A US federal judge in Florida ordered the Justice Department to release the grand jury transcript in its investigation into the sex trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
The order on Friday comes after US President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring all government records regarding Epstein to be made public.
Grand jury proceedings are generally kept confidential, and a previous appeal to disclose the transcripts was rejected.
However, U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said in a brief order Friday that the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates his release.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act calls for the release within 30 days of “all declassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the possession of the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the U.S. attorneys’ offices related to Epstein and Maxwell.
The Justice Department is seeking to release documents from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case in New York, as well as Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case.
Epstein files in the spotlight
The Epstein scandal has returned to the spotlight and posed a major challenge for Trump in recent months, partly because of his own role in amplifying Epstein conspiracy theories among his base ahead of his 2024 victory.
Trump, who had an affair with Epstein but says he ended his friendship with him long before the financier’s arrest in 2019, had opposed releasing the transcripts for months, but reversed his stance shortly before the US Congress was to vote on the bill, after which he signed the bill on November 19.
Recently, Trump has changed his position and claimed that the Epstein files are a Democratic fabrication designed to divert attention from the accomplishments of his administration.
Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting the prostitution of a minor in Florida in 2008. The wealthy financier was arrested again in New York in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking of minors.
Later that year, Epstein died while in pre-trial detention. His death was ruled a suicide
Edited by: Zack Crellin