Latest news with #FederalBureauofInvestigations
Toronto Sun
3 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Justice Department says Epstein and Maxwell grand juries heard from only 2 law enforcement witnesses
Published Jul 30, 2025 • 3 minute read The J. Edgar Hoover building, Federal Bureau of Investigations headquarters, is seen on July 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo by Eric Lee / Getty Images Just two witnesses, both law enforcement officials, testified before the federal grand juries that indicted Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges, the Justice Department said in support of its request to unseal transcripts of the usually secret proceedings. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. 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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account In a filing late Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, officials describe the grand jury witnesses in a memorandum in response to a call from judges presiding over both cases to provide more details about their request earlier this month. Judges would have to approve any request to unseal records. Grand jury transcripts are rarely released by courts, unless they need to be disclosed in connection with a judicial proceeding. The papers filed Tuesday cite a 1997 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that said judges have wide discretion and public interest alone can justify releasing grand jury information. The Epstein grand jury heard only from an FBI agent when it met in June and July 2019, while the Maxwell grand jury heard from the same FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective when it met in June and July 2020 and March 2021, according to the submission. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The memorandum was signed by Jay Clayton, the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and included the names of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. The request to unseal the transcripts came after the Justice Department enraged parts of President Donald Trump's base of supporters when it announced in early July it wouldn't be making public any more Epstein files. The decision not to make additional materials public shocked some Trump supporters because members of his administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier. Epstein took his own life in a federal jail in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, officials say, but his case has generated endless attention and conspiracy theories because of his and Maxwell's links to famous people, such as royals, presidents and billionaires, including Trump. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her December 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges that accused her of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Last week, she sat for 1 1/2 days of interviews with Justice Department officials in Florida, answering questions 'about 100 different people,' her attorney said. Maxwell was being interviewed because of Trump's directive to gather and release any credible evidence about others who may have committed crimes, the deputy attorney general said. Trump has denied prior knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claimed he had cut off their relationship long ago. But he faces ongoing questions about the Epstein case, overshadowing his administration's achievements. When reporters last week pressed the Republican president about possibly pardoning Maxwell, he deflected, emphasizing his administration's successes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After the request to unseal grand jury records, two former prosecutors in Manhattan told The Associated Press the transcripts would be relatively short and contain only the testimony of law enforcement witnesses talking about evidence that tracks information in the indictments. In its filing Tuesday, the Justice Department further dampened expectations the grand jury transcripts would contain new revelations when it said 'certain aspects and subject matters' contained in them became public during Maxwell's trial. The memorandum said many of the victims whose accounts relating to Epstein and Maxwell came up in grand jury testimony testified at trial consistent with what was described by the FBI agent and the NYPD detective and some information was made public through civil litigation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The government said no Epstein or Maxwell family members have come forward to express an interest in the request to unseal the grand jury transcripts, although Maxwell has indicated she will file a position with the court. The memorandum says the request to unseal the transcripts is 'consistent with increasing calls for additional disclosures in this matter.' 'There is undoubtedly a clearly expressed interest from the public in Jeffrey Epstein's and Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes,' it says. 'Beyond that, there is abundant public interest in the investigative work conducted by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into those crimes.' Under a 2008 nonprosecution agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida to state charges of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. That allowed him to avert a possible life sentence, instead serving 13 months in a work release program. He was required to make payments to victims and register as a sex offender. Epstein was later charged by federal prosecutors in Manhattan for nearly identical allegations in 2019. Sunshine Girls Columnists MLB Sunshine Girls World
