Former federal judge Shira Scheindlin on Thursday described the fallout from an embarrassing report about President Donald Trump in stark terms.
Earlier that day, the Wall Street Journal published a bombshell report about Trump's ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. In it, the outlet describes a letter Trump sent Epstein for his 50th birthday that included an outline of a naked woman with Trump's signature scribbled across her waist. Trump also wrote an imaginary conversation between the two men where he admits they have much in common.
The report sent the MAGA world into a tizzy, with several influencers and elected officials calling the story "fake."
However, Scheindlin saw it as a problem Republicans made for themselves.
"This is a self-made problem," Scheindlin said. "The Republicans campaigned on releasing it all because it was a big conspiracy, and they were going to let it come out so the public could know."
"And all of a sudden, when it's time for it to come out, after the Attorney General had already said 'It's on my desk,' suddenly there's nothing there to release," she continued.
Scheindlin also suggested that Republicans and Trump could have already released the files if they wanted. She described the bar for releasing grand jury testimony as high, but not unreachable.
"There's certainly a public interest, on one side," Scheindlin said.
However, the judge will need to weigh that public interest against the private interest of the people who could be impacted, she added.
