Trump on defensive over Epstein case after report of 'bawdy' letter

Donald Trump has launched a fresh defense of his conduct in the Jeffrey Epstein case after the scandal deepened on Thursday following a Wall Street Journal report that he had written the sex offender a bawdy note with a sketch of a naked woman.

- Edward Helmore

"If there was a 'smoking gun' on Epstein, why didn't the Dems, who controlled the 'files' for four years, and had Garland and Comey in charge, use it? BECAUSE THEY HAD NOTHING!!!" Trump said in a Truth Social post early yesterday, referring to the former attorney general Merrick Garland and former FBI director James Comey.

Trump, who campaigned on releasing FBI files relating to the child sex offender and whose attorney general, Pam Bondi, said in February she had Epstein's client list on her desk, is under scrutiny from his Maga supporter base after the administration said it would not be releasing further Epstein documents after all.

On Thursday, after the Journal report on the existence of the letter from Trump to Epstein, the US president called on Bondi to release "any and all pertinent grand jury testimony, subject to court approval" that was gathered by New York prosecutors that led to Epstein's indictment and arrest in July 2019 on sex-trafficking charges.

Bondi said in a social media statement that the Department of Justice, which she leads, was "ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts".