Second judge orders release of Epstein grand jury materials

Chris Dolmetsch and Bob Van Voris, Bloomberg News on Dec 10, 2025

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A federal judge in New York ordered the release of grand jury materials from the sex trafficking probe of financier Jeffrey Epstein at the request of the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman’s decision on Wednesday follows a similar ruling from a judge in Florida, who ordered the unsealing of grand jury materials from an earlier probe into Epstein. A separate judge in New York also ordered the release of grand jury materials from the investigation into Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.

All three judges had previously denied a request by the government to allow the release of grand jury materials. Their decision to unseal them comes after President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act last month, which mandated the Justice Department to release all unclassified documents and investigative materials related to the probes.

In releasing the grand jury transcripts and documents from the prosecution of Maxwell, U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer criticized the Justice Department for “paying lip service to Maxwell’s and Epstein’s victims” while failing to give them a chance to object. The judge added a requirement that Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton must personally certify that any material has been closely scrutinized and redacted to protect victim identities as required by the new law.

In his decision, Berman also said he agrees with lawyers for Epstein’s victims that they have an “unequivocal right” to have their privacy protected, and ordered the government to redact all personally identifiable information of victims and their personal and medical files.

The case is US v. Epstein, 19-cr-490, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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