Jake Lapham and Max Matza
BBC News
US President Donald Trump says he's ordered the justice department to produce some additional documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"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 said in a social media post.
It's unclear whether Trump is authorising the public release of these documents or when that could come - though such action would typically require the approval of a court.
The development comes after days of sustained pressure from some of Trump's most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures in the Epstein case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi posted minutes after the president: "We are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts."
A grand jury is a group of citizens set up by a prosecutor to determine whether there is enough evidence for charges to be filed. In legal terms, it determines whether probable cause exists to believe a crime has been committed.
Grand jury decisions still must be tested before a normal jury in court, in order for a suspect to be convicted of a crime.
It is unclear whether the president's post concerned grand jury testimony from the first set of cases concerning Epstein in the early 2000s or whether it stemmed from the federal charges brought in 2019. The BBC has inquired with the White House.
Some grand jury documents have been already released concerning the case in Florida in 2006 that led to him being charged with solicitation of a prostitute. The case was heavily criticised over the lack of serious charges and the severity of the testimony given by victims, which included multiple minors.
While campaigning last year, Trump promised to release files relating to the disgraced financier.
However, Bondi last week announced that the US justice department did not believe Epstein had a so-called client list that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life - despite conspiracies over his death.
It came after Bondi had touted she was set to announce major revelations about the case, including "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs" - a nod to those who travelled with the financer or who visited his private islands where many his purported crimes were said to have occurred.
Her reversal prompted furious response from scores of Trump's most ardent supporters who have called for Bondi to resign after failing to produce the list, which Trump officials had previously claimed to have in their possession.
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was critical of the administration's handling of the files in recent days, praised Trump's move.
"This is massive, this is something that we've been talking about for quite some time, and really a power to the grassroots," he said.
Epstein died in a New York prison cell in 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death while incarcerated happened more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.
English (US) ·