FILE - Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend de Grisogono Sponsors The 2005 Wall Street Concert Series Benefitting Wall Street Rising, with a Performance by Rod Stewart at Cipriani Wall Street on March 15, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Joe …
A federal judge on Friday gave the Justice Department permission to release transcripts from a grand jury investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s case.
Judge Rodney Smith ruled that the Epstein Files Transparency Act of 2025 overrides the secrecy requirements of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e). The law requires the attorney general to make public all unclassified Justice Department records connected to Epstein and Ghislane Maxwell.
The backstory:
The law signed last month by President Donald Trump compels the Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors to release later this month the vast troves of material they have amassed during investigations into Epstein.
The Justice Department had requested the unsealing of documents from three Epstein-related separate cases: the 2006-2007 Florida grand jury investigation into Epstein, his 2019 sex trafficking case in New York and Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 sex trafficking case, also in New York. The Florida request was approved Friday. The New York requests are pending, with the Justice Department facing a Monday deadline to make its final filing — a response to submissions by victims, Epstein’s estate and Maxwell’s lawyers. The judges in those matters have said they plan to rule expeditiously.
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When will the Epstein files be released?
NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss what to expect next, now that President Trump has signed a bill calling for the Department of Justice to release the Epstein files.
When will the documents be released?
The Justice Department hasn’t set a timetable for when it plans to start releasing information, but the law set a deadline of Dec. 19.
Big picture view:
The law also allows the DOJ to withhold files that it says could jeopardize an active federal investigation. That’s also longstanding Justice Department policy.
Files can also be withheld if they’re found to be classified or if they pertain to national defense or foreign policy.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press, FOX News and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from San Jose.