A US federal judge in Florida ordered the Justice Department to release the grand jury transcripts related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking investigations. The order came on Friday, after US President Donald Trump signed a bill last month requiring all government records about Epstein to be made public. Normally, grand jury proceedings stay secret, and an earlier appeal to reveal these transcripts was rejected. However, US District Judge Rodney Smith said on Friday that the Epstein Files Transparency Act requires their release. The law demands that within 30 days, "all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials" held by the Justice Department, FBI, and US attorneys' offices about Epstein and Maxwell be released. The Justice Department is also working to release documents from Epstein's 2019 sex trafficking case and Maxwell's 2021 case, both in New York. The Epstein scandal has again become a hot topic, especially as Trump had promoted Epstein conspiracy theories before his 2024 campaign. Trump had known Epstein but claimed to have cut ties before Epstein's 2019 arrest. Initially, Trump opposed releasing the transcripts but changed his mind shortly before Congress passed the bill he signed on November 19. Recently, Trump argued that the Epstein files are a "Democratic fabrication" to distract from his administration. Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in Florida in 2008 to soliciting a minor. He was arrested again in New York in 2019 for sex trafficking minors. Epstein died in pre-trial detention in 2019, with his death ruled a suicide.