Trump administration asks judges to release Epstein, Maxwell grand jury transcripts
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump's administration urged two judges on Tuesday night to release testimony heard by the grand juries that indicted the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on sex trafficking charges as the president seeks to calm an uproar over his administration's handling of the matter.
The Justice Department first sought court permission on July 18 to make public transcripts of the confidential testimony given by witnesses years ago in the two cases, but Manhattan-based U.S. District Judges Richard Berman and Paul Engelmayer asked the government to flesh out the legal bases for the requests.
In a pair of court filings just before midnight, prosecutors said unsealing the materials would be appropriate given the "abundant public interest" in the Epstein case and persistent scrutiny of how it was handled by federal law enforcement.
The Epstein case has been at the center of conspiracy theories for years. Trump has faced pressure in recent months to make public documents from the federal investigations into Epstein and Maxwell.
Epstein hanged himself in jail in 2019, an autopsy concluded, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges brought by federal prosecutors. He had pleaded not guilty. Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend, was convicted in 2021 on sex trafficking charges and is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Florida. Maxwell had pleaded not guilty and is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.
Trump said this month he had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts in the two cases. The president did so after the Justice Department said it concluded that Epstein died by suicide and that there was no incriminating list of his clients.
The Justice Department's announcement angered some of Trump's conservative supporters who believe the government is covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful and that the financier was murdered in jail.
Grand juries are convened by prosecutors and meet in secret to hear witness testimony and decide whether to indict people suspected of crimes. Records of their proceedings usually remain sealed. There are only limited circumstances under which such transcripts can be disclosed.
Even if one or both of the judges allow the transcripts to be made public, it is not clear whether the public would learn anything new or noteworthy. Maxwell's four-week trial in 2021 included public testimony from alleged sex trafficking victims, associates of Epstein and Maxwell, and law enforcement officers.
The transcripts also would not represent all the previously unreleased material in the government's possession. Investigators and prosecutors may pursue leads that they cannot substantiate or interview potential witnesses whom they do not ultimately call to testify before a grand jury.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in Florida on July 23 denied the administration's request to unseal records from grand jury investigations in 2005 and 2007 in that state into Epstein. The judge found that the request did not fall into any of the limited exceptions that may allow for the release of such material.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to a prostitution charge brought under Florida law and was given a 13-month sentence in a deal with prosecutors now widely regarded as too lenient.
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, last week met with Maxwell for two days to see if she had any information about others who had committed crimes. Maxwell's lawyer David Markus and Blanche have not provided detailed accounts of their discussions.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
25 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump to unveil White House task force for 2028 Los Angeles Olympics
Donald Trump is slated to sign an executive order later today that will create a White House task force to handle issues surrounding the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, according to a White House statement. Reuters reported the task force will focus on security and transportation issues, while also working to "streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media." Those types of broad coordination efforts are common ahead of the Olympics and typically spearheaded by the federal government of the host nation. It is unclear who will serve on the task force, though multiple news outlets reported Trump will oversee it. A ceremony to sign the executive order is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. Opinion: Trump can't save Olympic sports through executive order, but he can by funding them "The President considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in the statement. Leavitt added that Trump was "instrumental" in bringing the 2028 Summer Games to the United States and described sports as "one of President Trump's greatest passions." The White House also provided a statement from Casey Wasserman, the chairperson of the 2028 Los Angeles organizing committee, touting Trump's efforts. "The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028," Wasserman said. It is unclear how closely the task force will work with state entities and officials in California, such as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Both are Democrats and have clashed with Trump over domestic policy issues in the heavily-Democratic state, including the Trump administration's attempts to enforce immigration law. Protests broke out across Los Angeles earlier this summer after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers raided locations across the city. The creation of the Olympics task force comes about five months after Trump created a similar task force to handle issues surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup for men's soccer. The president appointed Andrew Giuliani, the son of his close ally Rudy Giuliani, as executive director of that group. This story will be updated. Contact Tom Schad at tschad@ or on social media @
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
Epstein victims knock FBI, DOJ over handling of case
Two victims of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein questioned the Trump administration's motives for seeking to unseal grand jury testimony in letters to the court made public Monday. The victims, both anonymous, wrote separately to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman to speak up for themselves and fellow victims whom they suggested were not being adequately considered in the government's quest to make the papers public. 'I am not sure the highest priority here is the victims, justice for the victims or combatting child exploitation, or at least I do not feel this way,' one victim wrote, asserting that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI's priority seems to be protecting 'wealthy men.' The other victim said their decision to speak out comes with 'disdain, disgust and fear' over how DOJ has handled its efforts to release the so-called 'Epstein Files.' 'Dear United States, I wish you would have handled and would handle the whole 'Epstein Files' with more respect towards and for the victims,' that victim wrote. 'I am not some pawn in your political warfare. 'What you have done and continue to do is eating at me day after day as you help to perpetuate this story indefinitely,' they continued. The Trump administration's renewed efforts to release fresh information about Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, follows sharp criticism from his political base which has long called for greater transparency around the case. The Justice Department announced earlier this year that Epstein did not have a 'client list' and confirmed his 2019 death was indeed a suicide, angering conspiracists who believe the government has concealed the truth about Epstein and Maxwell's sex trafficking scheme. President Trump has grown increasingly frustrated as his supporters have pressed for more information or the appointment of a special prosecutor. In recent weeks, top DOJ officials have opened talks with Maxwell. The victims argued that the attention to Epstein has gone too far. 'The latest attention on the 'Epstein Files,' the 'Client List' is OUT OF CONTROL and the ones that are left to suffer are not the high-profile individuals, IT IS THE VICTIMS,' the first victim said. 'Why the lack of concern in handling such sensitive information for the victims sake?' Neither victim explicitly called for the transcripts to remain under seal, but both urged great caution in determining what information should be released. Tuesday is the deadline for Epstein's victims to respond to the government's request to unseal the papers, and the judge said he would rule 'expeditiously' afterward.
