A US judge has denied a bid to unseal grand jury material from the investigation into disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The decision from Judge Robin Rosenberg, who ruled the release of such documents would violate Florida law, came as the Wall Street Journal published a story alleging US President Donald Trump is among hundreds whose names appear in documents related to the Epstein investigation.
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”.
Trump has faced sustained pressure, including from some of his most loyal supporters, for more transparency in the case.
As pressure mounted, Trump had directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of all grand jury materials, prompting the Justice Department to ask courts in Florida and New York 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 which oversees Florida.
“The court’s hands are tied,” she ruled.
The judge said that 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, which precede the federal case that led to Epstein’s death in jail while awaiting charges in 2019, should be released.
A grand jury is a group of citizens set up by a prosecutor to determine whether there is enough evidence for charges to be filed. In legal terms, it determines whether probable cause exists to believe a crime has been committed.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration seeks to meet Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted sex-trafficker who is serving 20 years in prison for helping Epstein abuse young girls.
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 that the US justice department did not believe Epstein had a so-called “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 touted she was set to announce major revelations about the case, including “a lot of names” and “a lot of flight logs” – a nod 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 in their possession.
Democrats have seized on the Republican infighting to accuse the Trump administration of lying about its commitment to transparency.
On Tuesday, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson closed down Congress for summer break one day early, stalling legislative efforts to force the release of documents related to Epstein.
The move delays a politically fraught vote on the matter until September. It followed a key committee vote to force Maxwell, Epstein’s longtime associate, to testify before Congress.
