A federal judge in Manhattan has denied the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury records from Jeffrey Epstein’s 2019 indictment, saying the government is better positioned than the courts to release meaningful material from the case.
US District Judge Richard Berman ruled that the 70 pages of grand jury documents reviewed in Epstein’s indictment were minimal compared to the roughly 100,000 pages of investigative files still being withheld by the Justice Department. He described the motion to unseal the grand jury materials as a “diversion” from broader transparency concerns.
The decision comes after criticism directed at the Trump administration for not releasing Epstein-related files, despite Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign pledge to make them public. In July, the Justice Department said it would not disclose further records, claiming no Epstein client list existed—a move that angered Trump’s supporters.
The grand jury evidence consisted of testimony from a single FBI agent, call logs, and a PowerPoint presentation, according to Berman. He emphasized that releasing these materials would add little to public understanding compared to the larger body of unreleased documents.
Earlier this month, another Manhattan judge, Paul Engelmayer, also rejected the government’s bid to unseal grand jury records from the case of Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, calling it an “illusion of transparency.” Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
Epstein, who was facing federal sex-trafficking charges, died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial. His death, along with his ties to influential figures, has fueled ongoing conspiracy theories and public demands for greater disclosure of government records.
