Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say

Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say
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Updated 21 July 2025
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Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say

Request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts likely to disappoint, ex-prosecutors say

NEW YORK: A Justice Department request to unseal grand jury transcripts in the prosecution of chronic sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend is unlikely to produce much, if anything, to satisfy the public’s appetite for new revelations about the financier’s crimes, former federal prosecutors say.

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 in a weekend interview.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche made the request Friday, asking judges to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings that resulted in indictments against Epstein and Maxwell, saying “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 that it would not be releasing additional files from the Epstein probe despite previously promising that it would.

Epstein is dead while Maxwell serves a 20-year prison sentence

Epstein killed himself at age 66 in his federal jail cell in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, while Maxwell, 63, is serving a 20-year prison sentence imposed after her December 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 Southern District 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.”

Ex-prosecutors say grand jury transcript unlikely to be long

Both ex-prosecutors said that grand jury witnesses in Manhattan are usually federal agents summarizing their witness interviews.

That practice might conflict with the public perception of some state and federal grand jury proceedings, where witnesses likely to testify at a trial are brought before grand juries during lengthy proceedings prior to indictments or when grand juries are used as an investigatory tool.

In Manhattan, federal prosecutors “are trying to get a particular result so they present the case very narrowly and inform the grand jury what they want them to do,” Krissoff said.

Krissoff predicted that judges who presided over the Epstein and Maxwell cases will reject the government’s request.

With Maxwell, a petition is before the US Supreme Court so appeals have not been exhausted. With Epstein, the charges are related to the Maxwell case and the anonymity of scores of victims who have not gone public is at stake, although Blanche requested that victim identities be protected.

“This is not a 50-, 60-, 80-year-old case,” Krissoff noted. “There’s still someone in custody.”

Appeals court’s 1997 ruling might matter

She said citing “public intrigue, interest and excitement” about a case was likely not enough to convince a judge to release the transcripts despite a 1997 ruling by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals that said judges have wide discretion and that public interest alone can justify releasing grand jury information.

Krissoff called it “mind-blowingly strange” that Washington Justice Department officials are increasingly directly filing requests and arguments in the Southern District of New York, where the prosecutor’s office has long been labeled the “Sovereign District of New York” for its independence from outside influence.

“To have the attorney general and deputy attorney general meddling in an SDNY case is unheard of,” she said.

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.

Tradition of grand jury secrecy might block release of transcripts

Bader said she didn’t see the government’s quest aimed at satisfying the public’s desire to explore conspiracy theories “trumping — pardon the pun — the well-established notions of protecting the secrecy of the grand jury process.”

“I’m sure that all the line prosecutors who really sort of appreciate the secrecy and special relationship they have with the grand jury are not happy that DOJ is asking the court to release these transcripts,” she added.

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.

He said it was not surprising that some former prosecutors are alarmed that the request to unseal the grand jury materials came two days after the firing of Manhattan Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey, who worked on the Epstein and Maxwell cases.

“If federal prosecutors have to worry about the professional consequences of refusing to go along with the political or personal agenda of powerful people, then we are in a very different place than I’ve understood the federal Department of Justice to be in over the last 30 years of my career,” he said.

Krissoff said the uncertain environment that has current prosecutors feeling unsettled is shared by government employees she speaks with at other agencies as part of her work in private practice.

“The thing I hear most often is this is a strange time. Things aren’t working the way we’re used to them working,” she said.


Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
Updated 41 sec ago
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Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’

Indian police arrest man running ‘fake embassy’
  • Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations ‘like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia’
  • The suspect allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders

NEW DELHI: Police in India have arrested a man accused of running a fake embassy from a rented house near New Delhi and duping job seekers out of money with promises of overseas employment.

Harsh Vardhan Jain, 47, was operating an “illegal West Arctic embassy by renting a house” in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which neigbhours the capital, local police said.

Jain, according to police, claimed to be the ambassador of fictional nations “like West Arctica, Saborga, Poulvia, Lodonia.”

He allegedly used vehicles with fake diplomatic plates and shared doctored photos of himself with Indian leaders to bolster his claims.

“His main activities involved acting as a broker to secure work in foreign countries for companies and private individuals, as well as operating a hawala (money transfer) racket through shell companies,” the police said in a statement following his arrest earlier this week.

He is also accused of money laundering.

During a raid on Jain’s property, police said they recovered $53,500 in cash in addition to doctored passports and forged documents bearing stamps of India’s foreign ministry.

AFP was unable to reach Jain or his representatives for comment.

