The U.S. Justice Department has intensified its handling of records tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein after weeks of political pressure from President Donald Trump’s supporters. On 18 July, prosecutors asked a Manhattan federal court for permission to unseal historic grand-jury transcripts, shortly after Trump publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to provide “any and all” relevant testimony. The department said the files were a matter of overriding public interest. That bid was blocked on 23 July when U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg in West Palm Beach ruled that Eleventh Circuit precedent bars disclosure of Florida grand-jury material outside the narrow exceptions in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e). Rosenberg also refused to transfer the petition to New York, noting the government itself conceded the legal obstacle. With the transcripts sealed, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche travelled to Tallahassee on 24 July to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s long-time associate who is serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking. Maxwell “answered every single question,” her lawyer David Oscar Markus said, and Blanche indicated the discussions would continue the following day. Separately, the Justice Department told a federal court that it and the FBI are still searching and reviewing roughly 100,000 pages of Epstein-related material for possible release in a Freedom-of-Information lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch. Congressional Republicans have subpoenaed the department and signalled plans for September hearings, keeping political scrutiny on the pace and scope of any future disclosures.