The US Justice Department has asked lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell if she would be willing to speak with prosecutors, while Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that he expects to meet with her in the coming days.
The decision to request a meeting with Maxwell comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi faces mounting pressure from President Donald Trump's supporters to release additional materials related to Epstein, who killed himself in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year jail term for crimes including child sex trafficking.
"President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence," Mr Blanche said in a statement posted on X.
He added that if Maxwell "has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say".
Mr Blanche said he has been in touch with Maxwell's attorneys to see if she is willing to speak with prosecutors.
"I anticipate meeting with Ms Maxwell in the coming days," he added.
"I can confirm that we are in discussions with the government and that Ghislaine will always testify truthfully. We are grateful to President Trump for his commitment to uncovering the truth in this case. We have no other comment at this time," said David Oscar Markus, a lawyer for Maxwell.
The Trump administration's handling of the Epstein case has threatened to split the Republican's far-right Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, with some of his supporters calling for a full release of the so-called 'Epstein Files'.
The barring of the Wall Street Journal marks at least the second time the Trump administration has moved to exclude a major news outlet from the press pool over its reporting, having barred Associated Press journalists from multiple key events since February.
"As the appeals court confirmed, The Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces," said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
"Due to The Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the 13 outlets on board (Air Force One)."
Mr Trump departs this weekend for Scotland, where he owns two golf resorts and will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice, under Ms Bondi, said there was no evidence suggesting disgraced financier Epstein had kept a "client list" or was blackmailing powerful figures before his death in 2019.
In its story on Thursday, the WSJ reported that Mr Trump had written a suggestive birthday letter to Epstein, illustrated with a naked woman and alluding to a shared "secret".
Epstein, a long-time friend of Mr Trump and multiple other high profile men, was found dead in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually exploited dozens of underage girls at his homes in New York and Florida.
Since returning to office in January, Mr Trump has moved to increase control over the press covering the White House.
In February, the Oval Office stripped the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) of its nearly century-old authority to oversee which outlets have access to certain restricted presidential events, with Mr Trump saying that he was now "calling the shots" on media access.
In a statement, the WHCA president urged the White House to "restore" the WSJ to the pool.
"This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment," said WHCA President Weijia Jiang.
"Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media".
