The Trump administration’s chaotic handling of the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files continued Friday as the Justice Department asked a federal judge to make public years-old grand jury testimony made behind closed doors against the convicted sex offender.

In its filing, the department justified releasing the heretofore secret evidence as “a matter of public interest.”

“The public’s interest in the Epstein matter has remained. Given this longstanding and legitimate interest, the government now moves to unseal grand jury transcripts associated with Epstein,” the filing reads. The department also filed a similar motion in the case against Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

President Donald Trump called for and Attorney General Pamela Bondi agreed to file the motion Thursday night, as the administration faced increasing backlash over its botched handling of the Epstein files. Bondi had long promised to release as many documents in the Justice Department’s possession as possible, but walked that promise back in a memo last week announcing that there is no evidence Epstein kept a “client list” or was murdered.

The department wrote that the purpose of the recent review was to “determine whether evidence existed that could predicate an investigation into uncharged third parties.”