Justice Department can unseal records from Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case, judge says

"NOTE: The video is from a previous report. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman reversed his earlier decision to keep the material under wraps, citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. The judge previously cautioned that the 70 or so pages of grand jury materials slated for release are hardly revelatory and "merely a hearsay snippet" of Epstein's conduct."

"On Tuesday, another Manhattan federal judge ordered the release of records from Maxwell's 2021 sex trafficking case. Last week, a judge in Florida approved the unsealing of transcripts from an abandoned Epstein federal grand jury investigation in the 2000s. The Justice Department asked the judges to lift secrecy orders after the Epstein Files Transparency Act, 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."

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman reversed an earlier order and allowed secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case to be unsealed, citing a new law requiring public access to records involving Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Two other judges granted Justice Department requests to lift secrecy, and separate courts ordered release of Maxwell-related records and transcripts from an abandoned Epstein grand jury probe. The Justice Department sought unsealing under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which mandates disclosure of Epstein-related records by Dec. 19. Berman noted the roughly 70 pages are largely hearsay and not highly revelatory. Epstein's estate took no position on the unsealing request.

Read at ABC7 Los Angeles