The Trump administration is hoping to use its push for the release of grand jury testimony in the cases of Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell as a ploy to divert attention away from the impending release of tens of thousands of Epstein-related documents, one ex-state attorney argued Saturday.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed into law the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bill spearheaded by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), and amid fierce opposition from Trump – at least initially before her reversed course at the last moment and proclaimed to support the bill’s passage.
And, with the bill’s passage, the Justice Department now has 30 days – until Dec. 19 – to release all of its files on Epstein, who died in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges, and was known to maintain close ties to powerful figures, including Trump.
However, the Trump administration already has a plan to distract Americans from the files when they do release, at least according to Dave Aronberg, an ex-lawmaker and ex-state prosecutor in Palm Beach County, Florida.
Both Epstein and Maxwell faced trial, and Attorney General Pam Bondi is currently pushing for the related court records to be released, as she had been since July. And it’s this effort, Aronberg argued, that the Trump administration hopes will keep Americans’ attention.
“You may be wondering, for a government that has been reluctant to reveal the Epstein files, why are they pushing for the grand jury records to be released? The reason is because they know that Trump's name is not in there when it comes to investigative files about Ghislaine Maxwell that led to her indictment, same thing for Jeffrey Epstein!” Aronberg said, appealing on MS NOW Saturday.
“That's why they wanted these grand jury records released before the Epstein Transparency Act had ever been passed, but they're going to keep pushing that. They're going to push for the release of the grand jury records, but don't forget what's over here, that's the stuff that everyone wants!”
MS NOW host Alex Witt appeared to agree with Aronberg’s assessment, calling Bondi's push to unseal Epstein and Maxwell-related court documents "unusual."
“I think they're hoping that Americans don't distinguish between the two,” Witt said.