Judge blocks release of Epstein grand jury materials

The paper reported Trump’s name appeared with many others, including other high-profile figures. Being named in these documents is not evidence of any wrongdoing.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the allegation.

The WSJ reported the Justice Department told Trump that the documents included unverified hearsay about many people who socialised with Epstein, along with child pornography and victim information that should not be publicised.

Trump had directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of all grand jury materials, prompting the Justice Department to ask courts in Florida and New York to release files related to cases in both US states.

In her 12-page order on Wednesday, Judge Rosenberg ruled that the transcripts could not be released due to guidelines governing grand jury secrecy set by the federal appeals court which oversees Florida.

“The court’s hands are tied,” she ruled.

The judge said that the government’s argument last week that the files should be released due to “extensive public interest” and “transparency to the American public” did not meet the requirements for documents to be unsealed under “special circumstances”.

The transcripts in question stem from Florida’s investigation into Epstein in 2006 that led to him being charged with soliciting a minor for prostitution.

She also declined to transfer the issue to New York, where two judges are separately deciding whether to unseal transcripts related to Epstein’s 2019 sex-trafficking probe. That request is still pending.

Judge Rosenberg also ruled that a new case be opened so lawyers could make additional legal arguments for why the transcripts, which precede the federal case that led to Epstein’s death in jail while awaiting charges in 2019, should be released.

The decision came just before the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was informed by justice department officials in May that his name appeared in investigative documents related to Epstein.

Last week, Trump was asked by a reporter whether Attorney General Bondi had told him that his name is in the files.

“No, no, she’s – she’s given us just a very quick briefing,” Trump responded.

Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, called the report “nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media”.

The justice department similarly dismissed the report, calling it a “collection of falsehoods and innuendo” designed to push a false narrative and get clicks.

The ruling comes as interest has moved back to Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse young girls.

A senior justice department official is planning to meet with Maxwell to discuss her knowledge of the case, her attorney confirmed to the BBC, and she’s been subpoenaed to testify the case before a House committee.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent a subpoena for Maxwell to appear before the body remotely from prison on 11 August.

Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, told the BBC, that if she chooses to testify, rather than invoke her constitutional right to remain silent, “she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would”.

“As for the Congressional subpoena, Ms Maxwell is taking this one step at a time,” he added.

“She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has warned that Maxwell could not be trusted to provide accurate testimony.

“Could she be counted on to tell the truth? Is she a credible witness?” Johnson said.

“I mean, this is a person who’s been sentenced to many, many years in prison for terrible, unspeakable, conspiratorial acts and acts against innocent young people.”

While campaigning last year, Trump – who at one time had been a friend of Epstein – promised to release files relating to the disgraced financier.

But Bondi said earlier this month that the US justice department did not believe Epstein had a so-called “client list” that could implicate high-profile associates, and that he did take his own life – despite conspiracies over his death.

The statement came after Bondi had touted she was set to announce major revelations about the case, including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” – a nod to those who travelled with the financier or who visited his private islands where many of his purported crimes were said to have occurred.