Breaking: A Federal Judge Rules That All Jeffrey Epstein Grand Jury Records Be Unsealed

Patrick McMullan. Getty Images.

Let's begin with a rhetorical question. Has there ever been anything more Americans have agreed on than the release of the Jeffrey Epstein Files? 

I mean, politicians and pundits love to talk about being in the right side of "80/20 issues" that the public supports. This is a 99.99/0.01 issue. And the we have ever reason to suspect those taking the 0.01 side are either sex predators who'll be exposed by a release of the files, or people who benefit from those sex predators remaining in the shadows. Which is only slightly less evil. 

There's a reason why you don't see people taking to the streets in huge "Keep the Epstein Files Secret" rallies. Why no one ever stood behind a podium on a raised platform leading a crowd in a cheer of, "Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Transparency has got to go!" Or:

"What do we want?" 

"Total secrecy!" 

"When do we want it?"
"NOW!!!" 

And yet, the one thing everyone agrees we want has been the one thing we can't have. Regardless of which political party in running either house of Congress, or the White House, and therefore the Department of Justice. If you think some politician that you hate is responsible for keeping Epstein's client list secret because his name is on, then you need to ask yourself why his opposition hasn't released it when they were in charge. 

The point I'm making is that this secrecy is bigger than any one man. Or even a handful of men. There's been too much energy expended to keep a lid on this thing.  Despite the best efforts of some to expose it all:

Well this morning we might have taken a giant leap closer to the day we've all been waiting for:

Source - A federal judge on Wednesday approved the unsealing of documents from the investigation and criminal prosecution of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.    

The decision from Manhattan judge Richard M. Berman comes one day after a different New York judge approved the release of records in the case against Epstein’s associate, Ghislane Maxwell, and one week after a third judge in Florida also approved the release of investigative materials there.    

   

The trove of documents now set to be released could provide an inside look into how the Justice Department investigated and prosecuted Epstein’s alleged underworld of pedophilia, though it is not yet clear how much of the evidence will be new to the public or when it will be made available. …

The three judge’s based their decisions on the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law last month. In his brief ruling Wednesday, Berman said that the law requires the documents to be released with appropriate redactions to protect victims’ identities and information.    

Keep in mind, that Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House and Senate with one dissenting vote. That from a Congressman who voted against it on principle because Grand Jury proceedings are supposed to be kept private by law, to protect innocent people such as witnesses and whistleblowers. Which is not a totally unfair point. But this is too big a matter not to make an exception. And this judge's ruling should be greeted with the same unanimity.

And yet. … 

I want to celebrate this news. A court order to release the Grand Jury information beats the bag out of an order to keep it sealed. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant," and all that. But the old pre-2004 Red Sox fan in me has learned to not pop the champagne bottles until the final out. The same dynamic applies as before. The powerful interests with a stake in keeping a lid on this whole topic haven't vanished. And to assume we're going to get what we want now would be a triumph of optimism over experience. But there's still a hope. For now, that will have to do.

Redact the names of the victims and nobody else. Stop treating this like just another political football we can argue about when the entire country agrees we're entitled to the information. Let us know how deep the Epstein rabbit hole goes. Consequences be damned. Let justice be done though the heavens fall. Let's just hope it happens in our lifetimes.