(New York) A federal judge rejected the government of Donald Trump on Wednesday on Wednesday to lift legal secrecy on documents related to the financial and sexual delinquent Jeffrey Epstein in a case that embarrasses the President of the United States, saying in particular that this request constituted a “diversion”.
Justice Richard Berman considered that the government had not shown that there were special circumstances which would justify the disclosure of documents emanating from the great jury, normally kept secret.
Under pressure from part of his camp, which accuses him of wanting to suffocate this case, Donald Trump asked in July the publication of the “relevant” testimonies of the legal proceedings concerning Jeffrey Epstein, died in 2019 before his trial for sexual trafficking of minors.
The death of this friend of the stars and powerful, found hanged in his cell in New York a few weeks after his arrest, fuels a number of unaccounted theories that he was assassinated to prevent revelations involving leading personalities.
Donald Trump, 79, was himself close to Jeffrey Epstein until the mid-2000s.
THE Wall Street Journal had notably reported in July the existence of a health letter written by the real estate magnate in 2003 for the 50e An anniversary of his friend at the time, appears, like him, of the New York jet set.
“Diversion”
Judge Berman also pointed out that the government had a multitude of documents related to the Epstein case.
The Trump administration had promised to publish them, before renouncing them in July, the Department of Justice and the Federal Police, the FBI, having established that the financier had committed suicide and that there was no evidence of the existence of a secret list of customers or blackmail towards certain personalities.
“The 100,000 pages of files and documents on Epstein that the Government holds largely outlines the 70 pages from the Grand Jury,” said the judge, in reference to the collective of citizens invested with investigation powers which intervened during the legal proceedings.
“The government is the most likely part of making a complete disclosure to the public of the Epstein file,” added the judge, believing that the administration’s request to publish the testimonies collected by the Grand Jury “seemed to constitute a” diversion “”.
The judge also stressed that the lifting of secrecy on these documents could threaten the security and privacy of the more than 1,000 victims in this case.
Commission of inquiry
His decision has occurred a little more than a week after another federal judge rejected the request of the Department of Justice to make public certain documents of the criminal procedure against the accomplice of Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, believing that there was nothing new to draw from it.
The 63 -year -old, the latter is currently serving a 20 -year prison sentence.
She was recently questioned by number two in the Department of Justice, Todd Blanche, who is also the former personal lawyer of Donald Trump. He has not revealed the nature of their discussion.
Mme Maxwell also had to appear on August 11 before a parliamentary commission of inquiry, but the hearing was postponed Sine Die.
Several other personalities, including the former Democrat-President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton, have been summoned to answer for their links with Jeffrey Epstein.
