Epstein's ex, Ghislaine Maxwell, doesn't want grand jury transcripts released
Maxwell hasn't seen the material herself, her attorneys said — the grand jury process is conducted behind closed doors. But she opposes unsealing what her lawyers described as potentially 'hearsay-laden' transcripts of grand jury testimony, which was given in secret and without her lawyers there to challenge it.
'Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable and her due process rights remain,' attorneys David O. Markus and Melissa Madrigal wrote.
A message seeking comment from prosecutors was not immediately returned. Government attorneys have been trying to quell a clamor for transparency by seeking the transcripts' release — though the government also says the public already knows much of what's in the documents.
Most of the information 'was made publicly available at trial or has otherwise been publicly reported through the public statements of victims and witnesses,' prosecutors wrote in court papers Monday. They noted that the disclosures excluded some victims' and witnesses' names.
Prosecutors had also said last week that some of what the grand jurors heard eventually came out at Maxwell's 2021 trial and in various victims' lawsuits. There were only two grand jury witnesses, both of them law enforcement officials, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors made clear Monday that they're seeking to unseal only the transcripts of grand jury witnesses' testimony, not the exhibits that accompanied it. But they are also working to parse how much of the exhibits also became public record over the years.
While prosecutors have sought to temper expectations about any new revelations from the grand jury proceedings, they aren't proposing to release a cache of other information the government collected while looking into Epstein.
The filing aimed to support their request to release the usually secret records amid a public clamor for more transparency about the investigation into Epstein, six years after the financier died in prison. Maxwell, his former girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls.
The transcript face-off comes six years after authorities said Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges and four years after Maxwell was convicted.
Some of President Donald Trump's allies spent years suggesting there was more to the Epstein saga than met the eye and calling for more disclosures. A few got powerful positions in Trump's Justice Department — and then faced backlash after it abruptly announced that nothing more would be released and that a long-rumored Epstein 'client list' doesn't exist.
After trying unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own supporters for staying interested in Epstein, the Republican president told Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts in the case.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
What to know as Trump's immigration crackdown strips tuition breaks from thousands of students
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Tens of thousands of U.S. college students without legal resident status are losing access to in-state tuition prices as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration. The Justice Department has been suing states to end tuition breaks for students without legal residency, starting with Texas in June. It has also filed lawsuits in Kentucky, Minnesota and, most recently, Oklahoma. Last year, Florida ended its tuition break for students living there illegally, 'Federal law prohibits aliens not lawfully present in the United States from getting in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens,' the Justice Department argued in a lawsuit this month in Oklahoma. 'There are no exceptions.' The tuition breaks once enjoyed wide bipartisan support but have increasingly come under criticism from Republicans in recent years. Here's what to know about the tuition breaks: Texas' program was blocked firstTexas' tuition policy was initially passed with sweeping bipartisan majorities in the Legislature and signed into law by then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, as a way to open access to higher education for students without legal residency already living in the state. Supporters then and now say it boosted the state's economy by creating a better-educated and better-prepared workforce. The law allowed students without legal resident status to qualify for in-state tuition if they had lived in Texas for three years before graduating from high school and for a year before enrolling in college. They also had to sign an affidavit promising to apply for legal resident status as soon as possible. Texas now has about 57,000 qualifying students enrolled in its public universities and colleges, according to the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a nonpartisan nonprofit group of university leaders focused on immigration policy. The state has about 690,000 students overall at its public universities. The difference in tuition rates is substantial. For example, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a 34,000-student campus along the border with Mexico, a state resident will pay about $10,000 in basic tuition for a minimum full-time class schedule in the upcoming school year. A nonresident student will pay $19,000. Political pushback and a swift end Texas' law stood mostly unchallenged for years, but it came under fire as debates over illegal immigration intensified. In the 2012 Republican presidential primary, Perry apologized after saying critics of the law 'did not have a heart.' The law withstood several repeal efforts in the Republican-dominated Legislature. During the legislative session that ended June 2, a repeal bill did not even get a vote. But the ax fell quickly. After the Trump administration filed a lawsuit calling the law unconstitutional, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a key Trump ally, chose not to defend the law in court and instead filed a motion agreeing that it should not be enforced. In Oklahoma, Attorney General Gentner Drummond, also a Republican, filed a similar motion. 'Rewarding foreign nationals who are in our country illegally with lower tuition costs that are not made available to out-of-state American citizens is not only wrong — it is discriminatory and unlawful,' Drummond said in a statement. Campuses nationwide feel the impact At least 21 states and the University of Michigan system have laws or policies allowing tuition breaks for the immigrant students, according to the National Immigration Law Center, which favors them. Those states include Democratic-leaning ones such as California and New York, but also GOP-leaning ones such as Kansas and Nebraska. According to the center, at least 16 states allow the immigrant students to receive scholarships or other aid to go to college. Immigration lawyers and education advocates said they are assessing whether there are legal avenues to challenge the rulings.
