Judge blocks release of Epstein court files

A US judge has denied a bid to unseal grand jury material from the investigation into the late convicted paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Judge Robin Rosenberg found that releasing files from his Florida case, a request that was made last week as the Trump administration faced mounting pressure over its handling of Epstein files, would violate state law.

The decision came as the Wall Street Journal published a story alleging President Donald Trump is among hundreds whose names appear in Epstein investigative documents held by the justice department.

A White House spokesman called the report "nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media".

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 report.

The Wall Street Journal reported the justice department had told Trump the documents included hearsay about many people who socialised with Epstein.

Attorney General Pam Bondi also told the president that child pornography and victim information that should not be publicised were among the records, according to the newspaper.

Trump had directed 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 that oversees Florida.

"The court's hands are tied," she ruled.

The judge said 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 should be released.

These court files precede the federal case that ended with Epstein's death in a New York jail as he awaited trial in 2019.

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

Last week, the president was asked by a reporter whether the attorney general had told him his name was 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 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 of Representatives 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 the US justice department had uncovered no Epstein "incriminating 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 previewed that she was about to reveal major disclosures in the case.

She said these would include "a lot of names" and "a lot of flight logs" - a reference to those who travelled with the financier or who visited his private islands where many of his purported crimes were said to have occurred.

Her reversal prompted furious response from scores of Trump's most ardent supporters, who have called for Bondi to resign after failing to produce the list, which officials had previously claimed to have.

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Democrats have seized on the Republican infighting to accuse the Trump administration of lying about its commitment to transparency.

On Tuesday, Speaker Johnson closed down congressional voting for summer break one day early, in an attempt to stall legislative efforts to force the release of documents related to Epstein.

But Republican rebels in the House Oversight Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement voted on Wednesday afternoon to force the justice department to release documents related to Epstein.

Three Republicans - Nancy Mace, Scott Perry and Brian Jack - joined five Democrats in voting for the subpoena. Two Republicans voted against it.

A ranking Democrat on the panel, Summer Lee, reportedly surprised Republicans by introducing the vote during an unrelated hearing on unaccompanied child migrants.

But James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, must sign it off in order for the legal summons to proceed.