PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. —
Two Palm Beach County state lawmakers are pushing to unseal the Jeffrey Epstein grand jury records.
The legislators filed identical bills — one in the House and one in the Senate to allow for the public release of those records.
The secret testimony against Epstein in 2006 led to just two charges — of soliciting an underage prostitute — astonishing Palm Beach police who said following the months-long investigation they had evidence of dozens of young teens being sexually abused by Epstein — and none were prostitutes.
For years, there has been a push to find out exactly what evidence was presented and what was left out of that presentation to the grand jury by the state attorney, but state law doesn’t allow grand jury testimony to be made public.
Now Sen. Tina Polsky (D) and Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman (R) say Floridians deserve transparency in this case in particular.
"We believe this legislation strikes the right balance in providing the transparency and the protection Floridians deserve," the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
They’ve filed two identical bills that would amend the law in the case of the Epstein grand jury only and leave intact the secrecy provision for other grand jury testimony.
"I believe this legislation provides a road map that will allow for the release of information in this specific case, and in this case only," Gossett-Seidman said in a statement.
The Palm Beach Post sued in 2019 to unseal the testimony, but the judge ruled state law simply would not allow it.
If these bills pass, there would be no impediment to that information on the Epstein grand jury finally becoming public.
https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-lawmakers-file-bill-unseal-jeffrey-epstein-secret-grand-jury-testimony/42926507#