Florida Judge orders unsealing of grand jury transcripts from abandoned Jeffrey Epstein investigation
Under th Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors have to release by December 19 the vast troves of material they’ve amassed during investigations into Epstein.
US District Judge Rodney Smith said in his order Friday that a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury.
The law known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, was signed last month by Trump, compels the Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors to release by December 19 the vast troves of material they’ve amassed during investigations into Epstein.
The Justice Department has requested the unsealing of documents from three separate Epstein-related cases:
The 2006-2007 Florida grand jury investigation into Epstein
The Florida request was approved on Friday, and the New York requests are pending with the Justice Department facing a Monday deadline to make its final filing in a response to submissions by victims, Epstein’s estate and Maxwell’s lawyers.
Story continues below this ad
The judges in those matters have said they plan to rule expeditiously.
The government had asked the court for permission to include the usually secret grand jury records in the files they are required to make public under the new federal law.
The legislation requires the Justice Department to make the documents public in a searchable and downloadable format within 30 days of Trump signing it into law.
Share
Gary Rush, College Park, MD, holds a sign before a news conference on the Epstein files in front of the Capitol, Nov 18, in Washington. (AP Photo) 
