US judge rejects justice department bid to unseal Epstein grand jury materials

A judge in the US has rejected a justice department bid to unseal grand jury materials related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The US government had filed a motion to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the former financier, who took his own life while awaiting trial in 2019.

Materials from grand juries are typically kept secret under US law, though exceptions can be made for a handful of reasons.

In a ruling issued on Wednesday, US District Judge Robin Rosenberg said the justice department’s request did not fall into any of these exceptions.

It comes as Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been officially subpoenaed to testify to the House Oversight Committee from prison.

The grand juries on Epstein were held in Florida in 2005 and 2007, according to a court document.

What is grand jury?

Grand juries assess evidence presented by prosecutors to decide whether there is “probable cause” to believe someone committed a crime, and if they should be put on trial.

A grand jury consists of 16 to 23 jurors and the proceedings are always carried out in private.

A juror can serve up to 24 months and they meet on a few set days each week or month to consider multiple cases.

If a jury decides there is enough evidence, an indictment – a court document setting out charges – will be issued against the suspect.

Under the US justice system, grand juries decide whether there is a criminal case against a person and whether they should be put on trial.

In 2007, prosecutors agreed not to bring federal charges against Epstein in exchange for him agreeing to plead guilty to state charges of solicitation of prostitution, for which he served 13 months in prison.

Last Friday, Donald Trump said attorney general Pam Bondi had been asked to release the transcripts because of “the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein”.

The Department of Justice said criminal cases against Epstein and Maxwell were a matter of public interest.

The department previously said it had around 200 documents relating to Epstein and that the FBI had thousands more.

It is unknown how much of this is grand jury testimony.

The judge’s decision is the first ruling in a series of attempts by President Trump’s administration to release more information on the case amid calls by some in his MAGA group of supporters for the full details of Epstein’s activities to be released.

Mr Trump has faced renewed scrutiny over his relationship with Epstein since his administration’s U-turn on the so-called “Epstein files”.

The MAGA movement had accused the Biden administration of suppressing the extent of Epstein’s crimes and Mr Trump pledged to release the files during his second presidential term.

But after a review of the evidence, the justice department said recently that no “further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted”.

As pressure has grown for Mr Trump to act, there has been increased attention paid to claims he was friends with Epstein – a relationship he denies.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last week published a story saying Mr Trump wrote a bawdy letter to Epstein to give him as a 50th birthday present in 2003.

Mr Trump responded by filing a lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch, who owns the WSJ, two WSJ reporters and the publication’s owner, News Corp, as well as saying the letter was a “fake”.

The summons for Ghislaine Maxwell from the House Oversight Committee is for a deposition to occur on 11 August.

Chairman of the committee, Republican James Comer said: “I have issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on August 11, 2025.

“The Department of Justice is cooperating and will help facilitate the deposition at the prison.”