A Manhattan federal judge rejected Wednesday the Trump administration’s attempt to unseal grand jury transcripts in the case against deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Richard Berman denied the government’s request in an order asserting that the administration failed to demonstrate a “special circumstance” to justify the unsealing and no exceptions to grand jury secrecy could be applied to the Epstein case.
It follows a Florida federal judge’s ruling against the Trump administration in July preventing the unsealing of transcripts in the southern district of Florida’s grand jury investigations into Epstein two decades ago.
The grand jury transcripts are connected to the 2019 federal sex trafficking prosecution of Epstein in Manhattan. Epstein died in his jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on the federal charges in what has been officially deemed a suicide. The circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death have made it the subject of continued fascination, with many skeptics dismissing the suicide ruling.
Berman accused the Trump administration of seeking the grand jury transcripts as a “diversion” from its refusal to release the federal government’s “trove” of Epstein-related documents. The judge noted that the government’s 10,000 pages of Epstein documents dwarfs the 70 pages of grand jury testimony, and observed how unusual it is for the federal government to seek the unsealing of grand jury materials.
In July, the Trump administration declined to release the Epstein files and determined that Epstein committed suicide, a move that caused uproar among President Donald Trump’s most fervent MAGA supporters. Trump has strongly dismissed the significance of the Epstein files and claimed Democrats were duping his supporters into being upset about the administration’s lack of transparency.
Additionally, the Trump administration concluded Epstein did not attempt to use his sex trafficking operation for blackmail purposes and did not have a “client list” of his associates. Through litigation and investigations, it is already well-known who Epstein’s friends and associates were throughout his life.
The Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein documents brought fresh scrutiny to Trump and Epstein’s 15-year friendship in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trump severed ties with Epstein before Epstein’s conviction in Florida for sex crimes against underage girls. There are no accusations of wrongdoing against Trump stemming from his friendship with Epstein.
Trump is one of many high-profile names in the federal government’s Epstein documents, the Wall Street Journal reported. His name appearing in the files is not a sign of wrongdoing. Trump is suing the Journal for a separate story the paper ran on a letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein for the latter man’s 50th birthday. Trump has claimed the Journal’s story is fake and defamatory.
Trump’s MAGA base rallied around him in response to the Journal’s reporting on the letter, ending the prolonged split between Trump and his supporters. The Trump administration has attempted to remedy the situation by trying to have the grand jury transcripts unsealed in the Epstein cases and seeking the criminal prosecution of Epstein’s longtime accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison for her 2021 sex trafficking conviction in Manhattan. She met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July and spent a few hours divulging information about her activities with Epstein. Maxwell, who is angling for a pardon from Trump, is negotiating with the House Oversight Committee to testify for its bipartisan investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking operation and the government’s files on it.
Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R., Ky.) said earlier this week that the Justice Department is prepared to hand over its Epstein documents following a subpoena from the committee. The Justice Department will take its time with providing the records because the documents will have redactions to protect victims and seal child sex abuse materials.