Epstein grand jury transcripts 'a distraction'
Attorney Sarah Krissoff, an assistant US attorney in Manhattan 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.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the request on Friday, US time, asking judges to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and Maxwell.
Blanche said "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 it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising it would.
US President Donald Trump faces increased scrutiny about his relationship with Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex offender who died by suicide in a New York jail cell in 2019.
The Epstein case has generated conspiracy theories that became popular among Trump's base of supporters who believed the government was covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful.
Some of Trump's most loyal followers became furious after his administration reversed course on its promise to release files related to the Epstein investigation.
Meanwhile, Trump is suing the Wall Street Journal and its owners, including Rupert Murdoch, after the newspaper reported that he in 2003 sent Epstein a birthday greeting that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in his federal jail cell in 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, while Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed after her 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 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."
Both ex-prosecutors said grand jury witnesses in Manhattan are usually federal agents summarising their witness interviews.
Krissoff predicted that judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases will reject the government's request.
"This is not a 50-, 60-, 80-year-old case," Krissoff noted. "There's still someone in custody."
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.
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.
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