HOUSTON, United States

A federal court in the US state of Florida on Wednesday blocked the US Justice Department’s bid to unseal grand jury documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to media reports.

The ruling comes amid a broader effort by the Trump administration to secure the release of more information on Epstein's sex trafficking case. Another parallel attempt is transpiring in New York, where the judge in that case gave the Justice Department until next Tuesday to provide more information.

The department’s request stemmed from federal investigations into Epstein in 2005 and 2007, according to court documents.

Epstein reportedly killed himself in his New York City jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. While his death was ruled a suicide, a wave of conspiracy theories emerged because of his well-documented connections to famous and powerful public figures.

US District Judge Robin Rosenberg ruled that the department’s request in Florida did not fall into any of the exceptions to rules requiring the secrecy of grand jury material.

The department also has pending requests to unseal transcripts in New York federal court related to an indictment brought against Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime partner.

Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in the sex trafficking operation.

The ruling came as President Donald Trump finds himself in the middle of a MAGA firestorm after the Justice Department determined that Epstein kept no "client list" that could be used to charge any additional individuals with sex crimes, and said Epstein was not murdered in his jail cell in 2019.

Prominent voices Trump's MAGA movement — or Make America Great Again, which Trump popularized while running for president in 2016 and 2024 — have long vocally demanded the release of the list and associated government files on Epstein.