logo
Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say

Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say

NEW YORK (AP) — A Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts in the prosecution of chronic sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend is unlikely to produce much, if anything, to satisfy the public's appetite for new revelations about the financier's crimes, former federal prosecutors say.
Attorney Sarah Krissoff, an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan from from 2008 to 2021, called the request in the prosecutions of Epstein and imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell 'a distraction.'
' The president is trying to present himself as if he's doing something here and it really is nothing,' Krissoff told The Associated Press in a weekend interview.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the request Friday, asking judges to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and Maxwell, saying 'transparency to the American public is of the utmost importance to this Administration.'
The request came as the administration sought to contain the firestorm that followed its announcement that it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising that it would.
Epstein is dead while Maxwell serves a 20-year prison sentence
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in his federal jail cell in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, while Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed after her December 2021 sex trafficking conviction for luring girls to be sexually abused by Epstein.
Krissoff and Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before entering private practice in 2023, said grand jury presentations are purposely brief.
Naftalis said Southern District prosecutors present just enough to a grand jury to get an indictment but 'it's not going to be everything the FBI and investigators have figured out about Maxwell and Epstein.'
'People want the entire file from however long. That's just not what this is,' he said, estimating that the transcripts, at most, probably amount to a few hundred pages.
'It's not going to be much,' Krissoff said, estimating the length at as little as 60 pages 'because the Southern District of New York's practice is to put as little information as possible into the grand jury.'
'They basically spoon feed the indictment to the grand jury. That's what we're going to see,' she said. 'I just think it's not going to be that interesting. … I don't think it's going to be anything new.'
Ex-prosecutors say grand jury transcript unlikely to be long
Both ex-prosecutors said that grand jury witnesses in Manhattan are usually federal agents summarizing their witness interviews.
That practice might conflict with the public perception of some state and federal grand jury proceedings, where witnesses likely to testify at a trial are brought before grand juries during lengthy proceedings prior to indictments or when grand juries are used as an investigatory tool.
In Manhattan, federal prosecutors 'are trying to get a particular result so they present the case very narrowly and inform the grand jury what they want them to do,' Krissoff said.
Krissoff predicted that judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases will reject the government's request.
With Maxwell, a petition is before the U.S. Supreme Court so appeals have not been exhausted. With Epstein, the charges are related to the Maxwell case and the anonymity of scores of victims who have not gone public is at stake, although Blanche requested that victim identities be protected.
'This is not a 50-, 60-, 80-year-old case,' Krissoff noted. 'There's still someone in custody.'
Appeals court's 1997 ruling might matter
She said citing 'public intrigue, interest and excitement' about a case was likely not enough to convince a judge to release the transcripts despite a 1997 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that said judges have wide discretion and that public interest alone can justify releasing grand jury information.
Krissoff called it 'mind-blowingly strange' that Washington Justice Department officials are increasingly directly filing requests and arguments in the Southern District of New York, where the prosecutor's office has long been labeled the 'Sovereign District of New York' for its independence from outside influence.
'To have the attorney general and deputy attorney general meddling in an SDNY case is unheard of,' she said.
Cheryl Bader, a former federal prosecutor and Fordham Law School criminal law professor, said judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases may take weeks or months to rule.
'Especially here where the case involved witnesses or victims of sexual abuse, many of which are underage, the judge is going to be very cautious about what the judge releases,' she said.
Tradition of grand jury secrecy might block release of transcripts
Bader said she didn't see the government's quest aimed at satisfying the public's desire to explore conspiracy theories 'trumping — pardon the pun — the well-established notions of protecting the secrecy of the grand jury process.'
'I'm sure that all the line prosecutors who really sort of appreciate the secrecy and special relationship they have with the grand jury are not happy that DOJ is asking the court to release these transcripts,' she added.
Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice, called Trump's comments and influence in the Epstein matter 'unprecedented' and 'extraordinarily unusual' because he is a sitting president.
He said it was not surprising that some former prosecutors are alarmed that the request to unseal the grand jury materials came two days after the firing of Manhattan Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey, who worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases.
'If federal prosecutors have to worry about the professional consequences of refusing to go along with the political or personal agenda of powerful people, then we are in a very different place than I've understood the federal Department of Justice to be in over the last 30 years of my career,' he said.
Krissoff said the uncertain environment that has current prosecutors feeling unsettled is shared by government employees she speaks with at other agencies as part of her work in private practice.
'The thing I hear most often is this is a strange time. Things aren't working the way we're used to them working,' she said.
___
Associated Press Writers Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law
Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law

Toronto Star

time11 minutes ago

  • Toronto Star

Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian activists called for more protests against a law they say weakens the country's anti-corruption bodies. The legislation has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups. Thousands of people gathered in the capital and other cities across Ukraine on Tuesday evening to urge President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto a controversial bill passed by Ukraine's Parliament earlier that day. After Zelenskyy approved it, activists called on social media for another demonstration in the center of Kyiv at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

