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A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that secret grand jury records from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public. This decision, made by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, joins similar rulings from two other judges in a nationwide push to release files related to the late financier’s sexual abuse investigations.
The Decision to Release
Judge Berman reversed an earlier choice to keep the grand jury material sealed. He cited the new Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last month. This law requires the government to open its files on Epstein and his former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, creating a rare exception to the rules that usually keep grand jury proceedings confidential.
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The Justice Department asked judges across the country to unseal the records shortly after the new law was enacted.
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The law mandates that the Department of Justice (DOJ) disclose these Epstein-related documents by December 19.
Judge Berman noted that the law “unequivocally intends to make public Epstein grand jury materials.”
What the Files Contain
The judge previously cautioned that the 70 or so pages of grand jury materials are not expected to be highly revealing, describing them as “merely a hearsay snippet” of Epstein’s conduct.
The DOJ informed the court that the only witness to testify before the 2019 grand jury was an FBI agent who had no direct, personal knowledge of the case’s facts. The rest of the presentation included a PowerPoint slideshow and a call log. The grand jurors voted to indict Epstein on July 2, 2019.
Other Unsealed Records
This ruling follows two other major unsealing decisions:
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Maxwell’s Case: On Tuesday, another Manhattan federal judge ordered the release of records from Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case.
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Florida Investigation: Last week, a Florida judge approved the unsealing of transcripts from an older, abandoned federal grand jury investigation into Epstein from the 2000s.
Protecting Victims is ‘Paramount’
In his ruling, Judge Berman strongly urged the Justice Department to strictly follow the new law’s privacy rules. This is to ensure that the names and identifying information of any victims are redacted, or blacked out, before the documents are released to the public. The judge stressed that victim safety and privacy “are paramount.”
Epstein, a millionaire money manager, was arrested in 2019 but died by suicide in jail one month later. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 for her role in sex trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
