A former Sports Illustrated model who was romantically involved with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein claimed Friday that her ex and President Donald Trump were quite close, adding more to the ongoing controversy surrounding the Epstein files.

The Justice Department said unsealing grand jury transcripts related to Epstein's case is necessary given "longstanding and legitimate" public interest in the case.

On Friday, Trump sued The Wall Street Journal and News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch after the paper dropped a bombshell report about a birthday message Trump allegedly sent to Epstein in 2003. In the birthday card, Trump drew a nude woman and ended the message with: “Happy Birthday—and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

How did the case start in Palm Beach County? Did Trump know him then? Why is it an endless source of fascination?

"All the work that we did to tell the world what happened to us, it’s all being erased," victim Danielle Bensky said.

Donald Trump was friendly for at least 15 years with Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire financier and convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.

A Wall Street Journal report late Thursday added new scrutiny to President Donald Trump’s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

President Donald Trump’s White House is frantically trying to put out the blaze sparked by its own promises to expose whatever the federal government is hiding about disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. A Wall Street Journal bombshell has only flared up the rage, increasing the likelihood that this fire will keep burning all summer.

Under intense pressure from President Donald Trump’s own supporters, his administration now is asking a federal court to unseal secret documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s case.

"Washington Week" host Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel discuss the Trump administration's approach to the Jeffrey Epstein case. JEFFREY GOLDBERG, THE ATLANTIC, 'WASHINGTON WEEK' HOST: I want, I want to move to the -- I will be revisiting this again,