German court acquits satirist over social media post following Trump assassination attempt
German court acquits satirist over social media post following Trump assassination attempt

Winnipeg Free Press

time11 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

German court acquits satirist over social media post following Trump assassination attempt

BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Wednesday acquitted a satirist who was charged with having approved of an assassination attempt against Donald Trump during last year's U.S. election campaign in a social media post and disturbed the public peace. In a quickly deleted post under his alias 'El Hotzo' on X in July last year, Sebastian Hotz drew a parallel between Trump and 'the last bus' and wrote 'unfortunately just missed.' In a follow-up post, he wrote: 'I find it absolutely fantastic when fascists die.' A gunman opened fire at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, while Trump was campaigning for president last July, grazing Trump's ear and killing one of his supporters in the crowd. Trump went on to win the White House in November. Prosecutors charged Hotz with approval of offenses. At a one-day trial at the Tiergarten district court in Berlin, prosecutors called for the 29-year-old to be handed a 6,000-euro ($7,030) fine. They argued that the posts fell into the category of hate crimes and, because Hotz has nearly 740,000 followers on X, could disturb the public peace, German news agency dpa reported. Hotz argued that what a satirist says should be understood as a joke, and that 'playing with provocation' is his job. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Judge Andrea Wilms said in her ruling that Hotz's post was satire that should go unpunished, even if the comments may have been tasteless. She argued that no one would feel called upon to commit acts of violence by 'such clearly satirical utterances,' according to a court statement. The German Journalists' Association earlier this week criticized the trial as excessive and said that the case should be closed, arguing that satirical freedom should be interpreted generously. It noted that public broadcaster RBB already terminated its work with Hotz as a result of the post.

Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law
Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law

Winnipeg Free Press

time41 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Zelenskyy faces backlash as Ukrainians protest new anti-corruption law

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian activists called for more protests against a law they say weakens the country's anti-corruption bodies. The legislation has also drawn rebukes from European Union officials and international rights groups. Thousands of people gathered in the capital and other cities across Ukraine on Tuesday evening to urge President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to veto a controversial bill passed by Ukraine's Parliament earlier that day. After Zelenskyy approved it, activists called on social media for another demonstration in the center of Kyiv at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The legislation tightens government oversight of two key anti-corruption agencies. Critics say the step could significantly weaken the independence of those agencies and grant Zelenskyy's circle greater influence over investigations. Fighting entrenched corruption is crucial for Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and maintain access to billions of dollars in Western aid in its fight against Russia's three-year invasion. Instead of vetoing the bill as protestors demanded, Zelenskyy signed it into law and argued for it, in a move that risked his public support after more than three years of war with Russia. Zelenskyy said the measure clears out 'Russian influence' from the fight against corruption and ensures punishment for those found guilty of it, after what he said were yearslong delays in criminal proceedings involving huge amounts of money. 'This is what Ukraine really needs,' Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post after midnight Wednesday. 'The cases that have been lying dormant must be investigated.' 'For years, officials who have fled Ukraine have been casually living abroad for some reason – in very nice countries and without legal consequences – and this is not normal,' he said. He didn't provide examples of what he said was Russian interference. Russian officials relished Zelenskyy's difficulties. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova mocked Zelenskyy's claim of Russian infiltration into the anti-corruption agency, noting sarcastically that 'they might just as well pull a couple of bears out of the corner.' Zelenskyy has been the international face of Ukraine's determination to defeat Russia's all-out invasion, and his domestic troubles are an unwelcome diversion from the war effort. Delegations from Russia and Ukraine were set to meet in Istanbul on Wednesday for their third round of direct talks in two months, although the Kremlin didn't confirm the date or venue and its spokesman warned against expecting 'any magical breakthroughs' in the meeting. The changes would grant the prosecutor general new authority over investigations and cases handled by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO). In a post on X, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos expressed concern over the vote in the Ukrainian Parliament, called the Rada, calling it 'a serious step back.' The Ukrainian branch of Transparency International criticized Parliament's decision, saying it undermines one of the most significant reforms since what Ukraine calls its Revolution of Dignity in 2014, and damages trust with international partners. It accused authorities of 'dismantling' the country's anti-corruption architecture. The mood of anger and frustration among the war-weary Ukrainians prevailed in the crowd Tuesday. Some protesters accused Ukraine's leadership of prioritizing loyalty and personal connections over the fight against corruption. 'Those who swore to protect the laws and the Constitution have instead chosen to shield their inner circle, even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy,' said veteran Oleh Symoroz, sitting in a wheelchair because both his legs were amputated after he was wounded in 2022. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store