A federal judge in Florida ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the federal sex trafficking case of convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to The Associated Press. The ruling comes after Congress passed a law requiring the Department of Justice to release files related to the case.
On Friday, District Judge Rodney Smith ruled that the Epstein Files Transparency Act overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of grand jury documents. President Donald Trump signed the bill in November and gave the DOJ a Dec. 19 deadline to release files about the Epstein investigation.
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When will the DOJ release the files?
While the judge ruled that authorities must release the files, he did not say when. The DOJ has yet to release a timeline for when it plans to start releasing files. On Wednesday, House Democrats released never-before-seen photos and videos of Epstein’s island.
The government asked the court for permission to include grand jury records in the files the law requires them to release. Typically, officials keep grand jury records secret.
The law allows the Justice Department to withhold documents it believes could harm an active investigation. This is similar to longstanding DOJ policy, according to the AP.
DOJ officials can also withhold classified documents or files about national defense and foreign policy.
What are in the files?
The Justice Department requested the unsealing of files from three separate Epstein cases, according to the AP. These files relate to the grand jury investigation in West Palm Beach, Florida. Authorities investigated Epstein after reports that he preyed on underage girls in the area.
The investigation ended after he struck a controversial, sweetheart deal, allowing him to plead guilty to state solicitation charges involving a single underage girl. Epstein also reached a secret, non-prosecution agreement with the federal government, according to NBC News.
It’s not known how many of the documents would be new. Federal prosecutors in New York possessed the files at the time they brought sex trafficking charges against him in 2019. Most of the underlying material is believed to have emerged because of civil suits brought by Epstein’s victims.
