DOJ leaders have also asked two federal judges in New York, where prosecutors brought cases against Epstein and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, to unseal grand jury transcripts. And New York’s federal courts have generally taken a less stringent approach to grand jury secrecy.

A U.S. judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Justice Department bid to unseal grand jury transcripts related to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in South Florida, the first ruling in a series of attempts by President Donald Trump's administration to release more information on the case.

The Justice department petitioned the court last week to release those typically closely held records of the testimony of witnesses who appeared before the grand jury.