DOJ can unseal Epstein 2019 sex trafficking case files, rules US court

NEW YORK, Dec 10: A US judge has ruled that secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public, granting the Justice Department’s request to unseal the material.
US District Judge Richard M. Berman reversed his earlier decision to keep the files sealed, citing the recently passed Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates the disclosure of records related to Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell by December 19.
The judge noted that the roughly 70 pages of grand jury material are “hardly revelatory.”
Previously, judges in Manhattan and Florida had ordered the release of records from Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking trial and an abandoned Epstein federal grand jury investigation from the 2000s, respectively.
The Justice Department sought the unsealing following the new law, which creates a narrow exception to typical grand jury confidentiality rules.
Berman also highlighted that the only witness who testified before Epstein’s grand jury was an FBI agent with no direct knowledge of the case, providing mostly hearsay over two days in June and July 2019.
The remainder of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow and a call log.
Certain portions, including the July 2 session in which grand jurors voted to indict Epstein, will remain sealed.
Epstein, a wealthy financier linked to prominent figures across politics, business, and academia, died by suicide in jail a month after his 2019 arrest.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking for recruiting some of Epstein’s underage victims and participating in abuse; she is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
The unsealing of these records comes amid continued public interest and scrutiny over the government’s handling of Epstein-related investigations. (AP)