Former U.S. Ambassador Norm Eisen on MSNBC on August 11, 2025

One group taking President Donald Trump's administration to court over the Jeffrey Epstein case is now alleging that the president's legal team made a grave error that they're now emphasizing in every new filing.

During a Monday appearance on MSNBC, lawyer Norm Eisen — a former U.S. ambassador who is now helping the nonprofit organization Democracy Forward sue the White House — expressed confidence that the plaintiffs would prevail due to several key reasons. Democracy Forward is suing for the Epstein files under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and are asking the courts to compel the Department of Justice to provide the documents in an expedited manner.

As Eisen explained, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer denied the Trump administration's bid to release selected grand jury transcripts relating to the prosecution of chief Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, under the rationale that the materials in question would yield no new information. In addition, Engelmayer wrote in his Monday ruling that he believed the administration was deliberately attempting a "diversion" instead of "full transparency." And Eisen pointed out that Trump's attorneys made one revealing admission in Engelmayer's court.

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"I've been litigating FOIA cases for 30 years," Eisen said. "This one is a winner. You know why? Because Donald Trump's minions at the Department of Justice made a big mistake. They made our case for us by saying in front of Judge Engelmayer that the release of Epstein information is in the public interest."

"We attach that with every demand we make," he continued. "They they made a terrible mistake. And thank goodness Judge Engelmayer also denied them that shameful distraction of the grand jury files. Now we're going to get to the real information."

In a post to the group's website last week announcing their lawsuit, Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman argued that using public records laws to obtain the Epstein records was the most expeditious way to ensure that the documents are made public.

"Public records laws outline a clear and simple process that requires the government to immediately produce important documents in response to urgent public information requests, and yet again, this administration is ignoring the law," Perryman stated. "The court should intervene urgently to ensure the public has access to the information they need about this extraordinary situation."

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Watch Eisen's segment below, or by clicking this link.

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