WASHINGTON — The controversy over President Donald Trump’s handling of records from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation entered a new dimension Thursday as his administration struggles to make good on its promises to release details on the sex trafficking case involving a one-time friend of the now-president.

Trump promised a lawsuit after The Wall Street Journal described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday. Trump denied writing the letter, calling it “false, malicious and defamatory.”

It came after Trump in recent days has berated as “weaklings” supporters vying for more records from the Epstein probe, after years of courting political support from those who have stoked claims of a cover-up in the case to protect wealthy friends of Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019.

Trump has also shielded his attorney general from being questioned about the case after she walked back claims of the existence of a “client list” of elites who participated in Epstein’s crimes.

— The Associated Press