The Justice Department said unsealing grand jury transcripts related to Epstein's case is necessary given "longstanding and legitimate" public interest in the case.

"Washington Week" host Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel discuss the Trump administration's approach to the Jeffrey Epstein case. JEFFREY GOLDBERG, THE ATLANTIC, 'WASHINGTON WEEK' HOST: I want, I want to move to the -- I will be revisiting this again,

President Donald Trump has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to work on releasing grand jury transcripts about Jeffrey Epstein in response to criticism over the handling of the case.

The Trump administration’s chaotic handling of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files continued Friday as the Justice Department asked a federal judge to make public years-old grand jury testimony made behind closed doors against the convicted sex offender.

The records are at the center of President Trump’s effort to manage fallout from the Epstein case. But unsealing them is complex and requires a judge to sign off.

Trump previously had a relationship with the late disgraced financier, who died in a jail cell in 2019 as he awaited a trial on sex trafficking charges.

"The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said July 17.

Senator Ron Wyden has found that four banks waited until Mr. Epstein’s arrest on federal charges to flag $1.5 billion in suspicious transactions. Mr. Wyden wants the documents made public.

President Donald Trump will not recommend appointing a special prosecutor in the Jeffrey Epstein case, his press secretary said on Thursday, amid pressure from some of his supporters and renewed public scrutiny on the convicted sex offender's connections to powerful figures.

Pam Bondi took office as Florida's first female attorney general in 2011. Epstein had gotten out of the Palm Beach County Jail two years earlier.