The US Justice Department has launched a fresh legal bid to make secret grand jury materials related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case public, racing against a congressionally mandated deadline.
A Renewed Legal Push
In a submission to a Manhattan federal court on Monday, the DOJ argued that Congress made its intentions clear when it recently passed legislation requiring the release of documents concerning the late financier. The department stated that this new law effectively overrides existing statutes that would typically keep such grand jury records sealed.
The request was formally signed by US Attorney Jay Clayton, who asked the judge for an expedited ruling. This legal move comes directly after President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which gives the Department of Justice a 30-day window to release the trove of documents.
Previous Requests Denied
This is not the first attempt to bring these materials into the public domain. Judge Richard Berman, who presided over Epstein's 2019 case, had previously denied a similar request from the Trump administration.
In a ruling made in August, Judge Berman stated that a "significant and compelling reason" to keep the transcripts sealed was that their contents "paled in comparison" to the vast amount of investigative material the Justice Department already possessed. He noted that the government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files vastly overshadowed the "70 odd pages" of grand jury testimony, which he characterised as "merely a hearsay snippet" of Epstein's alleged conduct.
Two other judges have also denied public release of material from the investigations into Epstein's decades of sexual abuse of young women and girls.
What the Grand Jury Heard
According to the Justice Department, the only witness to testify before the grand jury was an FBI agent. Judge Berman noted this agent "had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay."
The agent testified on June 18, 2019, and July 2, 2019. The rest of the presentation to the grand jury consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow and a call log. The session on July 2 concluded with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein.
The pressure for transparency intensified after the House of Representatives voted 427-1 to approve the Epstein Files Transparency Act. A protester was even photographed at the US Capitol on November 18, 2025, holding a placard following the decisive vote. The legislation now awaits a Senate vote before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law.
The world now watches to see if this latest judicial effort will finally unlock another chapter in the long-running Jeffrey Epstein saga.
