Jeffrey Epstein case: Read the 2006 Florida grand jury transcripts
Attorney General Bondi has cited the release of the 2006 Florida transcripts in her request for grand jury materials from a New York federal court.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi requested the release of grand jury transcripts related to the Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell cases.
- The Palm Beach Post successfully sued for the release of transcripts from a 2006 grand jury proceeding, revealing details about the handling of the Epstein case.
- The released Florida transcripts show that the then-State Attorney Barry Krischer undermined his own prosecution.
PALM BEACH, Florida − Amid a firestorm of controversy after the Justice Department's recent announcement that it would not be releasing Jeffrey Epstein documents, Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a motion July 18 in New York federal court, seeking the release of grand jury transcripts for the indictments of Epstein in July 2019 and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell in June 2020.
President Donald Trump directed Bondi to seek the release after MAGA supporters called for more transparency in the case and a report by the Wall Street Journal describing a bawdy letter from Trump to Epstein for Epstein's 50th birthday.
The transcripts of the 2006 Jeffrey Epstein Florida state grand jury that resulted in only a solicitation of prostitution charge against him are already public, thanks to a lawsuit by The Palm Beach Post, part of the Paste BN Network − but it took nearly five years to get them released.
The Post's case is cited in the petitions to make the federal indictments public, filed in both the Epstein and Maxwell criminal cases.
The newspaper had sued after learning in a 2019 investigation that prosecutors had tanked their own case during the secret proceeding. Circuit Judge Luis Delgado released the 176-page transcript on July 1, 2024.
On the day The Post published its investigation, the newspaper sued to lift the veil of secrecy for the public and for the survivors. The following document shows the stunning details of the proceeding, including the prosecutor telling the only two victims who testified that they themselves were criminals.
Hear Palm Beach Post Investigations Editor Holly Baltz discuss what the transcripts reveal (at 8:10):