Westarctica, cited by the police as one of the countries Jain claimed to be representing, is a US-registered nonprofit “dedicated to studying and preserving this vast, magnificent, desolate region” of Western Antarctica.

In a statement, it said it had appointed Jain as its “Honorary Consul to India” after he had made a “generous donation.”

“He was never granted the position or authority of ambassador,” it added.


Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion
Updated 26 July 2025
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Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

Anti-terror police probing Greek building explosion

A strong blast early Saturday damaged an apartment building in a suburb of Greece’s second city Thessaloniki, wounding two passersby and shattering windows of nearby buildings.

Six cars were also damaged in the explosion in the suburb of Sikies and anti-terror police were probing the incident, public broadcaster ERT said.

The blast damaged the ground floor of the building leaving gaping holes in the wall. The head of a prison officers’ union lives in the building, according to police.

A young man and woman who were passing at the time of the blast were injured by shards of glass, police sources told AFP.

In May, a woman involved in robberies died after an explosion in front of a bank in Thessaloniki.

The 38-year-old was linked to a jailed bank robber, accused among other things of terrorist acts as he had sent a parcel bomb to the Thessaloniki appeals court in February last year.


Colombia protests Ecuador’s unilateral deportation of prisoners

Colombia protests Ecuador’s unilateral deportation of prisoners
Updated 26 July 2025
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Colombia protests Ecuador’s unilateral deportation of prisoners

Colombia protests Ecuador’s unilateral deportation of prisoners
  • Colombia’s foreign ministry said the Ecuadoran government had ‘unilaterally’ initiated a ‘deportation process’ for Colombian nationals
  • Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa announced in 2024 his intention to deport Colombian inmates to ease overcrowding in the country’s prisons

BOGOTA: Bogota lodged a protest with Ecuador on Friday for deporting a group of Colombian inmates without prior agreement, in what it called a violation of international law and an “unfriendly gesture” by its neighbor.

In a statement, Colombia’s foreign ministry said the Ecuadoran government had “unilaterally” initiated a “deportation process” for Colombian nationals, disregarding “respectful and repeated” requests to first establish a formal protocol.

“Colombia, using diplomatic channels, has expressed its strongest protest to the Government of Ecuador for this unfriendly gesture toward our country,” the statement added.

The ministry did not specify how many prisoners were sent back to Colombia, but denounced that under such conditions, their dignified treatment and the “protection of their rights” could not be guaranteed.

Earlier this week, local media reported that Ecuador planned to expel around 800 Colombians.

Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa announced in 2024 his intention to deport Colombian inmates to ease overcrowding in the country’s prisons. In April, small groups began being transferred to the border.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro opposed the move, saying that a joint plan was needed to safeguard the prisoners’ rights.

The mayor of the border town of Ipiales, Amilcar Pantoja, told the media on Friday that prisoners without pending legal cases in Colombia would be released.

Drug trafficking gangs operating in Ecuador – some involving Colombian criminals – have turned the country into one of the most violent in Latin America.

The homicide rate has jumped from six per 100,000 people in 2018 to 38 in 2024, among the highest in the region.


Taiwan votes to decide whether to oust lawmakers from China-friendly party in closely watched poll

Taiwan votes to decide whether to oust lawmakers from China-friendly party in closely watched poll
Updated 26 July 2025
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Taiwan votes to decide whether to oust lawmakers from China-friendly party in closely watched poll

Taiwan votes to decide whether to oust lawmakers from China-friendly party in closely watched poll
  • The independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party won last year’s presidential election
  • But the China-friendly Nationalists and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party have enough seats to form a majority bloc

TAIPEI: Taiwanese were voting Saturday to determine whether to oust about one-fifth of their lawmakers, all from the opposition Nationalist Party, in elections that could potentially reshape the power balance in the self-ruled island’s legislature.

The independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party won last year’s presidential election, but the China-friendly Nationalists, also known as the KMT, and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party have enough seats to form a majority bloc.

Those who support removing the 24 lawmakers are angry that the KMT and its allies have blocked key legislation, especially the defense budget, and passed controversial changes that are seen as diminishing the power of the executive and favoring China, which considers the island its own territory.

The opposition parties’ actions sparked concerns among some Taiwanese about the island’s democratic integrity and its ability to deter Chinese military threats, leading to the recall campaigns. The scale of the recall elections is unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23.

But the KMT alleged the ruling party was resorting to political retaliation after it lost the legislative majority, saying the recalls were undermining and challenging Taiwan’s democratic system.

