A judge on Friday authorized the Justice Department to unseal grand jury transcripts from a Florida investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The federal judge ordered that the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress on Nov. 18, overrides the order that prevented the disclosure of grand jury documents, granting the unsealing of the files.
This bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law, gives the department a maximum of 30 days to release all unclassified files related to Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
The grand jury case that has now been authorized for release took place between 2005 and 2007, and concerns alleged abuse by Epstein at his Palm Beach mansion in Florida.
The investigation focused on whether the millionaire had abused minors after several teenagers told police they had been hired to give the financier sexual massages.
The case resulted in a plea deal in which Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges of soliciting prostitution, avoiding federal charges.
It is unclear what documents will be released or when they will be made public, as these files were available to New York prosecutors when they investigated Epstein for sex trafficking in 2019. Earlier this year, another judge rejected a similar proposal.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019, where he was awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges