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- U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith ruled the Epstein Files Transparency Act overrides Rule 6, ordering grand jury transcripts be unsealed.
- President Donald Trump backed the Act and suggested it might reveal ties between Epstein and figures like Bill Clinton.
- The DOJ asked three federal judges to unseal Epstein-related grand jury materials; two New York judges are expected to decide next week.
- Previously, Judge Robin Rosenberg denied a Trump administration request, citing Eleventh Circuit law barring disclosure in 2005/2007 cases.
A federal judge issued an order that transcripts from grand jury proceedings in Florida that took place 20 years ago, relating to a criminal investigation into deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, be unsealed.
In his order on Friday, U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith explained that the “specific language” of the Epstein Files Transparency Act “trumps Rule 6’s prohibition on disclosure,” according to ABC News.
President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November. In a post on Truth Social, Trump predicted that “perhaps the truth” would come out about Democrats such as former President Bill Clinton, Democrat megadonor Reid Hoffman, and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and their associations with Epstein.
“The Act applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials that relate to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell,” Smith said. “Consequently, the later-enacted and specific language of the Act trumps Rule 6’s prohibition on disclosure. Accordingly, it is ORDERED that United States’ Expedited Motion to Unseal Grand Jury Transcripts and Modify Protective Order … is GRANTED.”
While Smith ordered the transcripts from the grand jury proceedings to be unsealed, he is “one of three federal judges” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked to “unseal grand jury materials in cases” that involve Epstein and his former assistant, Ghislaine Maxwell, according to the outlet.
Per the outlet, “two judges in New York are expected to issue their decisions next week.”
Breitbart News’s Olivia Rondeau reported in July that U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Florida Robin Rosenberg denied a request from the Trump administration to unseal transcripts from grand jury proceedings in Florida regarding the investigation into Epstein.
At the time, Rosenberg wrote that an “Eleventh Circuit law” did not allow the court “to grant the Government’s request.” Rosenberg’s denial came after the DOJ “petitioned the U.S. District Court in West Palm Beach, Florida, to obtain the transcripts from” two separate grand juries that took place in 2005 and 2007.
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