Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan refused requests to unseal grand jury transcripts from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and ordered related exhibits to remain sealed. A separate judge presiding over Ghislaine Maxwell's case had also denied a related government request. Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence following conviction on sex trafficking charges linked to Epstein; Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. The ruling noted no victims testified before the grand jury and that the sole witness was an FBI agent whose testimony was largely hearsay given over two days in June and July 2019. The grand jury presentation included a PowerPoint and a call log, and grand jurors voted to indict Epstein. The Department of Justice declined to comment, and the decisions prompted public controversy and requests for greater disclosure.
Judge Berman said the information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts "pales in comparison to the Epstein investigative information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice."
According to his ruling, no victims gave evidence before the Epstein grand jury. The only witness, the judge wrote, was an FBI agent "who had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay". The agent gave evidence over two days, on June 18 and July 2 2019. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow shown during the June 18 session and a call log shown during the July 2 session, which ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls and young women.
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