A Manhattan judge has refused to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein case. On Wednesday, Judge Richard Berman declined the government's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the disgraced financier's 2019 sex trafficking prosecution, the New York Times reports. Berman ruled that the government hadn't shown any "special circumstances" that would justify making the testimony public, noting that the only grand jury witness was a single FBI agent and that more substantial evidence remains with the Department of Justice.
Berman said there is "clear precedent and sound purpose" for keeping the grand jury records sealed, the Hill reports. He said the information in the transcripts "pales in comparison" to the "trove" of material held by the DOJ. "The Government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein Files," he wrote. "By comparison, the instant grand jury motion appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government's possession."
The decision comes as President Trump faces calls from his base to shed light on the Epstein saga and tamp down the swirl of conspiracy theories surrounding the financier's death in federal custody six years ago. The Wednesday ruling follows another recent decision by a different Manhattan judge, who denied a request to unseal grand jury records related to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime associate. House lawmakers, meanwhile, are set to begin receiving some documents from the DOJ about the case.
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