The Justice Department on Friday asked a federal court to publicly release grand-jury transcripts from the sex-trafficking cases of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Green Eyeshade Award, with competitors drawing from the southeastern United States, honors The Palm Beach Post for crime, courts, law reporting.

Trump has tried to damp down speculation, fanned mainly by Democrats, that the withheld files contain evidence of a deep connection between Trump and Epstein. Trump has reacted with outrage and disdain, even at members of his political base who have pressed for the files to be released.

This is the extraordinary—and moving—true story of how two teenage girls set off events which have engulfed Trump and hundreds of others.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that some of the decisions to lift grand jury seals on the Jeffrey Epstein files were "out of the president's control." She added that Trump "agrees" with leaders on Capitol Hill that "credible evidence" should be provided to the American people.