DOJ emphasizes ‘public interest’ in push for the release of Jeffrey Epstein grand jury transcripts

The Department of Justice on Tuesday night laid out further arguments for the release of grand jury transcripts in Jeffrey Epstein’s and Ghislaine Maxwell’s criminal cases, arguing that its request was “consistent with increasing calls for additional disclosures in this matter.”

The filing comes after two judges requested that the DOJ submit further information about the government’s request earlier this month to unseal grand jury transcripts.

Separately, Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday invoked a rarely used law to request that the government provide them with files related to Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019, by mid-August.

In the Justice Department filing to the judges, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized public interest in Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in jail in 2019.

“While the Government acknowledges the extraordinary nature of the instant request, it is also (like the Court) faced with a broad public interest in the underlying proceedings,” they wrote in the filing.

They also referred to public pressure for further transparency surrounding the government’s handling of files related to Epstein. The Epstein case has sparked rare criticism of the administration from President Donald Trump’s own base, which has called for the release of the files.

“Beyond that, there is abundant public interest in the investigative work conducted by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into those crimes,” the filing continued.

Bondi and Blanche pointed to Epstein being unable to oppose the disclosure of grand jury materials because he “has passed and therefore cannot assert a position.” They also referred to Maxwell’s lawyers’ request to review grand jury transcripts “in order to craft a response and set out our position to the Court.” That request was rejected by a federal judge.

The DOJ addressed secrecy concerns because of personal identifying information contained in grand jury transcripts, saying that the government has proposed redacting transcripts before release. Elected officials and others have been split over how much to redact any documents. While there is broad agreement that victims’ information should be kept private, the Justice Department has also pushed for redacting information related to people who have not been charged with crimes.

The filing said that “the grand jury transcripts contain victim-related and other personal identifying information related to third parties who neither have been charged or alleged to be involved in the crimes with which Epstein and Maxwell were charged, to which the Government is sensitive.”

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the Justice Department had told Trump that his name was one of many contained in files related to Epstein. White House officials pushed back on the report, which NBC News has not independently verified.

Jack Scarola, an attorney for Epstein victims, has said that victims he represents are in “full agreement” that grand jury transcripts and other information related to Epstein “should be fully disclosed” as long as victims’ identity and privacy rights “be scrupulously preserved.”

The Justice Department’s filing comes after U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said this month that while he intends to “resolve this motion expeditiously,” he wanted the government to further address why it wanted to unseal records related to the cases and what “specific information” it was seeking.

Bondi and Blanche filed a motion to unseal the grand jury transcripts related to Epstein and Maxwell earlier this month. A separate request made in a federal court in Florida was denied, with the judge saying that the government’s rationales were “no exceptions” to grand jury secrecy.

In their letter to Bondi, the Democratic senators asked that the government provide “all documents, files, evidence, or other materials in the possession of DOJ or FBI related to United States of America v. Jeffrey Epstein,” instructing the DOJ to “take necessary steps to protect all personal or private information of any victims.”