Attorney General Pam Bondi announced this morning, July 18th, that the Department of Justice is prepared to move to court tomorrow, July 19th, to unseal Jeffrey Epstein's grand jury transcripts. This development follows a Wall Street Journal report yesterday, July 17th, alleging that Donald Trump sent a âbawdyâ birthday letter to Epstein for his 50th birthday, a claim President Trump and his press secretary have vehemently denied, asserting the letter is âfake.â President Trump stated he has asked Attorney General Bondi to produce âany and all pertinent Grand Jury testimonyâ related to Epstein, subject to court approval, labeling the controversy a âSCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats.â The House Rules Committee Republicans yesterday advanced a resolution that would direct Attorney General Bondi to release âall credibleâ Epstein materials, with exceptions for victim identification, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure violations, or âdemonstrably false or unauthenticatedâ information. This resolution, if passed, would not legally compel the Trump administration to act as it is not a bill. Several Republican members of Congress, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Anna Luna, expressed support for Attorney General Bondi's action and criticized what they termed a coordinated effort by Democrats and the media. Representative Luna stated that Bondiâs move was âquietly in the works behind the scenesâ and reiterated her previous calls for transparency regarding Epstein files, including alleged destruction of evidence at the FBI. Conversely, Democratic Representative Ro Khanna and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for the full release of all Epstein files, including interview memos and unedited video, with Khanna tweeting, âNow release all the files, including interview memos.â President Trump's Press Secretary issued a statement yesterday, July 17th, asserting that the Wall Street Journal published a âhatchet job article with a FAKE âbirthday letterââ and compared it to the Steele Dossier. The statement further claimed the Wall Street Journal refused to show them the letter and conceded they did not have it in their possession. Senator J.D. Vance also questioned the authenticity of the letter, stating, âWhere is this letter? Would you be shocked to learn they never showed it to us before publishing it? Does anyone honestly believe this sounds like Donald Trump?â However, other sources indicated an archived version of a book publisher's website from November 2003 listed âGeoffrey Epsteinâ as a client, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that this company bound the leather album containing Trumpâs alleged letter. In other news, the United States has designated The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The Department of State announced that TRF, identified as a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front, claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack in India, which resulted in 26 civilian deaths. The Department of State stated these actions demonstrate the Trump Administrationâs commitment to protecting national security interests and countering terrorism. Additionally, California has sued the U.S. Department of Transportation over rescinding high-speed rail funding, following Secretary Sean Duffy's earlier statement that he was not concerned about losing any lawsuit. U.S. intelligence sources have also informed CBS News that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was injured during an Israeli attack on Iran, with Pezeshkian claiming in an interview with Tucker Carlson that Israel attempted to kill him.