Daily Mirror
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
FBI releases chilling images of man in creepy mask amid Vance Boelter manhunt
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has released new images of a masked man with a flashlight as part of their search for Vance Boelter - who has been placed on the 'Most Wanted' list The FBI has shared new photos of a masked figure with a torch in connection with their hunt for Vance Boelter, the prime suspect in the attacks on Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, as well as Democratic Senator John Hoffman and his wife. Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her spouse were shot and killed early Saturday in their Brooklyn Park home. A second state politician, Senator John Hoffman and his wife, were shot multiple times in Champlin. Both shootings were described as "targeted political violence" by Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Hours after the shootings, hundreds of police and sheriff deputies from departments in the region, some in tactical gear with assault style weapons were scattered through the town. Occasional police roadblocks where cars are stopped and checked. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said writings found inside a fake police car recovered at one of the shooting scenes mentioned the names of multiple politicians - including both Hortman and Hoffman - and other officials. "When we did a search of the vehicle, there was a manifesto that identified many lawmakers and other officials. We immediately made alerts to the state. We took action on alerting them and providing security where necessary," said Mr Bruley. The new pictures display an individual wearing what seems to be a rubber or silicone disguise resembling a white man, outfitted in gear similar to that worn by police officers. The guise featured in the photos divulged by the FBI also bears a resemblance to a mask sported by Ryan Gosling in the highly-praised 2011 motion picture "Drive." In the film, Gosling's persona comes across the latex mask inside a movie set caravan, subsequently wears it as he ventures into a civilian shopping outlet and commits violence upon those within, as suggested by the movie. These photos were disseminated as part of an appeal to trace Boelter, aged 57, who now finds his name on the FBI's "Most Wanted" register, reports the Mirror US. Up to $50,000 is being offered by the FBI as a bounty for intelligence leading to Boelter's capture and successful prosecution. A directive to stay indoors was enacted for Minneapolis inhabitants Saturday following reported shootings at the residences of two Democratic politicians. Reports indicated that the assailant was masquerading as a bobby, who this week faced reproval from politicians and the people alike for concealing their visages with masks during the anti-ICE demonstrations nationwide. As reported by the Associated Press, Boelter was appointed by Minnesota Governor and Kamala Harris's former 2024 campaign running mate, Tim Walz, to serve on the Governor's Workforce Development Board in 2019. He is also said to be the CEO of Red Lion Group, a company based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Retired FBI Agent Supports End to Official Pride Celebrations at Agency
Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer is all for the FBI telling their agents to lay off the Pride Month celebrations this year ... but she says it's not about the LGBTQ+ community. Catch the clip ... Jennifer tells us the reasoning behind the email sent out by a rep for the Federal Bureau of Investigations to all employees -- coming after the transition from the Biden to the Trump administrations -- was to put a stop to gathering during company hours and using FBI time and resources. Coffindaffer claims that so much money and energy go into banquets thrown for monthly events -- such as Pride Month, Women's History Month, and Black History Month -- putting an end to these events will allow FBI agents to focus on their core mission ... putting bad people in prison!!! Fox News Digital obtained the email that says FBI Assistant Director for Public Affairs Ben Williamson wrote, "I want to take the opportunity to make FBI leadership's expectations clear: There should be no official FBI actions, events, or messaging regarding Pride Month." June is officially recognized in the U.S. as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. President Trump nominated Kash Patel as his director of the FBI, but Thursday's email came from Williamson, who reportedly wrote employees can do whatever they want in a personal capacity on their own time ... but, they shouldn't be using Bureau resources to promote their events. Jennifer assures the LGBTQ+ community that this is not a targeted ban, and is intended to continue for all other monthly heritage celebrations.
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Why are North Korean hackers such good crypto-thieves?
