DOJ asks judges to authorize release of Epstein and Maxwell grand jury material
(WASHINGTON) — Facing a 30-day deadline to release the Epstein files, the Department of Justice has asked two judges in the Southern District of New York to authorize the release of grand jury transcripts and exhibits from the prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton – whom Attorney General Pam Bondi tapped to lead an investigation into prominent Democrats associated with Epstein – signed a motion asking the judges who oversaw the Epstein and Maxwell cases to approve the release of the grand jury materials, subject to the necessary redactions.
“In the light of the Act’s clear mandate, the Court should authorize the Department of Justice to release the grand jury transcripts and exhibits and modify any preexisting protective orders that would otherwise prevent public disclosure by the Government of materials the disclosure of which is required by the Act,” the motions said, referring to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, recently signed into law by President Trump.
While the motion noted that the law allows redactions to seal materials that “would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution,” the filings did not mention the recently initiated investigation into Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, and Reid Hoffman ordered by Trump.
Citing the 30-day deadline, the Department of Justice requested an expedited ruling on the motion and said it would “work with the relevant United States Attorney’s Offices to make appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information.”
The Department of Justice unsuccessfully sought approval to unseal the grand jury records in August, with both judges concluding that the government did not demonstrate a legal basis to release the materials. In one decision, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman sharply criticized the DOJ for asking the court to get involved when the government already had the relevant files in their possession.
“The instant grand jury motion appears to be a ‘diversion’ from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government’s possession. The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct,” he wrote.
“The Government’s complete information trove would better inform the public about the Epstein case,” he added.
(NEW YORK) — Hurricane Gabrielle, which has now rapidly intensified into a major Category 4 storm, is the second major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Gabrielle, currently located southeast of Bermuda, now has maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.
Gabrielle is also the second tropical system to undergo rapid intensification this year.
On average, the second major hurricane forms around Sept. 19, meaning Gabrielle’s status aligns with what is typically expected during the Atlantic hurricane season.
As the system continues to track over warm waters and favorable atmospheric conditions, Gabrielle could strengthen even more on Monday before it begins to weaken by Wednesday.
There are currently not any tropical alerts for Bermuda as the storm is expected to pass to the east, keeping rain and wind away from the island.
As the storm passes east of Bermuda, Gabrielle will produce large swells and rip currents along the island through early this week.
The storm could also bring rip currents to the East Coast on Monday, with a high risk from the Jersey Shore to the Carolinas, along with parts of Florida’s East Coast.
The hurricane will push northeast and back out to the central Atlantic in the coming days and will weaken in the process. The storm could sweep along or north of the Azores — a group of islands west of Portugal — on Thursday night and Friday.
As of Monday, Gabrielle does not pose a threat to the United States.
ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke and Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.
Officials in Philadelphia are searching for Kada Scott, a 23 year old woman who has been missing for nearly a week. Philadelphia Police Department
(PHILADELPHIA) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a 23-year-old nursing assistant in Philadelphia who was allegedly harassed by an unknown individual before she went missing. However, the search continues for the missing woman, Philadelphia police said.
Kada Scott was last seen by her mother on Oct. 4 when she was leaving for work at a nearby nursing home, police said last week. On Wednesday, police said Keon King, 21, has been charged with kidnapping “for his involvement” in the disappearance of Scott.
While King is in custody in connection with Scott’s disappearance, officials said “a lot of work” is still to be done in the investigation, and they are “still treating this as if Ms. Scott is still alive.”
“The No. 1 priority is locating Ms. Scott,” John M. Stanford, the first deputy commissioner for field operations at the Philadelphia Police Department, said on Wednesday.
Scott arrived at work on Oct. 4, but left prior to her shift’s completion, and has not been seen since, Philadelphia police Capt. John Craig said during a press conference last week. It was not clear what time Scott left work, but officials said her shift typically was from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Scott was reported missing to police on Oct. 5, with law enforcement saying they had “some concern, more so than usual” regarding her disappearance due to worrying phone calls she was receiving.
“In the days leading up to her disappearance, Ms. Scott related to her family and friends that an unknown individual or person had been harassing her via phone,” Craig said last week.
Officials were able to recover Scott’s vehicle, which was located in the parking lot of the nursing home where she worked, Craig said.
On Wednesday, officials said evidence shows Scott was “in communication with an individual” — identified as King — and that she appeared to meet with him “very shortly after” she left work on Oct. 4.
“Mr. King is the last person we believe to be in contact with her when she went offline,” Ashley Kozlowski, the Philadelphia assistant district attorney, said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Police were previously asking the public’s help in locating the suspect’s vehicle, a 1999 metallic-gold Toyota Camry with a Pennsylvania license plate of MSX-0797, which they believe Scott may have been in. Later on Wednesday, police confirmed to ABC News that King’s vehicle was found in an apartment lot.