Associated Press
a few seconds ago
- Associated Press
Judge rules officials in Georgia's Fulton County must appoint rejected Republicans to election board
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has ordered elected leaders in Georgia's Fulton County to appoint two Republican nominees they had rejected to the county's election board. The county Republican Party sued in June seeking to force the Board of Commissioners to appoint the party's nominees to the county Board of Registration and Elections, arguing that the commissioners were required to do so by law. In a ruling entered Monday, Senior Judge David Emerson agreed that the law doesn't give Board of Commissioners the discretion to veto qualified nominees proposed by political parties. The election board in the heavily Democratic county, which includes most of the city of Atlanta, is made up of five people. The Board of Commissioners chooses the chair, and the county Republican and Democratic parties each nominate two people to be appointed by the commissioners. Nominees must live in Fulton County, be registered to vote and cannot be public office holders. Don Samuel, a lawyer representing the Board of Commissioners, said they are 'disappointed in the court's decision and are evaluating whether to appeal.' Although the board is required to appoint two people nominated by each party, he said in an email, it is not required to appoint whoever is nominated 'regardless of how qualified or unqualified the nominee may be.' He added, 'The BOC does not simply rubber-stamp any nominee.' Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., part of the Democratic majority on the board, said the judge's ruling strips commissioners of their discretion, 'treating us more like record-keepers than decision-makers.' But being a county commissioner is 'inherently discretionary,' he said in an emailed statement, adding that commissioners 'are elected to exercise judgment on behalf of our constituents.' Commissioner Bridget Thorne, a Republican, celebrated the ruling as a victory in an Instagram post. The Board of Commissioners had voted in May to reject Republican Party nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier. Democratic members of the Board of Commissioners raised concerns about their qualifications given their past actions. Adams, a sitting election board member, had abstained from certifying primary election results last year and unsuccessfully sued the board seeking a ruling saying county officials can refuse to certify elections. Frazier has formally challenged the eligibility of thousands of Fulton County voters and was previously denied a spot on the county election board. In his ruling, Emerson said, 'The Board shall appoint the two members as nominated by the county executive committee chairperson. Those nominees are Jason Frazier and Julie Adams.' He wrote that the law outlines the process by which members of the election board 'shall' be appointed and that he did not find anything in the law 'to support a conclusion that 'shall' in the appointment clause is directory only.' Elections in Fulton County had a yearslong history of problems, including long lines to vote and delays in reporting results. A particularly troubled primary in 2020 resulted in the appointment of an independent monitor to observe the general election that year as part of a consent agreement between the county and the State Election Board. The monitor said the county's elections were badly managed but he found no evidence of fraud. Another monitoring team appointed to observe last year's general election said it was 'organized and orderly.' President Donald Trump and his supporters zeroed in on Fulton County in the wake of the 2020 general election, claiming without proof that election fraud had cost him victory in Georgia. Local, state and federal officials have repeatedly said there's no evidence that fraud affected the outcome of that election, but conspiracy theories continued to circulate.
