- Donald Trump says there is no “smoking gun” about abuser Jeffrey Epstein, after denying writing a birthday letter to the disgraced financier. A lawyer for 11 of Epstein’s victims tells Sky News they are often forgotten amid political rows and jokes about the case
Donald Trump has filed a libel lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, two Wall Street Journal reporters and News Corp.
Earlier, the US president threatened to sue the media mogul after a report by the Wall Street Journal alleged Trump’s name appeared on a 2003 personal note to Jeffrey Epstein (see 14.38 post).
The Journal reported that the letter was one of several included in a leather-bound album meant to celebrate Epstein’s 50th birthday, about three years before sex-abuse allegations emerged against the financier.
But Trump quickly responded to this saying he would sue the newspaper and Rupert Murdoch, who controls its publisher, News Corp.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi has been asked by Donald Trump to release “any and all pertinent grand jury testimony” in the case of Jeffrey Epstein, subject to court approval.
The president wrote on Truth Social he had made the request after the “ridiculous amount of publicity” given to Epstein.
Here is what Trump has said…
The justice department has previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more. It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony – which is typically kept secret under US law.
Bondi responded to the president on X, writing: “President Trump-we are ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”
Bondi had pledged months earlier to reveal major revelations about Epstein, including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs.”
Furthermore, there has been more expose on the birthday letter Donald Trump allegedly wrote to the late Jeffrey Epstein.
The US president’s name appeared on a 2003 personal note to Epstein, according to the Wall Street Journal.
But the president has said that the letter is fake.
The Journal reported that the letter was one of several included in a leather-bound album meant to celebrate Epstein’s 50th birthday, about three years before sex-abuse allegations emerged against the financier.
Trump quickly responded to the story on his Truth Social platform, saying he would sue the newspaper and Rupert Murdoch, who controls its publisher, News Corp.
What the alleged letter said
According to documents seen by the WSJ, Trump’s letter featured several lines of typewritten text framed by what appeared to be a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman.
The paper said the letter concludes “Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret”, and featured the signature “Donald”.
Written with reports from Sky News
