Federal judge denies request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts

A federal judge in Florida issued a ruling Wednesday rejecting a request from federal prosecutors to unseal grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal proceedings. The rejection from U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg came less than a week after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requested that the records be released. President Donald Trump asked prosecutors to unseal the transcripts in an attempt to quell public speculation after the administration released a memo stating that Epstein did not keep a list of clients and listing his cause of death as suicide.

What happens now? Wednesday’s rejection only applied to the Department of Justice’s request to release the grand jury transcripts in connection with Epstein’s 2008 sex offender conviction. The department’s requests for grand jury transcripts of federal proceedings in New York for both Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, still stand. The Florida ruling came the day after U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he planned to interview Maxwell about possible evidence against Epstein’s clients.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Russell’s report for more about Blanche’s planned interview with Maxwell.