With backlash from his base not abating, the Justice Dept. asked a federal judge to unseal grand jury transcripts related to Epstein's 2019 indictment.

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart join John Yang to discuss the week in politics, including the MAGA debate over releasing the Epstein files intensifies and congressional Republicans deliver Trump a win by clawing back $9 billion in foreign aid and public media funding.

It’s been just 11 days since the Justice Department released its memo saying officials had found no evidence of a client list containing the names of celebrities and politicians who conspired with financier Jeffrey Epstein, who reportedly died by suicide after being arrested on charges of sex trafficking.

President Donald Trump’s base vigorously defended him in the wake of a Thursday Wall Street Journal report that he wrote a sexually suggestive letter to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, with some claiming the alleged letter doesn’t sound like the president.

For a president known for punching back at critics, his move to release more Epstein records is a notable instance of bowing to their demands.

"When he's ready, he'll let them out," Ed DeLucca, 72, told the BBC, saying he hoped Trump would bring the documents to light. For Mr DeLucca, the rumoured files would ultimately be delivered much like any other Trump promise, such as closing the border or mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

Donald Trump is filing a libel suit against The Wall Street Journal over its new Epstein reporting, as Trump’s DOJ files a motion to unseal grand jury testimony about Epstein. MSNBC’s Antonia Hylton reports,

The Wall Street Journal’s Trump story has united MAGA on the Epstein saga over their universal hatred of one thing - ANALYSIS: For days, Donald Trump couldn’t get his MAGA base to drop their anger over the Epstein files.