A federal judge ruled Friday that the Justice Department may unseal and release transcripts from the original criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, citing a new federal law that overrides traditional grand jury secrecy rules.
The Florida grand jury’s inquiry, conducted nearly two decades ago, resulted in Epstein receiving a controversial plea agreement that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution and instead plead guilty to a state charge of soliciting underage girls for sex. He served a one-year work-release sentence.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith, a Trump appointee who had previously blocked the release of the grand jury materials, said Friday that the recently enacted Epstein Files Transparency Act — passed by Congress and signed by President Trump last month — now requires the disclosures.
“The act applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials that relate to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Consequently, the later-enacted and specific language of the Act trumps Rule 6’s prohibition on disclosure,” the judge wrote.
The new law mandates the release of records as long as doing so does not infringe on “personal privacy,” and it bars the disclosure of any material involving sexual or physical abuse, the Washington Times reported.
It also directs the Justice Department not to withhold documents on the basis of political sensitivity or the potential embarrassment of public officials.
Some records from the earlier Florida state grand jury proceedings have already been made public, the Times noted.
The larger set of records drawing significant attention comes from a separate case — the federal prosecution of Epstein in New York in 2019 on sex-trafficking charges. Epstein died by suicide that summer, ending the case against him, but a subsequent prosecution of his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, resulted in her conviction on sex-trafficking offenses, the outlet added.
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The Justice Department is seeking to unseal the grand jury materials from the 2019 case, and U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, who is overseeing the matter, has asked victims and witnesses to submit their views on potential disclosure.
Responses have been mixed so far, per the Times.
An attorney for Annie Farmer, one of Epstein’s victims, said she supports releasing the grand jury transcripts and any other Justice Department documents that can be made public.
Other victims, however, have expressed concern that unsealing the materials could risk revealing their identities or otherwise compromise their privacy, the report said.
Other attorneys also challenged the Justice Department’s reading of the new law, arguing that it does not apply to grand jury transcripts or evidence generated during grand jury proceedings, the Times noted.
“If Congress intended grand jury and discovery materials to be disclosed pursuant to the Act, why didn’t they include those terms in the language of the act?” wrote Avrom Robin, a lawyer for a man identified only as John Doe, a potential witness.
Neil S. Binder, an attorney representing additional victims or witnesses — whose identities were redacted in his filing — also urged the court to maintain confidentiality and keep the grand jury materials sealed, the Times reported.
“The government has not — and cannot — meet its high burden to show why unsealing grand jury materials is merited, particularly grand jury materials that mention innocent third parties who are still living and who were not the subject of any charges in relation to this case,” he wrote in a court filing.
The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday released a new collection of never-before-seen photos and documents from Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, revealing disturbing new details about the environment where the convicted sex offender is alleged to have trafficked and abused underage girls for years while entertaining powerful guests.
The cache, made public under the new disclosure law, includes images taken during the FBI’s 2019 raids of Epstein’s Little St. James estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Among the most startling images is a photograph of a private dental suite located in one of the island’s main buildings.
