△ United States Department of Justice (Archive Photo)
On July 18th, local time, the United States Department of Justice formally requested the Manhattan federal court in New York to unseal the grand jury records related to the Epstein case. On July 17th, US President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform “Truth Social” stating that given the excessive hype surrounding the Epstein case, he had asked Attorney General Barr to release all relevant grand jury testimony upon court approval. Trump described the incident as a “fraud orchestrated by Democrats,” demanding an immediate end to it.
Epstein, a wealthy businessman with close ties to numerous American politicians and business figures, was arrested for alleged sexual crimes and died in prison in August 2019, posthumously identified as “suicide.” During his presidential campaign last year, Trump promised to release the “client list” of Epstein, exposing the crimes committed by Epstein and the truth behind his death. On July 7th, the United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a joint memorandum, declaring there is no “client list” and no further documents related to the Epstein case will be released. This conclusion has sparked internal doubts and dissatisfaction within Trump’s camp, with him having recently voiced these concerns multiple times. (Xu Tao)