A federal judge on Wednesday denied the Justice Department’s bid to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury transcripts from a Florida investigation.
Florida-based US District Judge Robin Rosenberg, an Obama appointee, said the DOJ failed to justify unsealing the records related to grand juries in West Palm Beach in 2005-2007.
Judge Rosenberg also denied a request to transfer the matter to the Southern District of New York.
Reuters reported:
A U.S. judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Justice Department bid to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in South Florida, the first ruling in a series of attempts by President Donald Trump’s administration to release more information on the case.
The request stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents. The Justice Department has pending requests to unseal transcripts in Manhattan federal court related to a later indictment brought against Epstein and his former associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg found that the Justice Department’s request in Florida did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring grand jury material be kept secret.
The Justice Department has separately asked New York-based Judge Paul Engelmayer, also an Obama appointee, to unseal grand jury records related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking cases.
The court documents are related to the 2019 grand jury indictment charging Jeffrey Epstein with sex trafficking offenses and the June 2020 grand jury indictment of Ghislaine Maxwell with numerous offenses related to the trafficking and coercion of minors.
Judge Englemayer made a list of demands in his response to the Justice Department.
Englemayer said he needs more information before he unseals grand jury transcripts.
Read the full article here