FEBRUARY 21st was a typical day, recalls Ben Zhou, the boss of ByBit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange. Before going to bed, he approved a fund transfer between the firm's accounts, a 'typical manoeuvre" performed while servicing more than 60m users around the world. Half an hour later he got a phone call. 'Ben, there's an issue," his chief financial officer said, voice shaking. 'We might be hacked…all of the Ethereum is gone." Independent investigators and America's Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) soon pointed the finger at a familiar culprit: North Korea. Hackers from the hermit kingdom have established themselves as one of the biggest threats to the crypto-industry—and as a crucial source of revenue for Kim Jong Un's regime, helping it to weather international sanctions, to pamper its elites and to fund its missile and nuclear-weapons programmes. In 2023 North Korean hackers made away with a total of $661m, according to Chainalysis, a crypto-investigations firm; they doubled the sum in 2024, racking up $1.34bn across 47 separate heists, an amount equivalent to more than 60% of the global total of stolen crypto. The ByBit operation indicates a growing degree of skill and ambition: in a single hack, North Korea swiped the equivalent of $1.5bn from the exchange, the largest-ever heist in the history of cryptocurrency. North Korea's plunder is the payoff from a decades-long effort. The country's first computer-science schools date back to at least the 1980s. The Gulf War helped the regime recognise the importance of networked technology for modern warfare. Talented maths students were put into special schools and given reprieves from mandatory annual countryside labour, says Thae Yong Ho, a senior North Korean diplomat who defected in 2016. Originally envisaged as a tool for espionage and sabotage, North Korea's cyber-forces began to focus on cybercrime in the mid-2010s. Mr Kim is said to call cyberwarfare 'an all-purpose sword". Stealing crypto involves two main phases. The first is breaching a target's systems—the digital equivalent of finding an underground passageway to a bank's vaults. Phishing emails can insert malicious code. North Korean operatives pose as recruiters and entice software developers to open infected files during fake job interviews. Another approach involves using fake identities to get hired at remote IT jobs with foreign companies, which can be a first step to accessing accounts. 'They've become really good at finding vulnerabilities through social engineering," says Andrew Fierman of Chainalysis. In the ByBit case, hackers compromised the computer of a developer working for a provider of digital wallet software. Once stolen, the cryptocurrency has to be laundered. Dirty money is spread across multiple digital wallets, combined with clean funds and transferred between different cryptocurrencies, processes known in the industry as 'mixing" and 'chain hopping". 'They're the most sophisticated crypto launderers we've ever come across," says Tom Robinson of Elliptic, a blockchain-analytics firm. Finally, the stolen funds need to be cashed out. A growing array of underground services, many linked to Chinese organised crime, can help with this. Fees and interdictions by law enforcement reduce the overall take, but North Korea can expect to receive 'definitely 80%, maybe 90%" of the funds it steals, says Nick Carlsen, a former FBI analyst now with TRM Labs, a blockchain-intelligence firm. North Korea has several strengths. One is talent. This could appear counterintuitive: the country is desperately poor and ordinary citizens have severely restricted access to the internet or even computers. But 'North Korea can take the best minds and tell them what to do," says Kim Seung-joo of the school of cybersecurity at Korea University in Seoul. 'They don't have to worry about them going to work at Samsung." At the International Collegiate Programming Contest in 2019, a team from a North Korean university came eighth, beating those from Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford. Those talents are also exploited. North Korean hackers work around the clock. They are unusually brazen when they strike. Most state actors seek to avoid diplomatic blowback and 'operate like they're in Ocean's 11: white gloves, get in without anyone noticing, steal the crown jewel, get out without being noticed," says Jenny Jun of the Georgia Institute of Technology. North Korea does not 'place a premium on secrecy—they're not afraid to be loud." For the North Korean regime, stolen crypto has become a lifeline, especially as international sanctions and the covid-19 pandemic crimped their already limited trade. Crypto-thievery is a more efficient way to earn hard currency than traditional sources, such as overseas labourers or illegal drugs. The United Nations Panel of Experts (UNPE), a monitoring body, reported in 2023 that cyber-theft accounted for half of North Korea's foreign-currency revenue. North Korea's digital plunder last year was worth more than three times the value of its exports to China, its main trade partner. 'You take what took millions of labourers, and you can replicate that with the work of a few dozen people," says Mr Carlsen. Those funds prop up the regime. Hard currency is used to purchase luxury goods to keep elites in line. It also probably funds weapons. The majority of North Korea's stolen crypto is thought to flow into its missile and nuclear-weapons programmes. Cryptocurrency investigators are getting better at tracking stolen funds along the blockchain. Mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges and stable-coin issuers often co-operate with law enforcement to freeze stolen funds. In 2023 America, Japan and South Korea announced a joint effort aimed at countering North Korean cybercrime. America has sanctioned several 'mixing" service providers that North Korea has used. Yet authorities remain a step behind. After America sanctioned North Korea's favoured mixers, the hackers switched to others offering similar services. Tackling the problem requires multilateral efforts across governments and the private sector, but such collaboration has been fraying. Russia used its UN veto to gut the