A federal judge in New York declined a request from the Department of Justice to unseal grand jury transcripts for the Jeffrey Epstein case Wednesday, the third time in recent weeks that a judge has rejected such a request from the Trump administration.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman wrote that the information in the grand jury file “pales in comparison” to information held by the DOJ.
The case in question stems from Epstein’s 2019 indictment on sex trafficking charges. Berman noted in his 14-page opinion that only one witness testified during the grand jury proceedings: an FBI agent who worked on the case.
The decision highlights how the Epstein scandal remains a thorn in the side of the Trump administration, which is still dealing with an angry base of supporters keen to see more information from the disgraced financier’s case after more than a year of campaign trail promises from Trump and many of his top officials.
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Berman had previously declined the DOJ’s motion to unseal materials from the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, the Epstein associate convicted of sex trafficking, earlier this month.
Another New York judge, Paul Engelmayer, ruled similarly last week. Engelmayer wrote in his decision that given the grand jury materials “do not contribute anything to public knowledge,” the public might conclude that “the Government’s motion for their unsealing was aimed not at ‘transparency’ but at diversion — aimed not at full disclosure but at the illusion of such.”
Other efforts to unseal grand jury transcripts in Florida last month were also unsuccessful.
Public fervor over the Epstein case has been growing despite President Donald Trump’s best efforts to distance himself from the disgraced financier. Speaker Mike Johnson opted to send members home early for a monthlong recess rather than act on legislation that would compel the U.S. attorney general to release documents.
The chairman of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer, requested DOJ records related to the case in an Aug. 5 subpoena. The department said earlier this week that it would begin providing those records.
“I appreciate the Trump Administration’s commitment to transparency and efforts to provide the American people with information about this matter,” Comer said in a statement.
Correction: This story has been corrected to show U.S. District Judge Richard Berman issued a ruling Wednesday. A New York judge, Paul Engelmayer, ruled similarly last week.
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