Court official seeks to release sealed Jeffrey Epstein grand jury documents by changing Florida law

The official who holds court documents in Palm Beach County wants the Florida Legislature to change state law to allow the release of secret grand jury proceedings involving the deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Joseph Abruzzo, the county’s clerk of the circuit court and comptroller, inherited custody of the Epstein grand jury materials when he took office a year ago. Abruzzo said Tuesday he’s seeking a change in state law to allow public release of those documents.

He said he would “leave no stone unturned to do whatever I can to shed full light and public disclosure on the Epstein case.”

Abruzzo said Tuesday in a written statement that he would work with members of the Palm Beach County Legislative delegation to seek a change in state law “based on a right to justice — that if a person is deceased and the files in question have already been released, which are the facts of the Epstein case, that they would then become public record.”

He said he’s currently seeking a legislative sponsor.

Abruzzo’s push to change the law comes just days after the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted last week of luring girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. Maxwell’s trial included the accounts of victims who described the sex abuse from decades ago at Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach, as well as in New York and New Mexico.

Grand jury proceedings

When Abruzzo took office in January 2021, after the 2020 elections, he inherited a lawsuit filed against his predecessor in which a circuit court judge was asked to order the release of 2006 grand jury proceedings initiated under former Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer.

Under a 2008 plea deal, Krischer and then-U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta allowed Epstein — a well-connected and wealthy financier who molested girls at his Palm Beach home — to avoid federal charges and plead guilty to a state charge of soliciting a prostitute.

A Miami Herald investigation revealed what happened to Epstein’s victims and delved into what led to the plea deal. The Palm Beach Post filed suit to get access to the grand jury materials, which are kept confidential under state law.

Last month, a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge rejected the request to release the records, saying in his ruling that state law doesn’t allow their release.

Seeking changes

So Abruzzo said he would seek to change that law.

“In the ruling against the Palm Beach Post, the judge clearly states that there is no flexibility under the current Florida Statutes or Rules of Procedure to release grand jury records in the Jeffrey Epstein case,” Abruzzo said.

He said he was also “looking at options” to make his own move in court “to potentially have the judiciary allow us to release the files.”

“I will leave no stone unturned to do whatever I can to shed full light and public disclosure on the Epstein case. However, I will not break the law by releasing documents that I’m prohibited from releasing without a court order or legislative approval. Knowing or intentionally doing so would likely result in my removal from office, and the possibility of criminal charges,” Abruzzo said.

In 2018, the Herald published its investigation. In 2019, Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges. He committed suicide at the Federal Correctional Center in Manhattan.

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