US judge grants permission to release Epstein grand jury records

NEW YORK, United States (MNTV) – US Federal Judge Richard M. Berman has ruled that secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex-trafficking case may be released to the public, making him the third judge to approve the Justice Department’s request to unseal files tied to the late financier’s abuse investigations.

Berman reversed a previous decision to keep the materials sealed, citing a new federal law requiring the government to disclose Epstein- and Ghislaine Maxwell-related documents. He cautioned, however, that the roughly 70 pages of grand jury material are “merely a hearsay snippet” of Epstein’s conduct.

His ruling follows earlier decisions by judges in Manhattan and Florida ordering the release of records from Maxwell’s 2021 trial and a separate abandoned grand jury inquiry from the 2000s.

The Justice Department sought the unsealing after the Epstein Files Transparency Act — passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last month — created an exception to standard grand jury secrecy rules. The law mandates release of Epstein-related records by Dec. 19.

Lawyers for Epstein’s estate told the court they did not oppose the request.

Epstein’s files have been a dominant political issue during Trump’s second term, especially after he backtracked on a campaign promise to fully release them, providing only documents that were largely already public.

In his ruling, Berman emphasized that the transparency law “unequivocally intends to make public Epstein grand jury materials and discovery materials” previously subject to secrecy orders, adding that the statute “supersedes” those protections. He urged the Justice Department to strictly follow privacy safeguards to ensure that victims’ names and identifying details are redacted.

The sole witness before the 2019 grand jury was an FBI agent with no direct knowledge of the abuse, whose testimony consisted largely of hearsay, according to Berman. The grand jury presentation also included a PowerPoint and a call log. The panel voted to indict Epstein on July 2, 2019.

Epstein, a wealthy financier with ties to prominent figures in politics, academia, and business, died by suicide in jail one month after his arrest. Maxwell, convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking, is serving a 20-year sentence. Her lawyers argued last week that unsealing additional records could hinder a forthcoming habeas petition, though the Supreme Court declined her appeal in October.