A federal judge in Florida has granted the Trump administration’s motion to unseal grand jury transcripts from the initial federal investigation of Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s. The order also grants the government’s request to modify any protective orders in place that would inhibit public disclosure.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith – a Trump appointee – determined that the language of the recently-enacted Epstein Transparency Act “overrides” federal rules prohibiting the public disclosure of grand jury materials.
“The Act applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials that relate to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Smith wrote in an order Friday. “Consequently, the later-enacted and specific language of the Act trumps Rule 6’s prohibition on disclosure. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that United States’ Expedited Motion to Unseal Grand Jury Transcripts and Modify Protective Order…is GRANTED.”
Smith is one of three federal judges asked by the DOJ to unseal grand jury materials in cases involving Epstein and his convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. Smith is the first to rule. Two judges in New York are expected to issue their decisions next week.
This is the second time the DOJ has gone to those courts asking for the grand jury materials to be unsealed. Those earlier attempts – before the Epstein Transparency Act was passed — were rejected by each court.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida used two separate grand juries during their initial probes in the mid-2000s of Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking of minors. Neither grand jury was asked to indict Epstein, and there was never a federal criminal prosecution of Epstein in Florida. Instead, Epstein and federal prosecutors negotiated a non-prosecution agreement which resulted in Epstein’s guilty pleas in state court.