Florida Senate OKs release of grand jury testimony in Jeffrey Epstein case
The Florida Senate passed a bill Wednesday that opens the grand jury testimony in Jeffrey Epstein’s 2006 sexual abuse case to the public.
The bill, which already passed the Florida House, is on its way to the governor and will become law once he signs it. Grand jury proceedings are usually shrouded in secrecy, but the intense public interest escalated when Epstein was exposed as a serial sexual predator and his prosecution in Palm Beach County came under scrutiny.
“How did he get such a sweetheart deal?” said Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts Joseph Abruzzo, who pushed for the release of the records. “There are so many unanswered questions about what happened. Making these records public is a necessary step for full transparency for the victims and for the public.”
The information is slated to be released July 1, but could possibly be made public sooner, Abruzzo said. A South Florida circuit judge might release the transcripts sooner as part of a lawsuit filed by the Palm Beach Post.
The Post sued the Palm Beach County state attorney and the court clerk in 2019 to obtain a court order to unseal the grand jury proceedings and reveal why the grand jury returned only minimal charges. The state attorney was dropped from the suit in 2020, since the records were not controlled by or in the possession of that office.
Epstein had been accused of luring teenage girls to his Palm Beach mansion and sexually abusing them.
He was found dead in his New York jail cell in 2019 while he was awaiting trial on additional sex-trafficking charges.
Two years ago, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was Epstein’s former girlfriend, household manager and chief recruiter of young, vulnerable females, was convicted of child sex trafficking and other offences. She is serving a 20-year sentence.
Epstein associated with numerous high-profile public figures, including former presidents Clinton and Trump as well as Britain’s Prince Andrew, brother of King Charles III.
Allegations of wrongdoing on the part of his associates have thus far not risen above the rumor stage.