Federal Judge Kills Trump’s Plan to Get Out of Releasing Epstein Files

Trump’s recent bid to quell outrage over his administration’s perceived lack of transparency on the case of the notorious late sex criminal (and the president’s former friend) Jeffrey Epstein has hit a stumbling block.

Trump over the weekend requested that grand jury transcripts related to the case of United States v. Epstein be unsealed—a seeming sop to his angry supporters that falls far short of the release of all Epstein-related DOJ files, which many are demanding.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida denied the Justice Department’s request to release the Epstein grand jury testimony in that state.

In a 12-page opinion, Judge Robin Rosenberg wrote that “the Court’s hands are tied,” as Trump’s DOJ failed to show that “disclosure is appropriate” under the strict rules governing when grand jury testimony can be unsealed.

Trump’s two other requests to unseal grand jury testimony related to the Epstein case in New York are still pending, but this is still bad news for Trump, who wanted to quickly end MAGA’s fury over the Epstein story.

This is a developing story.