NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Secret grand jury transcripts from can be made public, on Wednesday, joining two other judges in granting the Justice Department鈥檚 requests to unseal material from investigations into the late financier鈥檚 sexual abuse.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman reversed his , citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Epstein and his . The judge previously cautioned that the 70 or so pages of grand jury materials slated for release are hardly revelatory and 鈥渕erely a hearsay snippet鈥� of Epstein鈥檚 conduct.
On Tuesday, another Manhattan federal judge ordered the release of records from . Last week, a judge in Florida approved the unsealing of transcripts from in the 2000s.
The Justice Department asked the judges to lift secrecy orders in the cases after , passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last month, created a narrow exception to rules that normally keep grand jury proceedings confidential. The law requires that the Justice Department disclose Epstein-related material to the public by Dec. 19.
The court records cleared for release are just a sliver of the government鈥檚 trove 鈥� a collection of potentially tens of thousands of pages of documents, including FBI notes and reports; transcripts of witness interviews, photographs, videos and other evidence; Epstein鈥檚 autopsy report; flight logs and travel records.
While lawyers for Epstein鈥檚 estate told Berman in a letter last week that the estate took no position on the Justice Department鈥檚 unsealing request, some Epstein victims backed it.
鈥淔or far too long, the Epstein survivors and the public have been kept in the dark about the inner-workings of Epstein鈥檚 decades-long sex trafficking operation,鈥� said Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for some victims. 鈥淭his week鈥檚 court rulings are an important step toward accountability to close the vast gap between what is known and unknown.鈥�
Another lawyer, Brad Edwards, said unsealing the records 鈥渋s good, so long as the victims are protected in the process.鈥� But, he added, 鈥渢he grand jury receives only the most basic information, so, relatively speaking, these particular materials are insignificant.鈥�
Questions about the government鈥檚 Epstein files have dominated the first year of Trump鈥檚 second term, with pressure on the Republican president intensifying after he reneged on a campaign . His administration released some material, most of it already public, disappointing critics and some allies.
Berman was matter-of-fact in his ruling on Wednesday, writing that the transparency law 鈥渦nequivocally intends to make public Epstein grand jury materials and discovery materials鈥� that had previously been covered by secrecy orders. The law 鈥渟upersedes the otherwise secret grand jury materials,鈥� he wrote.
The judge, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, implored the Justice Department to carefully follow the law’s privacy provisions to ensure that victims’ names and other identifying information are blacked out. Victim safety and privacy 鈥渁re paramount,鈥� he wrote.
In court filings, the Justice Department informed Berman that the only witness to testify before the Epstein grand jury was an FBI agent who, the judge noted, 鈥渉ad no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.鈥�
The agent testified on two days, on June 18, 2019, and July 2, 2019. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow and four pages of call logs. The July 2 session ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein.
Epstein, a millionaire money manager known for socializing with celebrities, politicians, billionaires and the academic elite, a month after his 2019 arrest. Maxwell was by a federal jury of sex trafficking for helping recruit some of Epstein鈥檚 underage victims and participating in some of the abuse. She is .
Maxwell鈥檚 lawyer told a judge last week that unsealing records from her case 鈥渨ould create undue prejudice鈥� and could spoil her plans to file a habeas petition, a legal filing seeking to overturn her conviction. The Supreme Court in October .
Maxwell鈥檚 grand jury records include testimony from the FBI agent and a New York Police Department detective.
Judge Paul A. Engelmayer sought to temper expectations as he approved their release on Tuesday, writing that the materials 鈥渄o not identify any person other than Epstein and Maxwell as having had sexual contact with a minor.鈥�
鈥淭hey do not discuss or identify any client of Epstein鈥檚 or Maxwell鈥檚,鈥� wrote Engelmayer, an appointee of President Barack Obama, a Democrat. 鈥淭hey do not reveal any heretofore unknown means or methods of Epstein鈥檚 or Maxwell鈥檚 crimes.鈥�
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