https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-denies-doj-request-release-jeffrey-epstein-grand-jury-transcript-rcna226117A federal judge in New York on Wednesday denied the Justice Department's request to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits in the Jeffrey Epstein case.U.S. District Judge Richard Berman found the government had not reached the high bar necessary to unseal the transcripts - and suggested there was not much there anyway."A significant and compelling reason to reject the Government's position in this litigation is that the Government has already undertaken a comprehensive investigation into the Epstein case and, not surprisingly, has assembled a 'trove' of Epstein documents, interviews and exhibits," Berman wrote."The government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials," the ruling said, adding the government's motion “appears to be a 'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the Government’s possession.” The grand jury testimony, the judge said, is “a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein’s conduct" delivered by an "FBI agent who had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case."
The judge said another factor in his decision was “possible threats to victims’ safety and privacy.”"According to the government, there are over a thousand victims of Jeffrey Epstein," the judge wrote, and it is "difficult to know exactly how many victims favor unsealing," in part because the Justice Department did not give them adequate notice of its request.The Justice Department declined to comment on the ruling by Berman, who was nominated to the bench in 1998 by then-President Bill Clinton.Two other judges have also denied the Justice Department's bid to unseal grand jury records - one involving an earlier case in Florida and the other in the case involving Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the DOJ for the investigative file, and the department has said it will begin turning documents over to the committee on Friday. In his ruling, Berman noted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had said in a press release in February that the department was "committed to transparency" and "intends to release the remaining [Epstein] documents to the public."That position changed on July 6, when DOJ and the FBI issued a joint unsigned memo saying no other people were expected to be charged in the probe and "no further disclosure" of the files would be appropriate.The memo led to a furious backlash from President Donald Trump's MAGA base, because the politically-connected Epstein’s criminal case and 2019 death have long been the subject of conspiracy theories that have been stoked by the president and his supporters.Those who were in Epstein's social circle included Trump and Clinton.Trump directed Bondi to seek to unseal the grand jury transcripts last month, just hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had sent a “bawdy” 50th birthday letter to Epstein in 2003. NBC News has not independently verified the documents, and Trump denied sending such a letter.
Trump has sued the newspaper’s publisher, two of its reporters and News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch over the story. The paper has said it stands by its reporting.Maxwell, who's serving a 20-year prison sentence, also sat for an unusual interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche late last month. A source familiar with the matter told NBC News earlier this month that the department was considering releasing a transcript of the interview.After her meeting with Blanche, Maxwell was transferred from a Florida prison to a minimum-security prison in Texas where the majority of inmates are serving time for nonviolent offenses and white-collar crimes.
>>1428062>that which is supposed to be against censorship and slates StarmerDon't censor the Epstein Files, Trumpy. 'Rules for me but not for thee' says the president of hypocrisy
>>1428062Anyone else notice that Trump and his team have had appeals ready to go the second a judge rules against them in every case except the Epstein grand jury transcript requests?You'd forgive someone for seeing that and thinking Trump and his team aren't really interested in this info getting released.
>>1428073It wouldn't even matter anyway, the only thing in there is some random FBI agent talking about what the government thought it could charge Epstein with. The grand jury testimony never mattered, it's just an easy "loss" they don't have to care about.
>>1428087I get that the transcript request was bullshit and a distraction tactic, what's surprising is that they're half assing the distraction like this.They can't even be bothered to get an intern to crap out a letter of intent to appeal that they'll never follow up on?
>>1428094On Fox News they are already saying "democrats" are preventing Trump and Bondi from releasing the files.
>>1428162>Control all three branches>Somehow democrats still block you from doing thingsI'm starting to think maybe Republicans just suck.
>>1428165Any time they can claim they're being persecuted, whether real or imagined, they're going to take advantage of it to anger the boomers into throwing more money and support at them.