Politico
a few seconds ago
- Politico
About that Jack Smith investigation
Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook: Remaking Government, your guide to Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the federal government — the key decisions, the critical characters and the power dynamics that are upending Washington and beyond. Send tips | Subscribe | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben JACK SMITH's time has finally come. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel last week launched an investigation into the man who brought two federal criminal cases against DONALD TRUMP in 2023. But the investigation appears to be a thinly veiled political stunt aimed at placating the president, who has promised to seek retribution against the former Justice Department special counsel. The probe focuses on whether Smith used his position as a federal government employee to engage in political activities in violation of the Hatch Act. It comes after Senate Intelligence Chair TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) requested that OSC investigate Smith for 'unprecedented interference in the 2024 election.' The office, an independent agency in the executive branch, investigates whistleblower complaints and alleged violations of civil service laws. It is separate from DOJ special counsels who are appointed by the attorney general to handle politically sensitive cases. The inquiry raises a number of questions, including: what conduct, if any, by Smith might be considered political; how the OSC could even punish him; and what Trump's ultimate aim could be. What did Smith say or do that could be considered political activity? Smith appeared to go to great lengths during his investigations to avoid saying anything publicly that could be construed as political. During the prosecution of Trump for his effort to subvert the 2020 election, Smith avoided any mention of the looming 2024 election. And he made no mention of the contest in court briefs urging the Supreme Court to quickly take up the election subversion case. Smith referenced the country's 'compelling interest' in determining the outcome of the case, writing that the public interest demands 'prompt resolution' without 'undue delay.' Cotton said Smith's push for a speedy trial and what he described as a 'procedurally irregular' brief in September 2024 'were the actions of a political actor masquerading as a public official.' The brief, which Smith filed at the direction of a federal judge, included large swaths of evidence to argue the case was still salvageable in the wake of the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. Trump balked about the inclusion of derogatory details of the case being made public in the final weeks of the election. But RICHARD PAINTER, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer for former President GEORGE W. BUSH, said that 'absent Smith giving interviews, making public statements referring to the 2024 election,' his behavior wouldn't merit a Hatch Act violation. Justice Department policies prohibit indicting a candidate close to an election, but 'if you have a previously indicted candidate, and you're just going through the steps you know that lawyers go through in these cases,' that is permissible activity, Painter said. 'I've never heard of a Hatch Act case being premised on court filings,' he said, adding: 'I just don't see the evidence there.' A lawyer for Smith didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for OSC declined to comment. How might OSC punish Smith if it were to find a violation occurred? There's virtually no way to punish Smith. Federal employees who are found to violate the Hatch Act primarily lose their jobs, but Smith is no longer employed by the federal government. Other penalties include suspension, formal reprimand and a $1,000 fine. So, what does Trump get out of this? One possibility is that Trump's disdain for Smith, whom he has described as 'mentally deranged,' is satisfied merely by seeing headlines about Smith under investigation. And even if Smith is ultimately cleared, Trump may take pleasure in dragging Smith through the burdens of an investigation — including the legal expenses. And it is possible for OSC to take the rare step of escalating the inquiry into a criminal matter, according to Painter. The office can make a criminal referral if it finds that someone ordered or coerced a federal employee to engage in partisan politics. 'I don't see any evidence, quite frankly, that he violated that,' said Painter, who added that he isn't aware of the OSC ever having made such a referral. MESSAGE US — West Wing Playbook is obsessively covering the Trump administration's reshaping of the federal government. Are you a federal worker? A DOGE staffer? Have you picked up on any upcoming DOGE moves? We want to hear from you on how this is playing out. Email us at westwingtips@ Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe! POTUS PUZZLER Which presidents have donated their salaries? (Answer at bottom.) WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT LABOR SHEDS CIO: THOMAS SHEDD left his role as chief information officer at the Department of Labor last week, Nextgov/FCW's NATALIE ALMS reports, a move that comes