Grand jury transcripts from abandoned Epstein investigation in Florida ordered released

FILE — Audrey Strauss, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a news conference to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, July 2, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

ORLANDO, Fla. — A U.S. federal judge in Florida on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from the federal sex trafficking cases of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith said a recently passed federal law ordering the release of records related to the cases overrode a federal rule prohibiting the release of matters before a grand jury.

The law known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act was signed last month by President Donald Trump. It compels the Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors to release by Dec. 19 the vast troves of material they have amassed during investigations into Epstein.

The Justice Department has requested the unsealing of documents from three Epstein-related separate cases: the 2006-2007 Florida grand jury investigation into Epstein, his 2019 sex trafficking case in New York and Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case, also in New York. The Florida request was approved Friday. The New York requests are pending, with the Justice Department facing a Monday deadline to make its final filing — a response to submissions by victims, Epstein’s estate and Maxwell’s lawyers. The judges in those matters have said they plan to rule expeditiously.

One of the federal prosecutors on the Florida case did not answer a phone call Friday and the other declined to answer questions.