A federal judge in Florida ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking cases on Friday, citing the recently enacted federal law that overrides traditional secrecy protections.
US district judge Rodney Smith ruled that the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law last month by Donald Trump, overrode federal rules prohibiting the disclosure of grand jury materials.
The Friday ruling approved the justice department’s request to unseal documents from the 2006-2007 federal grand jury investigation into Epstein in Florida. An earlier attempt to release these same transcripts was denied by a different judge earlier this year.
The justice department has sought the unsealing of materials from three separate Epstein-related investigations. With the Florida request now approved, attention turns to the pending New York cases, where the justice department faces a Monday deadline to file responses to submissions from victims, Epstein’s estate and Maxwell’s legal team.
The decision marks the first successful unsealing of Epstein-related grand jury records under the new law. Two additional requests remain pending in New York courts for grand jury transcripts from Epstein’s 2019 sex-trafficking case and Maxwell’s 2021 sex-trafficking prosecution.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act, led by representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie that passed through Congress in November, requires the justice department to release all unclassified records and investigative materials related to Epstein within 30 days of enactment, setting a 19 December deadline.
The House passed the measure 427-1, with only Congressman Clay Higgins of Louisiana voting against it. The Senate then approved it by unanimous consent.
Trump had at first strongly opposed the measure, mocking the fervor around the calls for the release of the files, but reversed course in mid-November when Khanna and Massie had the power to force a vote after collecting enough signatures in their petition, which would have forced individual Republicans to go on the record on protecting a convicted child sex offender. He then urged House Republicans to support it.
The act compels disclosure of justice department files on Epstein and Maxwell, including documents on other individuals, immunity deals and internal communications about charging decisions. However, it also permits the justice department to withhold materials that could jeopardize active federal investigations or contain victims’ personally identifiable information.
The law explicitly bars withholding records solely to prevent embarrassment or reputational harm to public figures, government officials or foreign dignitaries.
Officials concluded that Epstein, a financier with connections to some of the world’s most wealthy and powerful figures – including being a one-time close friend to Trump – killed himself in his New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. The charges alleged he sexually exploited minors, some as young as 14, paying them for sexual acts at his properties in New York and Florida.
Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for facilitating his abuse of underage girls.
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