as the agency has lost about 20 percent of its total workforce and about 40 percent of its tech office to voluntary departures. The former Tesla engineer still appears to hold positions at the General Services Administration and the Federal Acquisition Service. FEMA TO ICE: The Department of Homeland Security has reassigned dozens of employees with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to assist in vetting and processing new hires for the government's mass deportation efforts, WaPo's BRIANNA SACKS reports. DHS stressed that the moves are temporary and won't impact disaster relief, but five current and former FEMA officials told WaPo that losing that many people, even for a few months, will slow down operations for an agency that has already been significantly gutted. DHS Assistant Secretary TRICIA McLAUGHLIN confirmed the reassignments, saying that 'through the One Big Beautiful Bill, DHS is adopting an all-hands-on-deck strategy to recruit 10,000 new ICE agents.' She added that 'to support this effort, select FEMA employees will temporarily be detailed to ICE for 90 days to assist with hiring and vetting.' Agenda Setting TOP SECRET NO MORE: The Trump administration overrode concerns from the CIA and other intelligence agencies' officials in its push to release a lightly redacted version of a highly classified document on Russia's interference in the 2016 election, WaPo's WARREN P. STROBEL reports. The officials were specifically concerned that more of the document should remain classified to obscure U.S. spy agencies' sources and methods. The document that Director of National Intelligence TULSI GABBARD, with the president's blessing, ordered released last month is a 46-page report stemming from a review that began in 2017 by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The report takes issue with U.S. intelligence agencies' finding earlier that year that Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN developed a preference for Trump over Democratic candidate HILLARY CLINTON and looked to help him win the election. The document contains multiple references to CIA human sources reporting on Putin's plans. Those sources are among the agency's most closely guarded secrets — so much so that after the report was completed in 2020, it was considered sensitive enough to be stored at the CIA rather than on Capitol Hill. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. A CIA spokesperson said Director JOHN RATCLIFFE 'strongly supports' the release of the report. ANOTHER ONE: UCLA is at risk of losing more than half a billion dollars in federal research funding as the Trump administration continues its pressure on higher education institutions to address allegations of antisemitism on campuses, our NICOLE NORMAN reports. UCLA officials announced today that the administration is withholding $584 million. The sum is far more than what was initially estimated when the DOJ announced last week it was investigating the school. In a University-wide letter sent this morning and shared with POLITICO, UCLA Chancellor JULIO FRENK confirmed the grant money, aimed at funding hundreds of research projects in a wide array of fields, is 'suspended and at risk.' UNION CUTS: The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it had canceled several agreements with unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees; National Association of Government Employees; National Federation of Federal Employees; National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United; and the Service Employees International Union. The agency said the move follows Trump's March executive order revoking federal bargaining rights from some federal workers. The thousands of VA police officers, firefighters and security officers will retain their bargaining rights. 'Too often, unions that represent VA employees fight against the best interests of Veterans while protecting and rewarding bad workers,' VA Secretary DOUG COLLINS said in a statement. 'We're making sure VA resources and employees are singularly focused on the job we were sent here to do: providing top-notch care and service to those who wore the uniform.' LET'S SLOW DOWN: The Trump administration is directing the Bureau of Land Management to cut spending associated with several key agency programs, including renewable energy and land acquisitions, POLITICO's E&E News' SCOTT STREATER reports. The guidance, sent Monday from the Office of Management and Budget, directs BLM to cut spending on these programs 'outside of Federal salary and payroll expenses, minimum expenses to maintain safe operations, or payments otherwise required by law.' Representatives at the Interior Department and BLM did not respond to requests for comment. What We're Reading 'You're Asking Me to Contemplate the Nuclear Scenario' (POLITICO's Victoria Guida) Trump's War on Big Law Means It's Harder to Challenge the Administration (ProPublica's Molly Redden) Trump Amps Up an Obama Strategy to Crack Down on Colleges (NYT's Jeremy W. Peters) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER Trump today claimed to be the only president to donate his salary, but two others have as well: former Presidents HERBERT HOOVER and JOHN F. KENNEDY, according to the National Archives.
