Judge denies government's request to unseal grand jury material in Ghislaine Maxwell case
Judge Paul Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected the Justice Department's bid to unveil the material in a 31-page order Monday morning. In court filings, Justice Department lawyers argued the circumstances of the Maxwell case warranted the release of the grand jury transcripts and exhibits, which typically remain secret. Engelmayer rejected that argument.
"The Government's invocation of special circumstances, however, fails at the threshold," Engelmayer wrote. "Its entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein's and Maxwell's crimes, or the Government's investigation into them — is demonstrably false."
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
British historian Andrew Lownie tells The Daily Beast Podcast about the trio's relationship.
Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew were 'all part of the same little group,' British historian and author Andrew Lownie said on The Daily Beast Podcast. Lownie, the author of the forthcoming book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, told host Joanna Coles about what drew the trio together. 'Certainly Donald Trump and Andrew were close. They moved in very much the same circles. They had the same interests in golf, money, and sex,' Lownie said.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gov. Newsom says he'll back down from redistricting threats if Texas throws out new maps
WASHINGTON — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would drop threats to redraw California's congressional map if red states dropped efforts to alter the political landscape before next year's midterm elections. In a letter to President Donald Trump on Monday, Newsom warned against following through with plans to redraw congressional boundaries in red states in order to protect Republicans' slim majority in Congress, threatening to 'neutralize' any GOP gains with a new map in California. The letter comes as Texas state lawmakers plan to vote on a newly proposed map in the coming weeks that would secure up to five new Republican seats in the U.S. House next November. 'You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy,' Newsom wrote. 'The attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy. This is not what the Founders envisioned, and California cannot stand idly by as this power grab unfolds.' Newsom warned Trump that if he did not 'stand down,' the California governor would be 'forced to lead an effort to redraw the maps' in the Golden State in retaliation. But, he added, if red states agreed to stand down, 'we will happily do the same.' It's unlikely that Trump would agree to reverse his calls for Texas to pass its newly unveiled map that would create new districts in areas that he carried by more than 10 percentage points in the 2024 election. Most of the new districts are in heavily Hispanic areas, a crucial demographic shift that helped secure Trump's victory in November. The Texas Legislature was originally scheduled to vote on the map last week, but those efforts have so far been delayed after Democratic lawmakers fled to blue states such as New York, Illinois and Massachusetts to block any legislative action. Newsom was the first Democratic governor to threaten retaliation, suggesting last month he would look at altering California's districts. The Texas versus California battle has since expanded into a national political war as red and blue states alike have publicly suggested they would look at major changes. However, Newsom could face challenges to changing California's maps as the state has strict laws on redistricting that could make it difficult to adjust boundaries before next November. State law restricts mid-decade redistricting, meaning the state would likely need to pass a constitutional amendment to allow for any changes. Even then, state law requires California to utilize an independent redistricting commission to draw maps, which requires a lengthy vetting process and is designed to ensure little political leverage. Meanwhile, some lawmakers in Congress have openly called for an end to the redistricting efforts — including one Republican who introduced a bill to ban any changes before next November. Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., filed the bill last week to block any new maps from being used in the 2026 midterm elections and nullify any changes that are adopted this year. Kiley introduced the ban in response to possible changes in California, which would likely put him at risk as one of just nine House Republicans from the Golden State. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, said he opposes the push by Texas Republicans to redraw the state's congressional boundaries, making him the highest-ranking GOP lawmaker so far to contradict Trump's demands. 'If Texas does it, California is going to do it, Illinois is going to do it — and Illinois is going to do it worse, in favor of the Democrats, and all of a sudden it's just a free-for-all,' Moore told the Deseret News in an interview last week. 'Every two years, we're going to have redistricting going on constantly instead of the current norm of at least once every 10 years. It's not a perfect system. There's bias constantly involved in this. So yeah, I don't agree with mid-decade redistricting.' The Deseret News has contacted the White House for comment, but has yet to receive it.
CNN
24 minutes ago
- CNN
California GOP lawmaker faces taunts and jeers over Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill' at town halls
Donald Trump Congressional news TariffsFacebookTweetLink Follow GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa drew taunts and jeers at two raucous town hall meetings Monday over his support for President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' LaMalfa, whose district spans much of the state's northern interior, is the latest Republican to face harsh in-person criticism, as members of the party attempt to sell Trump's sweeping agenda back home during Congress' August break from Washington. Last week, Nebraska Rep. Mike Flood – who also heeded the guidance of the NRCC, the House GOP's campaign arm, to focus the district work period on the president's massive domestic policy bill – met a largely hostile crowd as he was pressed on a range of issues, including the agenda bill that Trump signed into law July 4. LaMalfa calmly address audience members throughout both town halls, even as some attendees cursed at him and railed against his support of the president, shouting 'Liar!' While the morning crowd in Chico had been much louder, the audience in Red Bluff later in the evening was at times just as vocal, especially when LaMalfa expressed skepticism about the role of carbon dioxide in climate change. At both town halls, LaMalfa was pressed over how Trump's agenda, which includes historic cuts to federal support for the social safety net, would affect rural hospitals, particularly those in his district. Other attendees asked questions about transparency around the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files. At the morning event, LaMalfa called it a 'bad look' to have Epstein-related information continue to be 'suppressed.' Still other attendees warned the president's tariffs would harm farmers in California and attacked the congressman's credibility. 'If you're not here to either announce your resignation, why aren't you here to apologize to the farmers of the north state because of your support for the Trump tariffs?' one audience members said at the Chico town hall. 'I'm not gonna do either. Thanks,' LaMalfa replied. 'Do you actually want to talk about something productive?' LaMalfa defended Trump's tariffs, insisting that the United States had been taken advantage of and that the tariffs were being used to negotiate better deals for American farmers. 'And you know, is it the ideal, perfect way to go? No, I hope these tariffs can end soon,' he said Monday evening. 'I want to believe at some point we'lll end up with very low or zero tariffs with all these countries.' LaMalfa also addressed Texas' redistricting effort, warning it is going to start 'a grass fire all across the country.' His comments come as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has urged lawmakers to draw a new map to put before voters in a November special election. The map, as CNN previously reported, could flip five of Republicans' nine seats in the state if voters approve it in a ballot initiative and could potentially target LaMalfa's seat. For his part, LaMalfa said he didn't support either redistricting push. 'It's really ugly and no matter which side of the aisle you're on, it doesn't look good. It doesn't give you more faith in the political process if legislators draw the lines merely to have an outcome for a partisan win,' the congressman said.
