XPost: law.court.federal, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, fl.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: andersm@stk.com   
      
   A federal judge in Florida has granted the Trump administration's motion   
   to unseal grand jury transcripts from the initial federal investigation   
   of Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s. The order also grants the   
   government's request to modify any protective orders in place that would   
   inhibit public disclosure.   
      
   U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith – a Trump appointee – determined that   
   the language of the recently-enacted Epstein Transparency Act   
   "overrides" federal rules prohibiting the public disclosure of grand   
   jury materials.   
      
   “The Act applies to unclassified records, documents, communications, and   
   investigative materials that relate to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine   
   Maxwell,” Smith wrote in an order Friday. “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.”   
      
   Smith is one of three federal judges asked by the DOJ to unseal grand   
   jury materials in cases involving Epstein and his convicted   
   co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell. Smith is the first to rule. Two   
   judges in New York are expected to issue their decisions next week.   
      
   This is the second time the DOJ has gone to those courts asking for the   
   grand jury materials to be unsealed. Those earlier attempts – before the   
   Epstein Transparency Act was passed, requiring the disclosure of   
   materials related to Epstein's cases within 30 days with certain   
   exceptions -- were rejected by each court.   
      
   Smith's order does not address redactions to the records to protect the   
   privacy interests of Epstein's victims.  It will be up to the DOJ to   
   make those redactions, as administration officials have promised to do   
   before disclosing records to the public.   
      
   Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida used two   
   separate grand juries during their initial probes in the mid-2000s of   
   Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking of minors.  Neither grand jury was   
   asked to indict Epstein, and there was never a federal criminal   
   prosecution of Epstein in Florida.  Instead, Epstein and federal   
   prosecutors negotiated a non-prosecution agreement which resulted in   
   Epstein’s guilty pleas in state court.   
      
   Witnesses express concerns about privacy in New York cases   
      
   In the New York cases, the courts have received input and objections   
   from witnesses, victims and others expressing concerns about personal   
   privacy, redaction of victim information and the potential impacts the   
   court's rulings could have on public disclosure of the Epstein files.   
      
   Annie Farmer – a witness who testified against Maxwell at her criminal   
   trial in 2021 – urged the judges to make "abundantly clear" that any   
   decision they make about the DOJ’s motions "does not affect the   
   Department of Justice’s ability to release documents subject to the   
   [Epstein] Transparency Act," including materials contained in the 300   
   gigabytes of data the government has said it has in its possession.   
      
   https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-judge-grants-doj-motion-unseal-epstein-   
   grand/story?id=128153706   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)