In January, a number of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged celebrity contacts were revealed for the first time, after a federal judge ordered the release of hundreds of files related to a 2017 defamation suit against Epstein’s madame Ghislaine Maxwell. Since then, little new information has emerged about Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking ring. But that could change later this year, thanks to Florida lawmakers and Governor Ron DeSantis.
Earlier this week, both houses of the Florida state legislature passed a bill that could clear the way for the public release of evidence and testimony from grand-jury proceedings that took place back in 2006. Those proceedings were the first criminal inquiry into Epstein; they began after police investigated a claim in 2005 from a mother in Palm Beach that the financier had abused her teenage daughter.
On Wednesday, Ron DeSantis said that he would sign the bill, which would go into effect in July. “All files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal activity should be made public,” he wrote on X. “While the federal government continues to stonewall accountability, I’m glad the Legislature has taken action to release the grand jury material from the Florida state case. I will sign the bill into law.”
The bill on DeSantis’s desk would change state laws keeping most grand-jury proceedings in Florida sealed. While it does not explicitly mention Epstein, it is specifically designed to allow a Palm Beach County judge to release the evidence and testimony from the 2006 grand jury. The judge, Luis Delgado, is considering a case filed by the Palm Beach Post against the Palm Beach County Clerk’s Office to release files from the Epstein grand jury. Lawmakers argue that their bill would create an exemption making it easier for Delgado to release the transcripts and other evidence.
The state’s response to the initial investigation of Epstein’s sex ring in Florida has long been controversial. After police produced substantial evidence that Epstein was procuring and abusing girls, the state attorney’s office for Palm Beach County kicked the responsibility to a grand jury rather than charging Epstein directly. The grand jury ultimately led to one felony count against Epstein for soliciting prostitution — with no mention that the alleged victims were teenagers. Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter published a letter he sent to five alleged victims stating that he did not believe “that justice has been sufficiently served.” Reiter then brought the case to the FBI — which ultimately led to federal charges against Epstein and more controversy: somehow, the financier scored a sweetheart deal signed by federal prosecutor Alex Acosta, which allowed him to leave jail six days a week for 12 hours at a time. (In 2019, Acosta resigned from his position as secretary of Labor after facing criticism for his role in the deal.)
“The public and the victims deserve to know if prosecutors steered the jury away from indicting Epstein on more severe charges,” State Senator Tina Polsky said in a session on Wednesday. “There is also a compelling public need to know if this system worked or failed.”
