Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis is named in newly released Justice Department records tied to Jeffrey Epstein, inserting City Hall into one of the most scrutinized document troves in recent memory. The reference appears in a 2011 FBI memo that, according to reviewers, alleges Trantalis used his official position to obtain sensitive information from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and records a phone number later verified as his. Reviewers also say the pages they examined do not show Trantalis communicating with Epstein. For now, the mention is a local footnote in a vast national archive that reporters and lawmakers are still trying to untangle.
The Justice Department rolled out the latest batch of Epstein-related materials in late January, releasing more than three million pages along with videos and images. The scale of the production has fueled a fresh wave of national coverage and scrutiny, with CBS News detailing the size of the release and outlets such as Business Insider warning that simply appearing in the files is not, by itself, proof of wrongdoing. Across South Florida, local newsrooms have been combing through the material for names and incidents with hometown relevance.
What the local documents show
According to SFL Media, the Fort Lauderdale angle comes from an FBI memo generated by the Miami field office and dated May 16, 2011. The memo records an allegation that Trantalis used his position to obtain sensitive information from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. It also notes that a phone number later confirmed as belonging to Trantalis was captured in a separate case file.
SFL Media reports that the excerpted document does not contain charging language or arrest records, and that its review did not uncover evidence of direct communication between Trantalis and Epstein. In other words, the item functions as an investigative notation within the files, not a formal criminal accusation.
Where this fits into Trantalis’ public record
Trantalis has been a prominent figure in Fort Lauderdale politics for years, and his name has surfaced in high-profile headlines before. In November 2025 he was listed as the victim in a widely covered domestic battery case, in which an alleged attack by an ex-partner led to an arrest and court proceedings. Coverage of that episode and its court filings appeared in outlets republishing local reporting, including Yahoo…