The US justice department has asked a judge to unseal material related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following intense criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the case.

The request concerns transcripts from the grand jury involved in the government’s 2019 sex trafficking case against Epstein, materials that are typically kept secret and protected by law.

The court filing came as Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal’s parent company, its owner Rupert Murdoch and two reporters, over a story claiming he wrote a “bawdy” personal note to Epstein in 2003.

Trump said the note, which the paper reported he’d sent for Epstein’s 50th birthday, is “fake”.

On Friday, Trump declined to answer reporters’ questions about his years-long relationship with Epstein, and the delay in releasing more details in the Epstein case.

On Thursday, he ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of documents related to Epstein’s secretive grand jury testimony.

The justice department formally made the request to a judge in New York, arguing that grand jury materials related to the case – where he was charged with trafficking dozens of girls as young as 14 in a sex trafficking conspiracy – “qualify as a matter of public interest” and should be unsealed.

The department is also asking for disclosures in the case of his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in the child sex trafficking conspiracy.

A grand jury – a panel of people who vet whether there is enough evidence to charge a person with a crime – can hear from confidential informants and those whose identities are protected for their safety. Materials in a grand jury are typically kept secret under the law, but a judge can unseal documents if they decide public interest outweighs the need for such legal protections in a case.

Either way, it’s unclear when or if documents will be released, or if they contain many of the details Trump’s supporters have been demanding.

Also on Friday, Trump filed a $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit in Miami against Dow Jones, News Corp and conservative media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, claiming the Wall Street Journal slandered him and violated libel laws over its story about a letter to the

The president acknowledged that he and members of his staff attempted to halt publication of the story. He said the newspaper and Murdoch – who Trump has known and had an up-and-down relationship with for decades – “were warned directly” they would be sued if they printed the article, describing it as “false, malicious, and defamatory”.

Murdoch, who was seen on Sunday attending the Fifa World Cup with Trump on Sunday, founded a media empire – which includes Fox News – and is often credited with helping propel Trump to the White House.

Trump threatened that he would force Murdoch to testify in the suit.

“This lawsuit is filed not only on behalf of your favourite President, ME, but also in order to continue standing up for ALL Americans who will no longer tolerate the abusive wrongdoings of the Fake News Media,” he wrote in another post on Friday.

The lawsuit also names the two reporters who wrote the story, Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo.

According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a letter bearing Trump’s name “contained several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker”.

“Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person,” the paper reports.

It reportedly contains a joking reference that “Enigmas never age” and allegedly ends with the words: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.”

Trump denied writing the note after the article was published on Thursday, posting: “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures.”

The developments on Friday came amid a turbulent week for the president as some of his most loyal supporters demanded more transparency and public disclosure in the Epstein case.

Some Trump loyalists have even called for Attorney General Bondi to resign after she reversed course on releasing certain documents related to Epstein.

In February, Bondi said that a “client list” belonging to Epstein was “sitting on my desk right now”. Then last week, her office announced that there is no such “client list”.

Chad Bianco, a Republican sheriff running for California governor, told BBC News that Trump’s handling of the Epstein files was “not what I was expecting” and that “millions” of his followers are disappointed.

“We feel like we’re being talked down to like stupid children.”

Meanwhile, members of Congress are pushing to pass a “discharge petition” that would force Bondi to “make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials in the possession of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Attorneys’ Offices” relating to Epstein.

The effort has brought together some of Congress’s fiercest opponents, including Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who are both signed on as supporters.