'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal

What happened

President Donald Trump Thursday threatened to sue The Wall Street Journal after the paper published details of what it called a "bawdy" 50th birthday letter Trump wrote for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, three years before Epstein was first arrested. The letter features a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, with Trump's signature scrawled "below her waist, mimicking pubic hair," the Journal said. It reads: "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret."

Shortly after the paper published its report, Trump said on Truth Social he had directed the Justice Department to unseal "all pertinent" grand jury testimony in the Epstein case. The about-face follows weeks of the administration dismissing calls to release more case files to the public, and Trump labeling the pressure campaign a "hoax" and a "scam."

Who said what

Trump insisted the letter was a "fake thing" because he "never wrote a picture in my life." He vowed to sue the Journal, "just like I sued everyone else." Some of Trump's MAGA allies, including right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, rushed to defend him. "I'm calling bullshit," Loomer wrote on X. Tech billionaire and former DOGE leader Elon Musk said the message "really doesn't sound like something Trump would say."

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What next?

Attorney General Pam Bondi indicated the Justice Department would ask a court today to "unseal the grand jury transcripts." The request may be unsuccessful, though, because the "secrecy of grand jury transcripts is highly protected," The New York Times said.