The grand jury records of Jeffrey Epstein can now be released by the DOJ after a federal judge in New York granted the release based on the bill Congress passed last month.
Here’s more from NBC News:
A federal judge in New York on Wednesday granted the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury records in Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case.
The move comes a day after a separate judge ordered the release of grand jury records related to Ghislaine Maxwell.
In his order, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman cited the law that Congress passed last month that required the DOJ to release all of its records related to Epstein, calling the act’s language “clear.”
“The Court hereby grants the Government’s motion in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and with the unequivocal right of Epstein victims to have their identity and privacy protected,” he wrote in the four-page ruling.
He explained that he agreed with attorneys for Epstein survivors, who he said wrote to the court to say that disclosure “CANNOT come at the expense of the privacy, safety, and protection of sexual abuse and sex trafficking victims.”
Berman also referenced language from the law that laid out the type of personal material that should be withheld, including survivors’ personal and medical files.
It’s unclear when the materials will be released.