US federal judge refuses Trump’s bid to unseal Epstein grand jury records

A national justice successful the United States has rejected a petition from the Department of Justice to merchandise transcripts from a expansive assemblage probe into the precocious enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg of Florida indicated her hands were “tied” successful the matter.

The unsealing of expansive assemblage grounds is comparatively rare, fixed the request for secrecy successful specified delicate transgression investigations.

There are lone constrictive exceptions to national transgression process that would let for the transcripts to beryllium released, and Judge Rosenberg indicated that those were not met by the Justice Department’s requests.

The petition Judge Rosenberg received was 1 of 3 issued by the Justice Department, arsenic it seeks to tamp down outrage from President Donald Trump’s basal astir the deficiency of caller revelations successful the Epstein scandal.

Epstein ungraded fuels conspiracy theories

In February, Attorney General Pam Bondi played up the impending merchandise of a trove of documents related to Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted enactment offender whose entourage included high-profile figures.

Epstein died by termination successful 2019 portion awaiting proceedings successful New York, fuelling conspiracy theories that his decease mightiness person been a cover-up orchestrated by powerful, shadowy figures.

But the astir 200 pages Bondi and the Justice Department ultimately published failed to nutrient immoderate large caller revelations. It besides notably lacked the “client list” that Bondi told Fox News was “sitting connected my table close present to review”.

Some of President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters had pushed the idea that paedophiles had infiltrated the highest levels of authorities and fashionable media, and that Epstein kept a lawsuit database successful bid to blackmail those powerfulness brokers.

Even Trump’s appointee to pb the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kash Patel, and his second-in-command Dan Bongino had promoted the conspiracy theories, claiming determination was a “black book” oregon “list” successful the government’s possession that would beryllium the Epstein rumours.

But the FBI and the Justice Department person since attempted to quash that speculation. In July, the agencies released a joint memorandum denying the beingness of specified a list.

“This systematic reappraisal revealed nary incriminating ‘client list.’ There was besides nary credible grounds recovered that Epstein blackmailed salient individuals arsenic portion of his actions,” it read.

Scrutiny connected Trump

That, however, did small to abate the outrage, and scrutiny has since turned to President Trump’s ain relationship with Epstein.

The Wall Street Journal this period published a study alleging that Trump had signed a day enactment to Epstein featuring a suggestive message, alongside a doodle of a bare woman. Trump denied ever penning oregon drafting specified a day message, and helium has since sued the paper and its genitor company.

But connected Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal continued its sum of the Epstein ungraded with an nonfiction that alleged the Justice Department knew Trump’s sanction appeared aggregate times successful files related to the enactment offender.

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, called the latest study “another fake quality story”.

Trump has called for each the Epstein transcripts to beryllium released, calling the ongoing ungraded a “scam” and a “hoax”. He besides repudiated immoderate of his supporters who believed the rumours.

“My PAST supporters person bought into this ‘bull****,’ hook, line, and sinker,” Trump wrote connected societal media connected July 16. “Let these weaklings proceed guardant and bash the Democrats work.”

While the Justice Department has argued determination is “extensive nationalist interest” successful releasing the expansive assemblage transcripts, experts accidental those testimonies are improbable to incorporate the afloat grade of the grounds successful the Epstein case.

Federal expansive assemblage testimonies are usually brief, supplying lone capable accusation to unafraid an indictment.

One erstwhile national prosecutor, Sarah Krissoff, told The Associated Press the transcripts are apt to beryllium a “distraction”.

“The president is trying to contiguous himself arsenic if he’s doing thing here, and it truly is nothing,” Krissoff said successful an interrogation published earlier this week.

Democrats question advantage

Democrats, meanwhile, person sought to item the lingering questions astir Epstein successful a bid to harm Trump’s estimation with his supporters.

In the House of Representatives, for instance, Democrats connected the Committee for Oversight launched a bid to subpoena the Justice Department for each its Epstein files.

Rather than hazard a ballot to propulsion for further Epstein records, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson adjourned the enclosure aboriginal for its six-week August recess.

Democrats similar Representative Summer Lee seized upon that manouevre arsenic grounds of complicity.

“They’re fleeing our work, our occupation and sending america backmost location due to the fact that they don’t privation to ballot to merchandise these files,” Lee said.

But Johnson defended the determination this week, saying Trump officials were “already doing everything wrong their powerfulness to merchandise them”.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies