
“所以我会想象，如果他们由克里斯·雷(Chris Wray)管理，他们由科米(Comey)管理，因为这实际上甚至在这届政府之前，他们就一直在管理这些文件，我们在我这里发现的很多东西都是假的，”特朗普说。
尽管特朗普声称民主党人将东西“放”在文件中，但许多与爱泼斯坦有关的文件，包括提到特朗普和几位知名民主党人的文件，多年来一直是公开的。
没有特别检察官
白宫周四否决了为爱泼斯坦案任命特别检察官的想法。
“这个想法是媒体中的某个人向总统提出的。总统不会建议在爱泼斯坦案中设立特别检察官。这就是他的感受，”白宫新闻秘书卡罗琳·莱维特在新闻发布会上对记者说。
当被要求澄清爱泼斯坦传奇的哪一部分是特朗普声称的“骗局”时，莱维特只是继续批评民主党人。
她说:“总统指的是，民主党人现在抓住了这一点，好像他们在杰弗里·爱泼斯坦问题上曾经想要透明度，这对任何民主党人来说都是一个愚蠢的建议。”“民主党人控制了这座建筑，白宫，长达四年，他们没有做任何事情来透明杰弗里·爱泼斯坦和他的滔天罪行。”
爱泼斯坦于2019年被捕，并在特朗普担任总统期间等待性交易指控的审判时自杀身亡。
“一些天真的共和党人就像他们一直做的那样，站到了同一条线上，”总统在“只看新闻”节目中说
呼吁透明
周三，国会山的几名共和党人呼吁提高爱普斯坦的透明度。特朗普自己的前副总统迈克·彭斯呼吁政府“公布所有”关于爱普斯坦调查的文件。
莱维特周四为政府对爱泼斯坦文件的处理进行了辩护，并试图让特朗普远离对此案的进一步决策。
莱维特说，这将取决于司法部和邦迪公布任何其他“可信”的证据。
“在编辑或大陪审团印章方面，这些是司法部的问题。这些也是法官们的问题，他们掌握着保密的信息。这需要申请和法官的批准。这超出了总统的控制范围，”当被问及为什么他们不公布这些文件时，她说，为了提供更多的透明度，敏感信息被编辑。
Why unsealing Epstein grand jury records could be a long process
On Friday, the Department of Justice filed court papers to try tounseal grand jury recordspertaining to Jeffrey Epstein's New York criminal case following an uproar over releasing investigative files related to the disgraced financier.
The filing, in Manhattan federal court, requested the release of "grand jury transcripts associated with the above-referenced indictment" and said that Epstein's case, as well as that of his convicted associate Ghislaine Maxwell, were "a matter of public interest."
The move comes after Trump requested Thursday night that Attorney General Pam Bondi request any "pertinent" grand jury testimony related to the case.
The release of any grand jury materials, which are secret, would be subject to a legal process and the approval of a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, where Epstein was charged before he died by suicide in 2019.
A judge would likely consider the impact of the release on victims, which courts have gone to great lengths to protect, as well as any parties who may be implicated in the case and want the information to remain secret.
Crucially, the 2019 case pertains to allegations against Epstein and his alleged sex crimes, not the broader questions posed by many of Trump's supporters about who else, if anyone, might have been involved.
The DOJ and FBI have numerous other unclassified records in the case that they said they will not disclose, despite vowing in February to "release the remaining documents upon review and redaction to protect the identities of Epstein’s victims."
An"evidence list"released in February offers a roadmap to some of these unreleased records, including visitor records to Epstein's private island as well as wiretap records for Maxwell.
Earlier this month, the DOJ and FBIreleased a memostating no further records in the case would be released, saying "much of the material is subject to court-ordered sealing" and that the agencies "will not permit the release of child pornography" or sensitive details pertaining to the victims.
The agencies found no evidence that Epstein kept a "client list" of associates or that he blackmailed any prominent individuals and concluded no investigation into uncharged third party was warranted.
The brief memo put out by the DOJ and FBI stoked furor among Trump's diehard supporters afteryears of prominent right-wing figurespushing accusations about Epstein and the "deep state" that's protecting elites.
Trump's since sought various ways to put out the political firestorm, coming to Bondi's defense while also saying she should release what she deems "credible."
Shifting explanation from Trump
In Trump's call for Bondi to produce the grand jury testimony, he said it was a "SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats," and that it "should end, right now!"
This is a shift from his previous statement of calling the Epstein files a "hoax" and those Republican supporters who are questioning his administration's handling of it as "stupid" and "foolish."
Trump, in a phone interview with "Just the News" on Real America's Voice on Wednesday night, alleged without providing evidence that Democrats and former officials doctored files relating to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
The comments came when Trump was asked if he wanted one prosecutor to look into the broad subject of political prosecution.
"Well, I think it's in the case of Epstein, they've already looked at it, and they are looking at it, and I think all they have to do is put out anything credible," Trump said.
"But you know, that was run by the Biden administration for four years. I can imagine what they put into files, just like they did with the others," Trump continued. "I mean, the Steele dossier was a total fake, right? It took two years to figure that out for the people, and all of the things that you mentioned were fake."
"So I would imagine if they were run by Chris Wray and they were run by Comey, and because it was actually even before that administration, they've been running these files, and so much of the things that we found were fake with me," Trump said.
Despite Trump's claims that Democrats "put" things in the files, many documents relating to Epstein, including those that mention Trump and several prominent Democrats, have been public for years.
No special prosecutor
And the White House on Thursday shut down the idea of appointing a special prosecutor in the Epstein case.
"The idea was floated from someone in the media to the president. The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That's how he feels," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the briefing.
Asked to clarify what part of the Epstein saga is a "hoax" as Trump claimed, Leavitt only continued to criticize Democrats.
"The president is referring to the fact that Democrats have now seized on this as if they ever wanted transparency when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein, which is an asinine suggestion for any Democrat to make," she said. "The Democrats had control of this building, the White House, for four years, and they didn't do a dang thing when it came to transparency in regards to Jeffrey Epstein and his heinous crimes."
Epstein was arrested in 2019 and died in prison by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges while Trump was president.
"Some of the naive Republicans fall right into line, like they always do," the president said on "Just the News."
Calls for transparency
Calls for transparency on Epstein came from several Republicans on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. And Trump's own former vice president, Mike Pence, called for the administration to "release all of the files" regarding the Epstein investigation.
Leavitt on Thursday defended the administration's handling of the Epstein files and attempted to distance Trump from further decision-making on the case.
Leavitt said it would be up to the Justice Department and Bondi to release any other "credible" evidence.
“In terms of redactions or grand jury seals, those are questions for the Department of Justice. Those are also questions for the judges who have that information under a seal. And that would have to be requested and judge would have to approve it. That's out of the president's control,” she said when asked why they wouldn’t release the files, with sensitive information redacted, in order to provide more transparency.
