A federal judge on Aug. 11 denied the Trump administration’s request to make material related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein public.
Grand jury material is typically kept secret, and the government’s filings do not meet an exception laid out in previous rulings, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote in a 31-page decision.
“Granting the Government’s motion would bloat the ‘special circumstances’ doctrine, which to date has warranted disclosure in only a tiny number of cases, all involving unique testimony by firsthand witnesses to events of obvious public or historical moment,” he said.
President Donald Trump in July asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release grand jury testimony from proceedings involving Epstein, who pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution and was facing additional sex-related charges when he committed suicide in prison in 2019….