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Reports of Donald Trump’s name repeatedly appearing in the Jeffrey Epstein files, coupled with the unearthing of a suggestive birthday card that the president sent the convicted sex offender, have renewed scrutiny of their relationship.

But if the government really had damning information about Trump’s entanglements with Epstein in its possession for years, then why didn’t his Democratic predecessor and political rival, President Joe Biden, ever release the files?

It’s impossible to know for certain. Conspiracy theories about a government cover-up in the Epstein case have swirled around right-wing media circles since his 2019 death in prison, which was ruled a suicide.

But appearing in the Epstein files might not, in and of itself, suggest any wrongdoing on Trump’s part. Even if the material in the sealed files does raise concerns, it would be highly unusual for the government to release that material outside of a courtroom.

The challenges with releasing the files

The Epstein files are a collection of more than 100,000 pages of evidence gathered as part of a Justice Department investigation. They include records of physical evidence, grand jury testimony, digital evidence recovered from technology seized at Epstein’s properties, and more.

After releasing an initial trove of documents in February, the Justice Department announced on July 7 that it would not be releasing any more, denying the existence of any “incriminating client list” from Epstein or anything else related to the case that ought to be publicly disclosed.

That prompted backlash from Trump’s base, and the president has maligned his supporters for not letting the issue go. The House shut down early for a month-long recess on Thursday in order to prevent a vote on expediting the release of further documents, as the push has divided the Republican caucus. Trump himself is now on board, having recently called for the release of “pertinent” grand jury testimony in two separate cases involving Epstein from 2005 and 2007.

A federal court in Florida has denied such a request from the DOJ. The department made a similar request to a separate court in New York, but its ruling is still pending.

Trump may hope that the release of the documents can put to rest speculation about his involvement with Epstein. That might be an unrealistic outcome given that the conspiracy theories have now taken on a life of their own and may be uncontainable. But the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s was just one among hundreds of names, many of similarly prominent figures, featured in the unreleased Epstein files. Those files include not just the grand jury testimony, but also 300 gigabytes of digital evidence.

If the files suggest that Trump’s involvement with Epstein really was just of the harmless social variety prior to their reported falling out in 2004, then the Biden administration would have had no obvious political reason to release them. (Former President Bill Clinton’s name appears in the files that were already released, although there is no allegation of any wrongdoing on Clinton’s part.)

But it also couldn’t have done so without court approval. Grand jury testimony is secret by design: It allows jurors to confer about whether to charge someone with a crime confidentially and without outside influence or fear of public backlash. Such testimony is typically only released under exceptional circumstances, when a judge determines that the public interest overrides the interest in protecting the identity of witnesses, informants, and other people accused of crimes brought before the grand jury.

Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who helped Epstein secure his 2008 plea deal on child prostitution charges in Florida, has said that the grand jury testimony from that particular case includes a redacted FBI affidavit that names individuals who were accused of crimes in connection with Epstein.

As for the remaining digital evidence, it’s highly unusual for the FBI to release information unrelated to charging individuals with a crime. There are several reasons for this, including the desire to protect individuals’ privacy and reputations and to protect ongoing investigations. The agency has said, however, that there would be no new indictments related to Epstein based on a review of its existing investigation files.

So even if Democrats wanted to release the Epstein files in their entirety during Biden’s presidency, it’s not clear that a court would have granted their request. Trump is now encountering the same issue — meaning that the firestorm around him might not die down anytime soon.

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