A judge ruled that grand jury records, which could reveal corrupt dealings in the 2006 case against Jeffrey Epstein, will remain sealed for now.
Palm Beach County Circuit Court Chief Judge Krista Marx responded to a lawsuit from the Palm Beach Post, which requested the release of grand jury documents underlying the case. She concluded that a civil suit seeking to force state or county officials to disclose the grand jury materials was not the proper way to pursue the release of the documents. Only a court order could do that, she maintained.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges for allegedly abusing girls as young as 14. The 66-year-old was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell in August, which the New York City medical examiner determined to be a suicide, raising questions due to his connections with important world figures.
Marx’s ruling has to do with Epstein pleading guilty to two prostitution charges in 2008, including one with a minor, after which he had to register as a sex offender.
The Palm Beach Post has sought to unseal the documents pertaining to the Florida case in an effort to investigate possible corruption on the part of those who were responsible for its prosecution. Epstein took a plea deal, meaning there was no trial, and the details of the grand jury proceedings were never released.
Questions remain as to why, after the Palm Beach police’s lengthy investigation of Epstein found he molested dozens of underage girls, the now-deceased financier walked away with a plea deal. Epstein served 13 months and was granted immunity to federal sex trafficking charges that could have landed him in prison for life.
The Miami Herald reported Friday that Marx and her children have personal ties to several of the major players in the case. Marx worked for Barry Krischer, who was the state attorney who prosecuted the Epstein case, from 1992 to 1998 as an assistant state attorney.
Marx did not reveal these ties, which is required under judicial ethics guidelines. Marx is the head of Florida’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates complaints against the state’s judges.
“The Jeffrey Epstein cover-up has always been a family affair,” conservative commentator Ann Coulter remarked this week.
Marx was not originally assigned to handle the Palm Beach Post’s suit but was able to take over because of her position as chief judge.
With Marx’s ruling, the Miami Herald points out, “Marx, as chief judge, could be the final arbiter of whether the public will ever know how and why Epstein got special treatment in Palm Beach County.”
