A federal judge in New York says transcripts of the secret grand jury testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell should not be released. The judge suggested Monday the Justice Department's real motive for wanting the transcripts unsealed was to fool the public with an "illusion" of transparency. The Justice Department hasn't commented. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison term after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping procure girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. Maxwell recently was interviewed by the Justice Department and was moved from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Epstein died in jail awaiting trial.

Under intense pressure from President Donald Trump's own supporters, his administration now says it will push a court to unseal secret documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's case. It's an effort to put to rest for good a political crisis largely of the administration's own making. But even if those records eventually become public, it's far from certain they will appease critics enraged over the administration's unfulfilled promises of full transparency about the evidence against the wealthy financier. Meanwhile, the administration remains dogged by questions about its refusal to release other records in its possession.

Attorney General Pam Bondi's comments about evidence the Justice Department is reviewing from its Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation have fueled anticipation about the expected release of more files related to the New York financier. But weeks after Bondi's claim about "tens of thousands" of Epstein videos, it's unclear what she was referring to. The Associated Press spoke with lawyers and law enforcement officials in criminal cases of Epstein and ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell who said they hadn't seen and didn't know of recordings like what Bondi described. One of Maxwell's lawyers says salacious videos of Epstein with children never surfaced. The department has declined AP requests to speak with officials overseeing the Epstein review.