Latest news with #transcripts
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ seeks to unseal exhibits from grand jury probes into Epstein, Maxwell
The Justice Department is seeking to unseal the exhibits shown to the federal grand juries in New York that indicted Jeffrey Epstein and his former companion Ghislaine Maxwell in addition to the transcripts of testimony, according to a court filing Friday. Justice Department officials have conceded that much of what is in the transcripts is already publicly known, but the exhibits contain names that did not appear in the transcripts, the filing said. MORE: DOJ says Epstein, Maxwell grand jury transcripts only consist of law enforcement testimony The government is now trying to notify those individuals "to the extent their names appear in grand jury exhibits that were not publicly admitted at the Maxwell trial," the filing said. The Justice Department asked the court to give it until Aug. 14 to make the necessary notifications. The filing did not say how many individuals needed to be contacted. The Trump administration has been seeking to release materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019, following the blowback it received from MAGA supporters after it announced last month that no additional files would be released. Attorneys for victims of Epstein and Maxwell have criticized the administration's approach to transparency, saying in a letter to the court that it "reinforces the perception that the victims are, at best, an afterthought to the current administration." The victims say they are generally supportive of transparency, but that they want the chance to review the records and propose additional redactions. Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein.
CNN
6 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Maxwell Opposes Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts - The Arena with Kasie Hunt - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Maxwell Opposes Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts The Arena with Kasie Hunt 46 mins The panel talks to Kasie Hunt about a new letter from Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney arguing against the release of the Epstein grand jury transcripts. President Trump's former attorney weighs in. Plus, the Texas governor says he's working to find ways to arrest absent Democrats.
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump-requested Epstein and Maxwell grand jury records cover only two witnesses
The grand jury transcripts President Donald Trump is seeking in New York as he tries to quell his base's outrage over the White House's decision not to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein cover only two witnesses, according to the Justice Department. Those witnesses are an FBI agent and a detective with the New York Police Department, DOJ officials said in a July 29 court filing. Both witnesses testified in the federal grand jury proceedings that led to charges against convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. Only the FBI agent testified before the grand jury that charged Epstein with sex trafficking in 2019. The fact that just two people are on the witness list, both members of law enforcement, could mean the transcripts might not be revelatory, even if they are released. A Manhattan federal district court is currently deciding whether to unseal the records for public viewing. A Florida federal district court separately ruled July 23 that Epstein-related records tied to federal grand jury proceedings in that state must remain private. The New York police detective who testified in the Maxwell-related proceedings in Manhattan was serving with the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force at the time, according to the Justice Department. What will be new in grand jury transcripts? The Justice Department offered a couple of indications in the latest court filing that the transcripts might not reveal much that the public doesn't already know. In addition to just having two witnesses in the transcripts, the court filing suggests that at least a significant portion of what those witnesses said may have been repeated at trial by victims of Epstein and Maxwell. In other words, it wouldn't be new information to the public. "Many of the victims whose accounts relating to Epstein and Maxwell that were the subject of grand jury testimony testified at trial consistent with the accounts described by an FBI agent and the detective," according to the Justice Department's filing. Some of the victims also publicized their accounts in the context of civil lawsuits, the department added. Several witnesses testified in Maxwell's month-long trial in 2021, which ended with her conviction for conspiring to entice and transport minors for illegal sex acts with Epstein and sex trafficking a minor to him. Prosecutors said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom, and abuse minor girls from about 1994 to about 2004, including girls as young as 14. Will transcripts satisfy public outrage over Epstein? Justice Department officials asked for the transcripts to be released at the request of Trump, who said in a Truth Social post on July 17 that he made the request based on "the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein." Department officials have called for redacting personal identifying information if courts approve of making the records public. That caveat could further disappoint members of the public who have clamored for the government to release the names of any potential Epstein clients suspected of participating with the disgraced financier in a sex-trafficking ring. Several officials in Trump's administration have fanned the flames of those conspiracies for years, including FBI Director Kash Patel, who told right-wing media figure Glenn Beck in 2023 that the head of President Joe Biden's FBI had direct control of an Epstein "black book." However, in a memo released July 7, the Justice Department and the FBI said a review of the government's records on Epstein failed to turn up a client list and that no further disclosures were warranted. In the wake of that memo, even some congressional Republicans have clamored for the files' release or introduced legislation to try to force the Trump administration's hand. Republican leadership has so far blocked the legislation, and White House officials continue to resist those calls. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury records cover only two witnesses Solve the daily Crossword
Washington Post
30-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Epstein grand jury transcripts include testimony from two witnesses, feds say
The grand jury transcripts the Justice Department is seeking to make public from its investigation of disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell include testimony from just two law enforcement witnesses, government lawyers said. That disclosure, made in a court filing late Tuesday, raises questions over whether the department's push to unseal those transcripts will satisfy the clamoring of President Donald Trump's base for greater transparency surrounding the Epstein investigation.
BBC News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Florida judge denies Trump administration's request to release Epstein files
A judge in Florida has denied the Trump administration's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Judge Robin Rosenberg found that the request - made last week by the justice department - would violate state law. "The court's hands are tied," the judge transcripts in question stem from Florida's investigation into Epstein in 2006 that led to him being charged with soliciting a minor for Donald Trump had directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of all grand jury evidence after days of sustained pressure from some of his most loyal supporters demanding further disclosures. In her 12-page order on Friday, Judge Rosenberg ruled that the transcripts could not be released due to guidelines governing grand jury secrecy set by the federal appeals court which oversees judge said that the government's argument that the files should be released due to "extensive public interest" and "transparency to the American public" did not meet the requirements for documents to be unsealed under "special circumstances".The judge ruled that a new case be opened so lawyers could make additional legal arguments for why the transcripts, which precede the federal case that led to Epstein's death in jail while awaiting charges in 2019, should be released. A grand jury is a group of citizens set up by a prosecutor to determine whether there is enough evidence for charges to be filed. In legal terms, it determines whether probable cause exists to believe a crime has been ruling comes as the Trump administration seeks to meet Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse young campaigning last year, Trump - who at one time had been a friend of Epstein - promised to release files relating to the disgraced Bondi said earlier this month that the US justice department did not believe Epstein had a so-called "client list" that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life - despite conspiracies over his statement came after Bondi had touted she was set to announce major revelations about the case, including "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs" - a nod to those who travelled with the financier or who visited his private islands where many of his purported crimes were said to have reversal prompted furious response from scores of Trump's most ardent supporters who have called for Bondi to resign after failing to produce the list, which officials had previously claimed to have in their have seized on the Republican infighting to accuse the Trump administration of lying about its commitment to Wednesday, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson closed down Congress for summer break one day early, stalling legislative efforts to force the release of documents related to move delays a politically fraught vote on the matter until September. It followed a key committee vote to force Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate, to testify before Congress.
