Ex-Epstein lawyer calls for release of additional Epstein materials

The Star

6 days ago

FILE PHOTO: American lawyer Alan Dershowitz returns to the courtroom for the criminal trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump after a short break at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, U.S., 20 May 2024. Sarah Yenesel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of Jeffrey Epstein's former attorneys on Sunday called on the U.S. Justice Department to release additional investigative records from its sex-trafficking investigation, and urged the government to grant Epstein's former girlfriend immunity so that she can testify about his crimes.
In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Alan Dershowitz said the grand jury transcripts thatAttorney General Pam Bondi on Friday asked a federal judge to unseal would not contain the types of information being sought by President Donald Trump's supporters, such as the names of Epstein's clientele.
"I think the judge should release it, but they are not in the grand jury transcripts," Dershowitz said on Fox.
"I've seen some of these materials. For example, there is an FBI report of interviews with alleged victims in which at least one of the victims names very important people," he said, adding that those names have been redacted.
President Donald Trump has been under mounting pressure from his supporters to release additional information related to the government's sex-trafficking probe into Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Earlier this year, Bondi promised that the department would release additional materials including "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs."
The department back-tracked on that promise earlier this month, after releasing a joint memo with the FBI which poured cold water on long-running conspiracy theories about Epstein by saying there was "no incriminating client list" or any evidence of blackmail.
The memo also backed a prior FBI investigation which concluded that Epstein died by suicide and was not murdered in his jail cell.
Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have faced a growing backlash by Trump's supporters since the memo was issued, prompting Trump last week to order the department to ask a court to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Epstein case.
The U.S. government on Friday filed a motion in a Manhattan federal court to unseal grand jury transcripts in the cases of Epstein and former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of five federal charges related to her role in Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls. Maxwell is appealing her conviction and 20-year prison sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The release of the grand jury documents may fall short of what many of Trump's supporters have sought, including case files held by the administration, and a judge may reject the administration's request to make the transcripts public.
Dershowitz on Sunday told "Fox News Sunday" that the information that Bondi did not request to be unsealed would be "far more informative and far more relevant."
He added that the government should also grant Maxwell immunity so that she could testify before Congress about what knowledge she has of Epstein's alleged crimes.
"She knows everything. She is the Rosetta Stone," he said of Maxwell.
"If she were just given use immunity, she could be compelled to testify."
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)