US judge denies Justice Department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts
US President Donald Trump had called for the release of transcripts amid rumours and criticism about his long-ago involvement with Epstein
A federal judge on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking case, joining two other judges who declined to release similar records from investigations into the late financier’s sexual abuse of young women and girls.
Barring reversal on appeal, Berman’s decision appears to foreclose the possibility of federal courts releasing Epstein-related grand jury testimony.
The rulings were a resounding repudiation of the Justice Department’s effort to unlock the records, a move the Republican administration undertook amid a fierce backlash over its refusal to release a massive trove of documents in its possession.
Berman and the judge in Maxwell’s case, Paul A. Engelmayer, made clear in their rulings that the grand jury transcripts contain none of the answers likely to satisfy the immense public interest in the case, with Berman calling the request a “diversion”.