Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records request

What happened

New York U.S. District Judge Richard Berman Wednesday rejected a Justice Department motion to release grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking case, describing the request as a "'diversion' from the breadth and scope of the Epstein files in the government's possession." Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject nearly identical DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material.

Who said what

President Donald Trump, a former longtime friend of Epstein, directed the DOJ to seek the grand jury material in mid-July, amid a "fierce backlash" from supporters and critics alike over his administration's "refusal to release" the "massive trove" of Epstein documents in its possession, The Associated Press said.

The grand jury testimony is "merely a hearsay snippet" of Epstein's alleged crimes and "pales in comparison" to the DOJ's Epstein investigation information, Berman wrote. With some 100,000 pages of material and no grand jury secrecy constraints, the "government is the logical party to make comprehensive disclosure to the public of the Epstein Files."

What next?

The administration could appeal Berman's rejection, "though it has not done so in the other two rulings," The Washington Post said. The DOJ is separately "being forced to disclose the Epstein files" to the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, Politico said. The committee said earlier this week it "plans to publicly release" some of the files after the DOJ starts handing them over Friday, The Wall Street Journal said.