Justice Department asks court to unseal Epstein grand jury records to contain firestorm [View all]
Last edited Fri Jul 18, 2025, 06:32 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: AP
Updated 6:21 PM EDT, July 18, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal court on Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s case at the direction of President Donald Trump amid a firestorm over the administration’s handling of records related to the wealthy financier.
The move — coming a day after a Wall Street Journal story put a spotlight on Trump’s relationship with Epstein — seeks to contain a growing controversy that has engulfed the administration since it announced that it would not be releasing more government files from Epstein’s sex trafficking case.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed motions urging the court to unseal the Epstein transcripts as well as those in the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Epstein killed himself in 2019 shortly after his arrest while awaiting trial.
The Justice Department’s announcement that it would not be making public any more Epstein files enraged parts of Trump’s base in part because members of his own administration had hyped the expected release and stoked conspiracies around the well-connected financier.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury-justice-department-ece8a837f9bd179771f801a765e242e4
Just breaking.
Article updated.
Original article/headline -
Updated 5:35 PM EDT, July 18, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department asked a federal court on Friday to unseal grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s case amid a firestorm over the Trump administration’s handling of records related to the wealthy financier.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche filed a motion urging the court to release the transcripts a day after President Donald Trump directed the Justice Department to do so.
The Trump administration has been embroiled in controversy since the Justice Department last week announced that it would not be releasing any more evidence in its possession from Epstein’s investigation.
Trump’s demand to release the grand jury transcripts came after The Wall Street Journal reported on a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper says bore Trump’s name and was included in a 2003 album for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
= new reply since forum marked as read