Officials said they received two tips, the first led them to an elementary school where they recovered evidence “of value,” and the second that led them to the vehicle connected to Scott’s disappearance.
Officials on Wednesday said the car has “front-end damage on the left front bumper” and that it “could be anywhere.”
King has a “little bit of a pattern of this type of history,” as he was involved in a case earlier this year where he was accused of kidnapping and strangling a “female acquaintance,” officials said. The case was dismissed after a witness failed to appear in court, but Kozlowski said on Wednesday they “made the decision to refile those charges.”
On Tuesday, police told ABC News the investigation was being led by the Homicide Unit, but said they were not characterizing it as a homicide investigation.
The 23-year-old’s father, Kevin Scott, told ABC News the family remains confident “she’s gonna be with us as soon as possible.”
“It’s been difficult, extremely difficult. We keep faith that she’s OK and she’s going to be with us as soon as possible, she’s going to be found and hopefully no harm is done to her. I’m going to keep that positive vibe going,” Kevin Scott told ABC News.
King was arraigned on Thursday and is being held on $2.5 million bail, the Philadelphia district attorney told ABC News.
ABC News’ Tommy Foster, Sabina Ghebremedhin, Deena Zaru and Tesfaye Negussie contributed to this report.
Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(VIRGINIA) — A Virginia jury found that an assistant principal acted with gross negligence when a then-6-year-old student shot his first grade teacher in a lawsuit filed over the 2023 shooting.
The jury awarded the teacher, Abby Zwerner, $10 million in damages, with award interest beginning on June 1, 2024.
The verdict comes after the jury began deliberations Wednesday afternoon in the high-profile civil case.
Zwerner was shot in January 2023 in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. Her complaint alleged the school’s assistant principal at the time, Ebony Parker, failed to act after being informed multiple times that her student had a firearm on the day of the incident and did not let staff search him prior to the shooting.
Parker did not react as the verdict was read in court on Thursday.
Zwerner’s attorneys said they are “very happy with the outcome.”
“I remember just three years ago, almost to this day, hearing for the first time Abby’s story and thinking that this could have been prevented,” one of the attorneys, Diane Toscano, told reporters outside the courthouse in Newport News. “So now to hear from a jury of her peers that they agree that this tragedy could have been prevented.”
When asked about the payment of the damages, one of Zwerner’s attorneys noted Parker is insured under an insurance policy for the Newport News School Board, but noted there are pending post-trial motions.
The civil complaint, which was seeking $40 million in damages, alleged Parker acted with gross negligence and in “reckless disregard” for Zwerner’s safety and claimed Zwerner continues to suffer pain and emotional distress over the shooting.
The bullet went through Zwerner’s left hand, which she had lifted, and then into her chest, where it remains. She was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
“Those choices that she made to treat Jan. 6, 2023, like any other day, even though a gun should change everything, is why we’re here,” Zwerner’s attorney, Kevin Biniazan, said during closing arguments on Wednesday.
Biniazan argued there were multiple opportunities for Parker to investigate and take immediate action after several school workers “sounded the alarm” about a possible gun in the school. He said the defense will attempt to play the “blame game” and point the finger at others on staff, but each of them had a “piece of the puzzle” while Parker “had the entire puzzle.”
“A gun changes everything. You stop and you investigate,” he said. “You get to the bottom of it to know whether that gun is real and on campus so you can deal with it. But that’s not what happened.”
On the millions in damages sought, Biniazan asked the jurors, “What number do you arrive at for somebody who didn’t want this and it’s been inserted into her life like a bullet fragment against her spine?”
During the defense’s closing arguments, an attorney for Parker said the case is about “real-time judgments, not hindsight judgments,” and the low likelihood that a 6-year-old boy would have a firearm that day and shoot his teacher.
“It was a tragedy that, until that day, was unprecedented, it was unthinkable and it was unforeseeable, and I ask that you please not compound that tragedy by blaming Dr. Parker for it,” the defense attorney, Sandra Douglas, said.
Zwerner testified during the trial, which began in late October, recounting the moment she was shot.
“I thought I had died,” she recalled on the stand. “I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven. But then it all got black and so I then thought I wasn’t going there.”
“My next memory is, I see two co-workers around me, and I process that I’m hurt, and they’re putting pressure on where I’m hurt,” she continued.
Parker did not testify during the trial.
Three other defendants initially listed in Zwerner’s complaint — two school administrators and the Newport News School Board — were dismissed from the lawsuit ahead of the civil trial.
Zwerner and Parker both resigned following the shooting. Zwerner said she has since completed a cosmetology program but has not yet started working as her hand heals following her most recent surgery.
Parker has also been charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life in connection with the shooting — one count for each bullet that was in the gun, according to the Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. A trial on the criminal charges is scheduled to start this month.
The student brought the gun from home, police said. His mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in state prison for child neglect in connection with the shooting, which she is currently serving. Taylor was also sentenced to 21 months in prison on federal firearm and drug charges, which she has since served.
