President Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday to seek the release of grand jury testimony on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, the latest move to attempt to placate a MAGA base seething over the “Epstein files.”

Obtaining grand jury testimony, which is confidential by law, could take months of legal maneuvering. Additionally, the grand jury evidence would represent only a small fraction of material the federal government has collected in various investigations and court cases regarding Epstein.

Trump’s announcement about the grand jury testimony came hours after the publication of a Wall Street Journal report about a birthday card he apparently wrote the disgraced financier.

Here’s what to know about what might be in the grand jury testimony, and why its potential release could still fall short of demands to release the full Epstein files.

What is in the grand jury testimony?

A grand jury receives evidence as prosecutors weigh whether to bring charges against someone. 

Trump’s announcement asked for all “pertinent” grand jury testimony, subject to court approval. He could be referring to the first set of criminal cases brought against Epstein in the early 2000s, which ended in a controversial plea deal where Epstein served about a year in prison.

There’s also the 2019 federal case brought against Epstein, which was dismissed by a judge after the disgraced financier was found dead in his cell.

It’s not clear what the grand jury testimony, which is confidential, could contain.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), a former federal prosecutor, said on social media that the testimony would only implicate Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell. He claimed that witness interviews, videos, photos, texts and emails would be more likely to contain evidence about the president.

Other kinds of records shielded from public view

Grand jury testimony is far from the only evidence that the federal government holds on Epstein.

The memo released by the FBI and the Department of Justice that has provoked the latest firestorm over Epstein said it uncovered a “significant amount of material,” including more than 300 gigabytes of data and physical evidence.

Those included large volumes of child pornography and images of Epstein and people who appear to be minors, the memo said. Most of it has been ordered sealed.

“Only a fraction of this material would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial, as the seal served only to protect victims and did not expose any additional third-parties to allegations of illegal wrongdoing,” the memo reads.

Bondi has repeatedly defended the administration’s decision not to release that content.

There are also sealed court records from a defamation case filed by Virgina Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, against Maxwell. 

Other kinds of documents could point to how Epstein amassed his wealth.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Thursday that his staff had reviewed confidential bank records that he said showed how Epstein moved his money to fund a sex trafficking network. Wyden said that the records included payments to women from Belarus, Russia and Turkmenistan.

However, it’s not clear what evidence the Trump administration would be able to easily release, as much of it is sealed by court order or kept confidential by law.

There’s also the question of whether Epstein kept a “client list,” which the DOJ and FBI memo said he did not. Julie K. Brown, an investigative reporter for the Miami Herald who has reported extensively on Epstein, told the Washington Examiner that the idea of such a list compiled by Epstein was a “red herring.” 

“I don’t think Jeffrey Epstein kept a formal client list,” Brown told the paper. “That’s something that kind of morphed out of the black book and the noise around how many powerful people were connected to him.

Trump’s timing of the announcement

Trump’s announcement about the grand jury testimony came hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that he had written Epstein a 50th birthday card that apparently included a drawing of a naked woman. 

“A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” Trump apparently wrote to Epstein, according to the Journal’s report.

Trump has denied that he wrote the letter and said that he would sue. He also called the Journal’s editor-in-chief prior to publication and attempted to kill the story.

Republican Congressional leadership has also struggled to manage the fallout from their members over the files. A move led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) to force a House vote on the Epstein files slowly gained momentum through the week.

In the short term, however, MAGA influencers who had previously bashed the Trump administration over the files were quick to turn their ire on the Journal’s reporting.

“Trump should just cut Murdoch off forever,” wrote right-wing firebrand Laura Loomer on X, referring to Rupert Murdoch, who owns the Journal. Loomer had been among the most vocal figures calling for Bondi’s ouster.

“He’s always been a backstabber and a liar,” Loomer added.