Judge denies Trump DOJ request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts
Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who reviewed the transcripts of the witness testimony heard by the grand jury and other evidence the panel saw, wrote that the government's assertion that the materials would reveal meaningful new information about Epstein's and Maxwell's crimes was "demonstrably false."
"A member of the public familiar with the Maxwell trial record who reviewed the grand jury materials that the Government proposes to unseal would thus learn next to nothing new," Engelmayer wrote.
"Insofar as the motion to unseal implies that the grand jury materials are an untapped mine load of undisclosed information about Epstein or Maxwell or confederates, they are definitely not that," the judge wrote.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges. Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty.
Neither the Justice Department nor a lawyer for Maxwell immediately responded to requests for comment.
President Donald Trump last month instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material, as he sought to quell discontent from his base of conservative supporters and congressional Democrats over his administration's handling of documents from the cases.
Trump, a Republican, had promised to make public Epstein-related files if reelected and accused Democrats of covering up the truth. But in July, the Justice Department said a previously touted Epstein client list did not exist, angering Trump's supporters.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
26 minutes ago
- Fox News
Appeals court allows Arkansas' first-in-the-nation ban on gender transition care for minors to be enforced
A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld an Arkansas law prohibiting doctors from providing gender transition medical treatment to minors, reversing a lower court decision that blocked the first-in-the-nation law. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-2 on Tuesday to overturn a lower court decision, now allowing the state to enforce the law. The appeals court cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June upholding a similar ban in Tennessee, in which the nation's highest court ruled that the law was constitutional and did not discriminate against transgender people. Referencing the Supreme Court's decision, the appeals court agreed with Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, a Republican, that the law did not violate transgender minors' equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution. "I applaud the court's decision and am pleased that children in Arkansas will be protected from experimental procedures," Griffin said in a statement following the ruling. Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote on social media that the ruling "is a win for common sense -- and for our kids." Arkansas became the first U.S. state to ban transgender treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors in 2021, when the Republican-led legislature passed the ban after they overruled the veto of then-GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Four families of transgender children and two doctors challenged the law, arguing the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act violated parents' due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. Writing the majority opinion, U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton said parents have never had a right to obtain medical treatment for their children that a state government had banned. The judge also wrote that the lower court's decision, in which U.S. District Judge Jay Moody ruled in 2023 that the law discriminates against transgender people and poses "immediate and irreparable harm" to transgender children, conflicts with the Supreme Court's decision in the Tennessee case. The law was also previously blocked from taking effect in 2021. U.S. Circuit Judge Jane Kelly, meanwhile, wrote in the dissent that there is a "startling lack of evidence connecting Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care with its purported goal of protecting children." The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas were among the groups representing the plaintiffs. "This is a tragically unjust result for transgender Arkansans, their doctors, and their families," Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas, said in a statement. "The state had every opportunity and failed at every turn to prove that this law helps children; in fact, this is a dangerous law that harms children," she continued. "The law has already had a profound impact on families across Arkansas who all deserve a fundamental right to do what is best for their children. As we and our clients consider our next steps, we want transgender Arkansans to know they are far from alone and we remain as determined as ever to secure their right to safety, dignity, and equal access to the health care they need." The ruling on Tuesday comes after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously last week that a similar ban in Oklahoma is constitutional, also relying upon the Supreme Court's decision on the Tennessee law.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Korea to Spend $150 Billion to Fund President Lee's Policy Goals
South Korea unveiled a 210 trillion won ($152 billion) fiscal plan for 2026-2030 to support President Lee Jae Myung's core pledges, with funding to be drawn from enhanced revenue measures and greater spending efficiency. The plan, announced Wednesday by the presidential state affairs planning committee, will allocate funds across 123 projects in innovation, growth, social welfare and foreign policy, with major investments in artificial intelligence, where the government aims to become a top-three AI power. Other areas of priority include biotechnology, healthcare and defense, among others.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough reveals DC journalist privately shared concerns about crime while publicly denouncing Trump's plan
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough suggested that some liberal media figures blasting President Donald Trump's federal takeover of Washington, DC were not being entirely honest about their concerns over crime in the nation's capital, on Tuesday's 'Morning Joe.' Scarborough said he found it 'interesting' that some reporters critically covering the Trump takeover have privately expressed concerns about their own safety. Advertisement 'This is interesting,' Scarborough said. 'I actually heard from a reporter when this happened, going, 'Well, you know, if he doesn't overreach, this could actually be a good thing for quality of life,' etc, because in DC right now, I had this happen to my family and I had that, and they go down the list. And then I saw him tweet something completely different.' Scarborough, who said he's lived in DC for more than three decades, added that crime isn't as bad as it was two or three years ago, but it still was not a safe city. 'It's certainly not as safe as the nation's capital should be.' Advertisement Trump announced Monday that he would place the city's police department under direct federal control and deploy National Guard troops to 'reestablish law, order and public safety.' Top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized the move as unnecessary, pointing to a reported decline in homicides. Liberal media personalities such as CNN's Dana Bash and NBC's Jonathan Allen argued that the most violent day in recent DC history was January 6, 2021, during the Capitol riot. 3 MSNBC host Joe Scarborough suggests liberal media figures calling out President Trump's federal takeover of Washington, D.C., are not being truthful when it comes to crime occurring in the nation's capital. Getty Images for Global Citizen Advertisement 3 President Trump has considered deploying the National Guard to the nation's capital to 'reestablish law, order and public safety.' Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/Shutterstock During the 'Morning Joe' segment, MSNBC host Symone Sanders Townsend pushed back, saying she has lived in DC for the past decade and believes rising crime fears are largely about perception, not reality. 'The way I've heard DC being described this morning, is like it's a city under siege. Like it's a dangerous place, clutching your pearls, got to keep your bag under your dress when you leave the house and that is just not true,' she argued, while acknowledging 'instances of juvenile crime.' She argued that more police on the streets would not address the root causes of juvenile crime and accused Trump of amplifying public fears. Advertisement 3 Multiple liberal media figures, including CNN's Dana Bash and NBC's Jonathan Allen, still say the violence in D.C. is nothing compared to what happened during the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021. Jemal Countess – CNP 'We need to rethink what makes cities safe in America,' she added. Scarborough countered that even lifelong Democrats are worried about their safety in Washington. He read a message from a liberal resident who refused to walk outside past 8 p.m. and whose friends had been carjacked or shot at, calling it 'a change from a decade ago.' 'I guarantee you that's a person that has never voted for a Republican in their life,' Scarborough said. 'This isn't imagined. People you know, that I know, that they love, they and their friends don't feel safe in Washington, DC.' During a press conference on Monday, Trump challenged liberal journalists to be honest about crime concerns in the city. 'I understand a lot of you tend to be on the liberal side, but you don't want to get — you don't want to get mugged and raped and shot and killed,' Trump said. 'And you all know people and friends of yours that that happened. And so you can be anything you want, but you want to have safety in the streets. You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe and go into a store to buy a newspaper or buy something. And you don't have that now.'
