A federal judge in Florida has ordered grand jury materials surrounding an investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be unsealed, marking the first of several expected decisions to publicly release grand jury documents in cases tied to the late financier.
District Judge Rodney Smith ordered the release of material from grand jury investigations from 2005 and 2007. He had previously denied the request but revisited the decision Friday after Donald Trump approved a measure that compels the Department of Justice to release all investigative files in its possession.
The Justice Department faces a December 19 deadline to publicly release the files, which do not include documents shown to grand juries that considered indictments against Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
This is a developing story