UNPE last year. President Donald Trump's cuts to American development aid have hit programmes aimed at building cyber-security capacity in vulnerable countries. By contrast, the North Korean regime is throwing ever more resources at cybercrime. South Korea's intelligence services reckon its cybercrime force grew from 6,800 people in 2022 to 8,400 last year. As the crypto-industry expands in countries with weaker regulatory oversight, North Korea has an increasingly 'rich target environment", says Abhishek Sharma of the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think-tank. Last year, Mr Sharma notes, North Korea attacked exchanges based in India and Indonesia. North Korea is already known to be making use of artificial intelligence in its operations. AI tools can help make phishing emails more convincing and easier to produce at scale across many languages. They can also make it easier to infiltrate companies as remote tech workers. Bad days like Mr Zhou's may become increasingly typical.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Image of Trump as pope, call to reopen Alcatraz and movie tariff mark 10th Mar-a-Lago visit
An image of himself as pope, a proposal to reopen Alcatraz prison and a call for tariffs on movies produced on foreign film sets marked President Donald Trump's 10th visit to Palm Beach this term. The AI-generated visual of the president in papal attire was posted May 3 while global Catholics are still mourning the April 21 death of Pope Francis. Cardinals from around the world are scheduled to open a conclave to choose the next pontiff on May 7. Trump's post on Truth Social with the image did not have accompanying text, but it drew a rebuke from New York bishops. "There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President," the Catholic Bishops of New York State wrote on X. "We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us." In another post as the president was departing for Washington on May 4, he demanded a rebuilding and reopening of the former federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. "When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm," he wrote. "That's the way it's supposed to be." Alcatraz served as a high-security prison from the Great Depression until the early 1960s, when it was closed by order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the father of current Trump Cabinet member and health czar Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. It housed some of the country's most notorious criminals, including Al Capone. Today, most of the site is decayed except for the main cell block building and other structures that are a national historic site open to tourists. The president said he was "directing" the Bureau of Prisons, along with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, "to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders." He said the United States would not be "held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally." Trump's Alcatraz order followed a posting earlier in the weekend expressing frustration that federal judges have blocked some of his efforts to "Deport Criminals, including Murderers, out of our Country and back to" their home countries. "If this is so, our Country, as we know it, is finished! Americans will have to get used to a very different, crime filled, LIFE. This is not what our Founders had in mind!!!" he wrote. The court orders Trump railed against have come as arguments have been presented before federal judges that the administration has removed people from the United States who did not have criminal records. Those cases include a Cuban woman from Tampa who is married to a naturalized U.S. citizen and is the mother of a 1-year-old daughter and was reportedly deported to the communist island last month. The focus on deporting foreign nationals extends well beyond just those with criminal records. Last month, Florida International University revealed it has joined the federal-state partnership and its security officers will participate in efforts to detain people on campus they suspect are simply in the country without permission. The police department at Florida Atlantic University has applied to become part of the partnership as well. The Trump administration has allowed the Temporary Protected Status for tens of thousands of Venezuelans to expire, making them eligible for deportation. A federal judge has, for the moment, blocked the decision by Homeland Security, which also has indicated TPS for other holders, including Haitians, will come to an end this year. The administration has acknowledged its intention is to also deport people with no criminal background. Madison Sheahan, the deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, said May 1 the priority is to remove individuals who pose a safety or security threat to the general population. But she made clear the definition of criminality is much broader saying "everybody that is in this country illegally is a criminal." Trump's Alcatraz directive also comes as immigration advocates and the families of those being held at a southern Miami-Dade County detention center have decried what they allege are deadly overcrowding conditions. And as the shipment of people to a prison in El Salvador continues to draw scrutiny and criticism. On May 3, while the president was in town, a 25% tariff on imported auto parts began. But it was a duty on movies filmed abroad that was also on the president's agenda this weekend. Trump said he was "authorizing" the Department of Commerce and the U.S. trade representative to "immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff" on movies "produced in Foreign Lands," saying they pose a national security threat. "The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death," he wrote. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat." Trump arrived late on May 1 and attended a Republican National Committee spring gala held at Mar-a-Lago on May 2. Trump has traveled to the Winter White House 10 times this term, spending part or all of 35 days. Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@ Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump in Palm Beach: Image as pope, Alcatraz and movie tariff mark visit
