Florida governor signs bill to release Jeffrey Epstein grand jury documents

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday signed Florida’s HB 117. The law allows the publication of grand jury documents under several conditions. DeSantis’ office said in a statement that the bill allows the release of grand jury documents if the grand jury inquiry involved allegations of the abuse of a minor, the subject of the inquiry is dead, the testimony was previously disclosed by court order, and a state attorney is notified.

Haven’t these documents already been released? The Department of Justice has published a copy of the grand jury’s indictment of Jeffrey Epstein related to allegations that he enticed and abused minors from 2002 to 2005. But DeSantis’ office said the names of Epstein’s associates in his human trafficking endeavors have remained under wraps. The governor’s office says the grand jury records will be released on July 1, 2024.

Weren’t a bunch of names of his associates already released? A New York federal judge last month ordered the release of hundreds of pages of documents. The court released some on January 3, others on January 4, more on January 5, and more in the days following.

Dig deeper: Read Lynde Langdon’s report from the WORLD archives about Epstein’s death in prison.