The US Department of Justice (DoJ) today again asked for the release of grand jury documents from the case of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, previously refused by a judge.
After Judge Richard Berman in August refused a request to make public grand jury transcripts relating to the Epstein case, federal prosecutor Jay Clayton today delivered a formal request to Manhattan federal court for the urgent release of the materials.
In the request, the prosecutor maintains that Congress clarified, when legislating for the disclosure of investigative materials related to the case against the late millionaire, that documents such as court records should be made public.
Congress approved legislation last week requiring the disclosure of documents related to the Epstein case within 30 days and President Donald Trump enacted it, so the prosecutor’s office argues that the legislative action overrides current legislation, allowing the disclosure of grand jury records.
In the North American legal framework, a grand jury, made up of citizens, is convened to decide whether there is sufficient evidence – known as “probable cause” – to bring formal criminal charges against an individual, given the case presented by the prosecutor.
Berman, who presided over the Epstein case in 2019, decided in August to deny the release request and keep the transcripts confidential, arguing that the information contained therein is “insignificant in comparison” to data and investigative materials already in the DoJ’s possession.
The 100,000 pages of government files and materials on Epstein, according to the judge, “far exceed the approximately 70 pages of grand jury documents” on the same case and the testimony before the grand jury was “merely a fragment of hearsay about the alleged conduct” of the suspect.
Two other judges also denied the public disclosure of material from investigations into the sexual abuse of young women and girls committed by Epstein over decades.
Jurors voted to indict Epstein in 2019, based on testimony from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent and a presentation of PowerPoint slides and a call log.
Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 and was found dead in his cell in a Manhattan federal prison on August 10, 2019, while awaiting a new trial on federal sex trafficking charges, with a possible sentence of up to 45 years in prison.
Epstein’s death was considered a suicide by authorities, but it also became the subject of several conspiracy theories circulating on social media.
In a first case, Epstein had been convicted in 2008 of prostitution of a minor in Florida, following a controversial agreement with the federal government.
Trump, who had been a friend of Epstein for decades and opposed the release of the files, arguing that it was a “hoax” by the Democrats, changed his position a few days ago when he realized that the approval of the law was inevitable in Congress with the support of some congressmen from his own party and showed his willingness to ratify it.
The approved law does not, however, include specific mention of testimony before the grand jury.
On Sunday, the DoJ also asked the South Florida court to “make public the grand jury transcripts related to the investigations” of the case and to “modify any applicable protective order that would otherwise prevent their public release.”
“The law does not exempt all grand jury transcripts from public disclosure,” adds the document, signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi to the court.
A judge on that same court last July refused to release the transcripts, arguing that the law only permitted release of grand jury testimony in specific situations, “none of which applied to this case.”
However, he recognized the public interest in the case and stressed that only a Supreme Court decision could allow the publication of the transcripts.