As the Justice Department faces a 30-day deadline to release its files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, government attorneys have again asked a federal court in Florida to unseal grand jury transcripts –related to the initial federal investigation of Epstein — citing the passage this week of the Epstein Transparency Act by Congress.
“Public production of the grand jury material is therefore required,” DOJ wrote in the Friday filing, writing that grand jury material is not “exempt” from the law.
The Act requires the government to make publicly available “all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials” but contains no specific mention of grand jury material.
In making its request on Nov. 21, DOJ attorneys asked the court to rule quickly in order to allow them to comply with the 30-day deadline set by the Epstein files bill, which was passed unanimously in the Senate and by a vote of 427-1 in the House.
The new request relates to federal grand jury transcripts from 2005 and 2007 — during the first federal investigation of Epstein in Florida.
DOJ also asked the court to lift the protective order over the case, adding it will work to “make appropriate redactions of victim-related and other personal identifying information.”
The new request comes after DOJ previously asked courts in New York and Florida over the summer to release grand jury material in cases involving both Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Those requests came amid outrage over the administration’s handling of the Epstein issue — after the DOJ released a memo saying there was no evidence Epstein kept a “client list” whom he blackmailed or conspired with and confirming that he died by suicide in while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019 as he awaited trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The earlier requests to unseal grand jury information were ultimately denied by judges.
Maxwell, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence in Texas for child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein.
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