A federal judge in Florida has rejected a request by the Trump administration to release grand jury transcripts tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
The ruling does not impact two other ongoing Justice Department requests for transcripts from grand jury proceedings tied to later federal investigations of Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in New York, both of which resulted in separate criminal indictments.
Judge Robin L. Rosenberg swiftly denied the motion, but ordered the creation of a new case to address the government’s request, while formally closing the Florida case originating from the Epstein investigation. The motion had been filed last week by the Justice Department seeking to unseal the grand jury materials and transfer the case to New York, where Epstein was indicted in 2019 following a separate grand jury investigation. The DOJ cited “extensive public interest” and the need for “transparency to the American public.”
In her ruling, Rosenberg said the court’s “hands are tied,” noting that the government had not demonstrated that the records were needed for a judicial proceeding—one of the few exceptions that allows for unsealing grand jury testimony.
Sources: The New York Times / CNBC
