Washington [US], July 18 (HBTV): Former US President Donald Trump on Friday demanded the release of grand jury transcripts related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case, calling it a ‘scam’ allegedly orchestrated by the Democrats.

Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump stated: ‘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. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end right now.’

The statement followed a Wall Street Journal report that a collection of letters gifted to Epstein on his 50th birthday in 2003 included a note with Trump’s name and an outline of a naked woman. The report, cited by CNN, drew from documents reviewed by the newspaper and comes amid persistent public interest in Epstein’s links with prominent individuals.

Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.

Trump has denied writing the letter and accused the media of carrying out a coordinated smear campaign. He also threatened legal action against The Wall Street Journal, News Corp., and Rupert Murdoch over the publication of the Epstein story.

‘The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it but, obviously, did not have the power to do so. The Editor of The Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker, was told directly by Karoline Leavitt, and by President Trump, that the letter was a FAKE, but Emma Tucker didn’t want to hear that. Instead, they are going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway. President Trump will be suing The Wall Street Journal, NewsCorp, and Mr. Murdoch, shortly. The Press has to learn to be truthful, and not rely on sources that probably don’t even exist*,’ Trump said in a Truth Social post.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also condemned the article in a post on X (formerly Twitter), accusing the newspaper of publishing unverified claims.

‘The Wall Street Journal published a hatchet job article with a FAKE “birthday letter” that is supposedly from 2003,’ she wrote.

‘This is like the Steele Dossier that kickstarted “the Russia, Russia, Russia” Hoax all over again. The WSJ refused to show us the letter and conceded they don’t even have it in their possession when we asked them to verify the alleged document they’re basing their ENTIRE fake story on,’ she said.

She added, ‘As I said at the podium today, there is a coordinated Hoax by the Democrats and Fake News to smear President Trump, as we’ve seen throughout both of his terms.’

(ANI)