By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York who presided over the sex trafficking case against the late financier Jeffrey Epstein has rejected the government’s request to unseal grand jury transcripts.

The ruling Wednesday by federal Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan came after the judge presiding over the case against British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell also turned down the government’s request.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse girls and young women.

Epstein died in jail awaiting trial. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.

According to Berman’s ruling, no victims testified before the Epstein grand jury. The only witness, the judge wrote, was an FBI agent “who had no direct knowledge of the facts of the case and whose testimony was mostly hearsay.” The agent testified over two days, on June 18 and July 2, 2019. The rest of the grand jury presentation consisted of a PowerPoint slideshow shown during the June 18 session and a call log shown during the July 2 session, which ended with grand jurors voting to indict Epstein. Both of those will also remain sealed, Berman ruled.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Related Articles

Many towns are unprepared to handle train derailments and hazmat spills

Texas school districts can’t put the Ten Commandments in every classroom, judge says

Summer celebrations meet closed beaches and warnings on US East Coast due to Hurricane Erin

National Guard vehicle collides with civilian car near US Capitol, trapping one person

Wall Street falls as Nvidia, Palantir and other AI stars keep sinking