Judge orders release of Jeffrey Epstein's secret 2019 grand jury files

The grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case are getting unsealed. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman reversed his earlier decision to keep them secret, citing the Epstein Files Transparency Act that Trump signed last month.

The Associated Press reports this is the third ruling on Epstein records in recent days. Tuesday, a different Manhattan judge ordered the release of documents from Ghislaine Maxwell's 2021 case. Last week, a Florida judge approved unsealing transcripts from an abandoned Epstein grand jury investigation in the 2000s.

The new law requires the Justice Department to disclose Epstein-related records by December 19. Congress created a narrow exception to the rules that usually keep grand jury proceedings confidential.

What's actually in the 2019 transcripts may disappoint anyone expecting bombshells. The Justice Department told Judge Berman that the only witness was an FBI agent "who had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay." The agent testified over two days. The rest of the grand jury presentation was a PowerPoint and a call log. Then the jurors voted to indict.

Previously:
• Documents reveal decades-long Trump-Epstein relationship despite denials
• Congress demands Epstein files update as DOJ deadline approaches
• Here are the 37 cowardly companies funding Trump's $300 million Epstein Ballroom