“President Trump announced Thursday night that he was authorizing Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, and Ms. Bondi said she would make that request in federal court on Friday,” the New York Times reports.

“He cited ‘the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein’ for his directive, which falls far short of demands from some congressional Republicans to make public all investigative files collected by the department and the FBI, not just testimony presented in federal court.”

Bondi said in response she’s “ready to move the court tomorrow to unseal the grand jury transcripts.”

Wall Street Journal: “The letter bearing Trump’s name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman’s breasts, and the future president’s signature is a squiggly ‘Donald’ below her waist, mimicking pubic hair.”

The letter concludes: “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

In an interview, Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the picture: “This is not me. This is a fake thing. It’s a fake Wall Street Journal story.”

The White House said that President Trump would not recommend appointing a special prosecutor to look into the case of disgraced financier and sex predator Jeffrey Epstein, rebuffing calls from some allies, The Hill reports.

Said press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “The idea was floated from someone in the media to the president. The president would not recommend a special prosecutor in the Epstein case. That’s how he feels.”

White House doctors diagnosed President Trump with “chronic venous insufficiency,” Bloomberg reports.

“Trump, 79, underwent an exam after recent photos showed the president with swollen ankles and a bruised hand… The ankle swelling is related to the venous disease, which occurs when damaged valves struggle to keep blood flowing from the legs back to the heart.”

ABC News: Trump underwent vascular testing because of leg swelling.

Former Vice President Mike Pence joined the chorus of Republicans calling on the Trump administration to release the files about Jeffrey Epstein, CBS News reports.

Said Pence: “I think the time has come for the administration to release all of the files regarding Jeffrey Epstein’s investigation and prosecution.”

Reuters/Ipsos Poll: “Close to two-thirds of Republicans think the administration is hiding details on Epstein’s business… Just 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the case, a weaker rating than the president received on any other issue.”

“Only about one-quarter of U.S. adults say that President Donald Trump’s policies have helped them since he took office, according to a new AP-NORC poll that finds underwhelming marks for him on key issues, including the economy, immigration, government spending and health care.”

“In fact, the Republican president fails to earn majority approval on any of the issues included in the poll.”