Justice Department renews bid to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury materials
NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday renewed its request to unseal grand jury materials related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking, saying Congress made clear that documents such as court records must be released when approving the release of investigative materials related to the prosecution of the late financier.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton signed a petition in Manhattan federal court asking a judge to issue an expedited order allowing the release of the materials after President Donald Trump signed an order requiring the release of documents related to Epstein within 30 days.
The Justice Department said Congress’s action overrides existing law that would allow grand jury records to be sealed.
Judge Richard Berman previously rejected the Trump administration’s request that the Epstein grand jury transcripts be made public.
Berman, who presided over Epstein’s 2019 trial, ruled in August that a “substantial and compelling reason” to deny the request and keep the transcripts sealed was that the information contained in the transcripts “pales in comparison” to investigative information and materials already in the Justice Department’s possession.
Berman wrote that the government’s 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials were “overshadowed by the 70 pages of Epstein grand jury materials” and that the grand jury testimony “was merely hearsay of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged conduct.”
Two other judges also refused to publicly release material from investigations into Epstein’s decades-long sexual abuse of young women and girls.
The Justice Department said the only witness to testify before the Epstein grand jury was an FBI agent who the judge said “had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.”
The representative testified on June 18, 2019 and July 2, 2019. The remainder of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slide show and call recording. The July 2 session ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein.
Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019. was found dead in his cell in Manhattan federal prison on Aug. 10, 2019, when authorities ruled it a suicide.