The KMT holds 52 seats, while the ruling DPP holds 51 seats. For the DPP to secure a legislative majority, at least six KMT lawmakers would need to be ousted, and the ruling party would need to win all by-elections, which would need to be held within three months following the announcement of results.

For the recall to pass, more than a quarter of eligible voters in the electoral district must vote in favor of the recall, and the total number of supporters must exceed those against.

If KMT loses its seats in the recall elections, the party can file new candidates for the by-elections and may be able to win back the seats.

Outside a Taipei polling station, voters old and young were waiting in line to cast their ballots. The poll will close at 4 p.m. local time, with results expected on Saturday night.

The elections have intensified tensions between those backing the status quo and those favoring improved ties with Beijing. Critics accuse China-friendly politicians of compromising Taiwan and take issue with their meetings with mainland Chinese politicians. But these Taiwanese politicians claim their connections are vital for dialogue given Beijing’s refusal to interact with the DPP.

When asked about the recall election, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in June that since the administration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te came into power, it has sought to achieve “one-party dominance” and practiced “dictatorship” under the guise of “democracy,” state broadcaster CCTV reported. She was quoted as saying that Lai’s government has spared no effort in suppressing opposition parties and those who supported the development of cross-strait relations.

Taiwan’s mainland affairs council said Wednesday that the Chinese authorities and state media had tried to blatantly interfere with the vote.


Two Southwest flight attendants hurt after jet dives to avoid mid-air collision

Two Southwest flight attendants hurt after jet dives to avoid mid-air collision
Updated 26 July 2025
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Two Southwest flight attendants hurt after jet dives to avoid mid-air collision

Two Southwest flight attendants hurt after jet dives to avoid mid-air collision
  • Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet, according to flight tracking websites
  • The incident appeared to be the fourth involving military aircraft since March

WASHINGTON: Two flight attendants on a Southwest Airlines flight departing Burbank, California, were injured on Friday after pilots took evasive action to dodge another aircraft on takeoff, the airline said.

Southwest Flight 1496 sharply descended nearly 500 feet, according to flight tracking websites, marking the second time in a week that a US commercial jet was forced to make abrupt flight maneuvers to avoid a potential mid-air collision.

The incident also appeared to be the fourth involving military aircraft since March.

The airline and the Federal Aviation Administration said the Southwest pilots took action after receiving cockpit alerts of other aircraft traffic being dangerously close. The Southwest Boeing 737 continued on to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully.

Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 identified the other aircraft as a Hawker Hunter fighter jet – British-built aircraft – that crossed in front of the Southwest flight.

The planes came within 7.82km of each other laterally and 107m vertically. The US Air Force and Defense Department did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the military jet’s presence near Burbank.

The FAA was investigating.

Two flight attendants were treated for injuries, the airline said, without providing detail.

No injuries were immediately reported by passengers, according to Southwest. But one passenger told Fox News Digital the sharp descent stirred panic onboard.

“It was terrifying. We really thought we were plummeting to a plane crash,” Caitlin Burdi said in an on-camera interview. After the incident, “the pilot came on (the intercom), and he told us we almost collided with another plane.”

According to a statement from Southwest, the incident began when its crew responded to “two onboard traffic alerts” while taking off from the Hollywood Burbank Airport north of Los Angeles, “requiring them to climb and descend to comply with the alerts.”

Three earlier close calls

In a separate incident one week ago, a SkyWest Airlines jet operating as a Delta Connection flight from Minneapolis reported taking evasive action to avoid a possible collision with a US Air Force bomber during a landing approach over North Dakota on July 18.

The FAA said on Monday it was investigating last Friday’s near-miss incident involving SkyWest Flight 3788, an Embraer ERJ-175 regional jet, which landed safely at Minot, North Dakota.

The Air Force confirmed a B-52 jet bomber assigned to Minot Air Force Base had conducted a ceremonial flyover of the North Dakota State Fair last Friday around the time of the SkyWest incident.

The Air Force said the bomber cockpit crew was in contact with local air traffic control before, during and after the flyover, and that the Minot International Airport control tower “did not advise of the inbound commercial aircraft” as the B-52 was departing the area.

The FAA has said that air traffic services were provided by the Minot air traffic control tower, which is run by a private company and not FAA employees.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating a March 28 close call involving a Delta Airbus A319 jet and a group of Air Force jets near Reagan Washington National Airport. The four Air Force T-38 Talons were heading to nearby Arlington National Cemetery for a flyover at the time.

There has been intense focus on military traffic near civilian airplanes since an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional jet on January 29 near Reagan National, killing 67 people.

In early May, the FAA barred Army helicopter flights around the Pentagon after another near miss.