Judge denies US Justice Department request to unseal Epstein grand jury transcripts

A federal judge in New York who presided over the sex trafficking case against the late financier Jeffrey Epstein has rejected the government's request to unseal grand jury transcripts.

The ruling on Wednesday (early Thursday AEST) by federal Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan came after the judge presiding over the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell also turned down the government's request.

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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Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

According to Berman's ruling, no victims testified 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 testified 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.

Both of those will also remain sealed, Berman ruled.

More to come.

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