The Hill
25 minutes ago
- The Hill
The Democrats' motion to subpoena the Epstein file has legal and historical basis
A subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee made big news at the end of July when it approved a Democratic motion to compel Attorney General Pam Bondi to turn over the Justice Department's complete file on child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Some may wonder how this surprising turn of events came about, especially after Republican leaders killed similar efforts on the House floor and closed up shop early for the summer. But it was a rare example of a successful motion from a member of the minority party, fortified by congressional rules and precedent. The Constitution authorizes each house of Congress to establish its own rules. The House voted in January to adopt rules for this session that continued the longstanding right of all members to make subpoena motions during hearings. This is the right that Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), the subcommittee's top Democrat, invoked to make her subpoena motion, which passed with a resounding bipartisan vote of eight to two. Many committee chairs now have authority to issue subpoenas without any debate or vote — a relatively recent practice. But the more traditional way to authorize subpoenas under House rules is through deliberation and voting. That chairs have their own unilateral authority to issue subpoenas does not invalidate the other method authorized by the House. In this case, although subcommittee chair Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) opposed the motion, he followed the voting process established by the House. The next requirement in House rules is that the chairman of the full committee, James Comer (R-Ky.), 'shall' sign and serve this subpoena on Bondi. His role is ministerial, and he has no discretion to disregard the subcommittee's vote, which Comer publicly confirmed. Sources indicate that Comer plans to sign off, which may happen any day. Once Comer serves the subpoena, it becomes compulsory, and Bondi has a legal duty to comply. Although there was a separate motion during the subcommittee's debate to give Bondi discretion to withhold documents she deemed not 'credible,' that motion failed. The only exception the subcommittee approved was to redact personal information about Epstein's victims. Could the Justice Department challenge the subpoena because it was proposed by a member of the minority? While it's true that successful subpoenas emanating from the minority are rare, there are several informative examples, also from the House Oversight Committee, in which chairs have issued subpoenas proposed by minorities of both parties and those subpoena recipients have fully complied. In 2009, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), then the committee's top Republican, was investigating allegations that Countrywide provided favorable loans to government officials through its 'VIP Program.' When it was reported that the committee's chairman, former Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), had received two Countrywide loans, Issa pressed to subpoena Bank of America, which had since acquired Countrywide. Towns agreed to sign the subpoena after two Democrats publicly indicated their support, and the committee obtained a wide range of documents. Five years earlier, when former Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) was the top Democrat, Republicans were investigating how the United Nations had mismanaged Iraqi oil proceeds. Soon after the Iraq war, the Bush administration had taken over this function, and similar allegations of mismanagement began to arise. At a hearing chaired by former Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), Waxman moved to subpoena the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which had information about the administration's actions, and Waxman had the numbers on that day to win the vote. Seeing the writing on the wall (and being a supporter of the Iraqi people), Shays agreed to issue the subpoena, and the committee obtained the documents. In both cases, the chairs signed and served these minority subpoenas without votes being necessary, and the subpoena recipients recognized they were bound to produce the documents. Despite their previous promises of full transparency relating to the Epstein file, it is possible that President Trump could assert executive privilege, or that Bondi could use other dilatory tactics to keep this information from Congress and the public. Although they could try to challenge Congress's legislative purpose, it appears to be valid, since the subcommittee is investigating the international trafficking and exploitation of minors. In addition, in this case, instead of a chairman issuing the subpoena unilaterally, the subcommittee went on the record with a vote that turned out to be a bipartisan rout. This might foreshadow the reaction Bondi could face if she defies the subpoena, including a slew of new motions and a steady stream of uncomfortable votes for Republicans. The bottom line is that the subcommittee's debate, its consideration of motions from members on both sides and its overwhelming approval of the subpoena are no less valid because the motion was offered by a member of the minority party. The subpoena has been duly authorized. House rules require Comer to serve it, and Bondi must produce the entire Epstein file to Congress.
